RecyMech

Interestingly...item 2 on Fig 5 (the early vehicle) shows the left hand seat as the 'loaders seat'. Which means (unless it's a misprint) that the gunner loads & fires while the commander takes it easy in the right hand seat. Reckon they must have played around with with 'who does what tasks' till they settled on a workable solution maybe ? "Lets try, you put the pointy thing in the hole & I'll pull the trigger" Also reckon Clive is more 'librarian' than 'acrobat'....he has a knack of finding the info you need almost instantly. Good man :cool2: H.

Blimey, Clive was hard at it posting the very info while I was typing that last reply. Clive, you are a star, a scholar & a gent !!:thanx::banana: Best regs. Howard.

Quote;- 2. In Scorpion, the role of loader was performed by the commander so that the gunner could concentrate on keeping the gun on the target. I cannot imagine Saladin being different, so that the breech-opening lever ought to be on the commander's, not the gunner's side. Ahhh, interesting reading, thanks Alien, put like that it makes perfect sense...can anyone confirm the above for Saladin ?. This might also have some bearing on the multitude of empty bolt holes & bits of loose linkages apparent in the photographs on the commanders (right side) of the gun. Therefore if the two (Saladin/Scorpion) are quite similar (albeit reversed) I might be able to get closer to understanding the missing bits if anyone has pics of said Scorpion breech & lever(s). Anyone pleeeease ?:help: Cheers........H

Morning all, We`re now working on details of the 1/24th Saladin model & have hit a couple of minor detail queries......can anyone help please;- 1) Is the commanders seat just a quarter round shape rather than half round?. The pictures I have are of a pretty tatty seat covering that suggest the outside edge is curved to match the turret ring, the forward edge is square cut (where the knees would be) & the inside edge (nearest the gun) comes out no further than the support bracket underneath it. Does this sound right ?? I have plenty of good pics of the seat post & support brackets...it's just the seat squab itself that is in question. 2) Would anyone have a piccy of the breach block itself ? I have pictures of the open breach & its slides but of course the gun is decommisioned & there is no sliding block present. Presumably there would be a lever mechanism somewhere on the gunners side of the breach also to lift/lower the breach block ? Any help, pics, suggestions, greatly appreciated fellas Cheers........Howard @ KFS

That brings back memories...."Active Edge"....I had completely forgotten the name till I read that post :-D First job was to draw your personal weapon from the armoury.....mine being a Browning .30 cal for the ARV. Which I always thought was a bit silly when I saw other crews walking off with pistols & SMGs, & especially as I had never been trained on it...ever. Next job was to wrap up said .30 cal in a black bin liner for the duration of the ex in order to avoid the need to clean it 2 or 3 weeks later. I never did get trained on it, or fire it, or strip it, or clean it. A certain quite dislikable REME Tiffy in Cmd Sqn LAD had his SMG mysteriously go missing when left for a few minutes hanging on the wing mirror of a Landrover while he was shaving. It never did turn up & he ended up in a world of pooh. Medal for BAOR ?....no I think we cost the big firm enough without them giving us medals for it. With hindsight I'd pay THEM to let me do it all again.:cool2::cool2: Meteor mark 4b...was`nt it the 11th who amalgamated with another Regt to form QOH ? If so I might have served with some of the same blokes. H

What I want to know is.....no matter how silent or well camoflaged you were.....how did the NAAFI wagon or that German bloke flogging coffee & applestrudel still easily find you ? They had some damn fine detection kit :cool2: H

Superb, really enjoyed those. Got yerself a one man gallery there....as someone else mentioned I did`nt realise we had so much flash kit. Good to see MKs, 8 tonners & 432s still being counted as "modern" though:thumbsup: Have to stand up & wak around a bit now....sandbag has sent my bum to sleep.:nut: H

Try here, I've used this bloke several times for manuals for research, very reliable. http://www.vintagemvmanuals.co.uk/ Howard.

