fv1609

Nope

Nope

Yup or it can be used out of the box for use with a different item which would be its primary function.

Nope

Roland Try asking on here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rsoles/ A good book to get is "The Green Machine" by Hollis & Thompson 1995 ISBN 0 907700 19 5 BTW the green relates not to Army vehicles but to Home Office vehicles that ran the Auxillary Fire Service who used most of these Bedford fire engines. It lists the registration of nearly all their vehicles. But none with UXU. Is that the original number, or was it "an age related" number issued when the vehicle perhaps had a more valuable registration sold off to be put on some rich persons car?

Not getting too tough for you is it Neil? If nothing else isn't it lovely to see something in High Gloss Deep Bronze Green, if only it is a wooden box? OK here a clue, this is with the curved bit in the box:

Bit too large Paul.

Yes an interesting, full-bodied & comprehensive reply, but alas the answer has to be nope. That curved thing is what is carried in the box.

John That’s very interesting about the second step. I have never seen that on any in service pictures. What would be particularly interesting if it still has the rear armoured skirt & would had to have the appropriate slots in it on both sides. If the rear armour is missing, then it leaves the possibility that this was seen by someone in the Army, saw the fittings were identical to the step fitting so assumed there must have been a step on the other side & fitted one. But the model in question is not a Mk2 it is a Mk1. But I take the point that a modeller can use any kit to make embellishments or omissions that they feel appropriate. Yes I am sure you can tire of endless inappropriate questions from visitors. Your exhibit is more likely to attract a higher through put of visitors than most of us with more modest vehicles. Having tracks & a gun will attract a higher rate of silly questions. Which I appreciate can wear a bit thin. Although sometimes what seems a silly question is just an intro for someone to start talking about the exhibit & useful info can sometimes be exchanged. Understandably we all develop some expertise in our vehicles & my very rare Humber has a few things that are not quite 100% correct. I would have been delighted if someone was so interested that they spotted the errors. By this summer those errors will be corrected, nobody will probably know or care, but I will know & that makes me feel good. I once met a chap with a US lorry rebuilt by the French; he had removed all the metric fasteners & fitted the US equivalents. Nobody would know but he felt good & I admire that. As for rivet counting I once had to make two Vigilant boxes, yes & wait for it there should be 256 rivets per box :shake:

Richard, it’s a terribly touchy subject. But was the modeller actually right? The dilemma is when you see something 'wrong' on a vehicle & the owner doesn't realise. Should you say anything or let them continue to have a cringe factor on their vehicle. It is like not having the guts to tell someone they have a bogey on the end of their nose, because you are too embarrassed to mention it. Generally owners will get shirty because raising a query is automatically assumed to be a challenge & a criticism, it should not necessarily be taken as that. I am delighted if people are interested in my vehicle & ask me because I can explain & they will learn or maybe I will learn something! There are tactful ways where people can say "Interesting looking vehicle I've never seen such & such before" What frustrates me is when people don't raise a query & go off muttering amongst themselves. When I first showed the RUC Pig I was parked next to a Mk2 Pig. Mine was glanced at but the Mk2 was looked at closely & I heard the comment "Oh this is a Belfast one". I felt like saying "What the h*ll do you think the registration plate 2996 OI means if that is not a Belfast one?" I remember the Shorland prototype at one show, an established MV owner warded off a couple of visitors saying "That’s not real its just something he made" Well if I was asked or they read the my board they would see that funny little vehicle is the mother of all the Land Rover based APCs that we see in most of the worlds trouble spots. Once I was stood beside a Pig with a lot of nonsense fixed to it & was berated by a veteran for its lack of authenticity. At that moment I spotted the owner & I said in Basil Fawlty style "Ah here is the owner who will give you a perfectly logical explanation" & I made my exit. I remember looking at an ambulance & wondering whether to mention that the markings were in the wrong place & the fact he had paid tax when he could have claimed exemption. An expert had told him where to put the markings & the tax he wasn’t sure about. I was able to quote the marking regulations & explain about taxation. The next time I saw the vehicle the markings were correct & he was delighted that it was now tax exempt & he had been given a refund & presented me with a bottle of Champagne! So a good result for all!

Yes! But it is rather obvious two rear steps not one! I have seen a restored Pig with two rear steps. As it was a converted Mk2 the additional mounting seemed irresistable, unfortunately he fitted a pair of Saracen steps which added to the embarasment. Again 4 antenna mounts instead of just 3 is a glaring embellishment. Now if we had a close up on the hooks for the rear canvas I could have seen which of the three types were fitted. Some are straight, some lean to the left some lean to the right & have seperate FVRDE numbers. Now many Pigs I see have been wrongly assembled on manufacture. I have a good (or rather bad) example of this on my FV1612 Mk1, where they differ each side. The welders obviously had not fixed the correct components. There is also a difference in the way that the studs for the tool kit is welded to identify ROF or Sankey manufacture. Well I grant you I suppose that is rivet counting :-D

Neil, yes they look very nice, good quality & detailed. Inevitably I was drawn to the Pig FV1611, now I know this is very nit-picky but we all have our favourite vehicles & can savour the various details, but there are two significant inaccuracies. It has 2 rear steps! All Pigs on manufacture were fitted with a single step on the offside. It changed over to the nearside when a FV1611 APC was converted to a FV1613 Ambulance. Now I know some Pigs have fittings for what appears to be a step on both sides. These were Pigs used in N.Ireland that were fitted with a fold-down armoured skirt at the rear to protect the feet of troops stood behind the vehicle. The armour was supported by the mountings for the rear step. To support the armour on the other side it was logical to duplicate these fittings. But still it was only one step. The rear step was originally provided on the offside, as it was the offside door that opened first & could be used as the only door to be opened. If this is a FV1611 APC then it should not have 4 antenna mounts, only 3. All Pigs on manufacture had only 3 antenna mounts whether they were FV1611 APC or FV1612 FFW (FV1613 Ambulance was a later modification). In 1964 a modification was introduced to change FV1612 from FFW to FFR amongst the many modifications was the fabrication of a 4th antenna mount fitted on the rear offside. There was no indication to do this to an APC, with all the rear crew seats, there was not enough room to store up to 4 radio installations nor had the single-speed generator the capacity to supply the batteries for all this kit. Nor had an APC the room to store all the extra batteries. As I say being very nit-picky but we all zoom in on the detail of our favourite vehicles. There is another company that make a Hornet. Now the problem with this is that although it accurately reproduces what has been seen on official photographs, one side is based on a prototype & the other side based on an in-service vehicle. This gives dramatic errors to the model, but it is fine if you only look at it sideways!

But Neil how do you put a ticket on a speeding camel?

Hmm nope, that last object is what goes in the box.

Does this help?

Hmmmm well yes. Very good, so what & why? Was that because of my tendancies or the embargo story that gave it away?

Nope

Ingenious line of thinking Neil, yes the bottle tops would fit in but nope that's not the real purpose.

Ian, it's a pleasure I have the info I might as well share it. The authority is quoted in 1977 Army Code No.60957 which is the Servicing Schedule for 1/4 to 3/4 Ton Rover of which there were 18 combinations of tyre pressures that could apply.

Lee yes another very plausable suggestion but nope. Interestingly this item was associated with equipment that was prohibited to be sold to the Middle East, but like many embargos in the end it was sold to several countries in the region! But that might not help identify it.

It does look rather like that I see what you mean, but nope.

Nope

Nope, the box is made out of wood.

Ingenious but nope.

Ian Road: 20 front, 45 rear Cross Country: 15 front, 30 rear This applied to 2/4 Stretcher Ambulances, Rover 9, 11 & S3