I think Ferretfixer has just about nailed it there. I can't find a word to disagree with & he sums up my feelings about my service & the times I had spot on. I certainly miss the comradeship & the banter....nothing quite like it in civvy street. Was it fun & good times all the time ?, no, but the good stuff usually outweighed the bad. The clip below (in blue) is from a recent thread where we were blabbing on about tank accidents. But this was`nt the only accident on this particular scheme, but it was the worst. Another involved one Chieftain ramming another from behind with such force that it broke the turret basket free, only to swing down & smack the driver in the face. A further incident involved two Chieftains inadvertently 'jousting' with their barrels (I swear this is true) ...one had the search light ripped clean off & the other the barrel rammed back so hard it jammed in the full recoil position. (COPY) But speaking of tank accidents.....Anyone recall hearing of an exercise on Soltau in 1975 when the newly arrived (from UK) 13/18th Royal Hussars put a Chieftain nose down in the Causeway bog late one night ?? Troop leaders tank it was. I was the recy mech that pulled it & it's dead driver out. He was driving opened up with his gas kit under the seat, gun over the rear deck. Poor bastard drowned in thick stinking mud. The water line in the turret was up past the radios. Young subaltern did his very best to dive down under the mud to try to get at the driver, but it was hopeless. H

No no, not of the big nose variety, my life already ...'OiVay' is just something I picked up from a mate in the army who used it quite regularly....you know how these things catch on & stick with you for life when you here them often enough. Like using 'say again' instead of pardon....or 'dress back a bit' when someone is in your way....or 'on' instead of stop. H

Oi vay !....she must have taken thousands of hits. It's not unlike the one I mentioned on Hohne ranges in back 75....long since returned to the soil by now I would think. Ashes to ashes Rust to Rust !!!:cool2: H

Ohhh, thanks for sharing those pics, tis a sad sight indeed though.:cry: H

Just getting away from mechanicals for a minute...something that has always stuck in my mind from the day it happened..(this is to do with my 'soul' comment).. being stationed in Hohne in the early 70s & very close obviously to Hohne ranges I often used to go out onto the ranges on the weekend (in my privately owned Champ I might add...that's another story) to explore the hulks (some of which I had towed out there myself...M47s & M48s) & gather the odd illegal souvenir. There were a large number on Conqs out there on the ranges at the time slowly being shot to pieces. One I remember was little more than two hull side plates, hull roof & the remains of the turret, you could walk in through front & out through the back. She`d obviously taken a LOT of hits. Getting up very close to these gave both me & the chap with me a VERY odd & eerie feeling & it's the closest thing to encountering a ghost I can ever recall. Don't get me wrong, I'm not supersticious or 'sensative' in any way & was even less so at the age of 20....but.... There was a distinct change in temperature, the hair stood up on my neck & you could practically here these once proud 65 ton beasts, now just battered wrecks, moaning in pain...it was a very strange & un-nerving feeling. Howard.

Quote It's not a bad system for its age- trying to make an effective on the move gun stabiliser for a 68ton tank on Horstmann suspension with 1940-50 vintage electronics for a very large weapon -the Conq gun being 2854kg (bare) as opposed to 1780kg (bare) for an L11 (Chieftain) would be asking a lot. So very true, I have to agree with you there, no question. And, in a way it sums up a lot of British kit...that is to say, the 'thinking' was way in advance of its time but the available engineering & technology of the day could not quite deliver. Still with Conqueror for a minute...the Mollins case ejection kit in particular. (Mr Mollins school report may have read "Mollins tried hard but failed miserably") Other examples might be the design of the Stalwart drive train & the Champ rear axle ? Being a bit 'zen' about it I think this sort of thing is why fans of British kit (me included) consider it to have 'soul'. Howard.

Steve, I was`nt disagreeing with what you said previously about the Duxford Conq, & I have read the book end to end. I've also served with blokes who had served on Conq with QOH, although I personally missed it by about about 6 years. Many of the anecdotal stories about Conq that I heard from those blokes are backed up by Rob Griffin in the book. Your first paragraph there backs up exactly what I said about not being able to fire on the move in the accepted sense, & I'm certain in the book in question, somewhere, it emphasises that Conq was not designed to be used as an MBT in the modern sense but as a long range tank killer. The first paragraph at the top right side of page 59 also backs up what I said about the gun being out of the gunners control for those vital few seconds after coming to a halt. Howard

If I understood what I read in Rob Griffins book correctly, there is no travelling stab on Conq, & the gunner did`nt even regain control of the main gun until several seconds after the tank had stopped moving. Conq was not a MBT remember but a long range tank killer designed to pick off the JS3 from a rear position.....hence the designers gave it no 'fire on the move' capability. Or did I read it all wrong ? H

I have to agree with Antar...I reckon it's the fact that it gives off 2 beats to the bar that helps create the howl. But anyway, I'm not sure that it is actually louder than a Leopard 1. The Cloggies used to role out onto the ranges with their Leopards from Hohne right past my window & the growl & low pitch rumble was enough to give a young lad a stiffy. But speaking of tank accidents.....Anyone recall hearing of an exercise on Soltau in 1975 when the newly arrived (from UK) 13/18th Hussars put a Chieftain nose down in the Causeway bog late one night ?? Troop leaders tank it was. I was the recy mech that pulled it & it's dead driver out. He was driving opened up with his gas kit under the seat. Poor bastard drowned in thick stinking mud. The water line in the turret was up past the radios. Young subaltern did his very best to dive down under the breach to try to get at the driver, but it was hopeless. Howard. RecyMech

Lovely models ! Failing eyeballs ? Me too....you lads could always move up to 1/24th with me...it's the main reason I did`nt go with mainstream 1/35th. www.kitformservices.com click KFS TQ Range in the left side menu, military stuff at top of page. Lots more to come Cheers. RecyMech

It's a cracking chat up line too..."Hey baby, wanna ride in my six cylinder Chrysler soft top":cool2: (I know, stretching it a bit with the Humber / Rootes Group / Chrysler connection) H

Crackin period pictures...thanks for sharing those. On the contact prints that looks like a Cent BARV in the background......funkeeee. And the other one in Cumbria, is that a Lada going the other way? (brave soul going down hill in a Lada).....still, if you can't take the Saracen to Russia, bring a little Russian to the Saracen. tootle pip H

Trawling through some more books last evening unearthed a couple of rear shots of Mk3 Antars with Long Vehicle plates fitted while others have none & non of the Mk2s seem to have them at all. No dates & places in the captions though. Being as they say 'Long Vehicle' (in English) & not 'Achtung Uberlange' (or similar) I can probably safely assume that UKLF stuff would have had them fitted while BAOR (being a bit more on the tactical edge in the 70s) would not. I rest my case then H

AlienFTM, Ah, must learn to read proper like wot u can, init. My eyes saw CFT but the brain read BFT as that what I always knew it as....then when you dated it's introduction I can see why BFT is stuck in my head. Guess I was a racing snake then, although being REME & of the pie & pint variety, more like 'racing slug' fits the bill better. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Schleisser92, You post is interesting as it is slightly contradictory....you say no chevrons were fitted but Long Vehicle plates were (71-74). Now, according to civvy laws, Long Vehicle plates are fitted to anything of a non rigid configuration, i.e articulated trailers & drawbar trailers, while chevrons are only fitted to rigids. And, if there are no exemptions between civvy & military then it follows that chevrons must have been used if Long Vehicle plates were used. Possibly vehicles within UKLF had to follow civvy regs more closely on markings & movements whereas of course in BAOR we were relatively free to block any road you fancied with a Sqn of Cents or Chieftains. Anyway.....I think I've found the answer in a book I've unearthed, there is a rear shot of a bunch of RE Militants in BAOR delivering Heavy Ferry kit & all towing trailers. No chevrons on the Mili's & no Long Vehicle on the drawbar trailers. Cheers blokes. H

Ah yes, the good'ole BFT......never seen so much thought gone it a skive than trying to get out of a BFT. Ever noticed the 'encouragaing' way the PTIs run along side wearing no chuffing kit at all while you're stuggling your cobs off & really wishing he would 'go away in short sharp jerky movements'. But anyway....back to the plot......chevrons, yep that'll do for me Tommy Ta much.:thanx: H

I think this one might be for those with a good photo album or an even better memory. Most of the MK pictures I have, or am finding, are of restored vehicles & it seems to be road legal they are (now) fitted with yellow/orange rear marker board chevrons. The question is......were these compulsory for actual service vehicles, in the UK or BAOR in the seventies ?. I have a feeling that they were not. I say that because (apart from the obvious tactical disadvantage) I don't think they were made a legal requirement on civvy stuff till about 76 ish. Can anyone confirm one way or t'other ? Ta much. Howard

Superb David thanks. Cheers all, will post up details once the kit has gone through casting & there is something to look at that makes sense as opposed to a pile of odd shapes. Cheers....Howard