paulbrook

I have the badges for the doors - just didnt get around to putting them on (mind you I still have the bivvy to fit too). That said I did it as a 3 Sqn truck, and in my day the Germany ones were not "badged up" - even the bridge plate would have been green and black (as would the Antar badge) presumably so the Russkies didnt know what it was. But it will be up to DST as to whether the RCT crests go on. I must remember to ask them........

Ahem A bit of a confession....12 DM 85 is done as a fifth wheel, but when I finally got around to cleaning the crud off the chassis plate and looked closely (the night before the unveiling as it happens) I noticed that it was in fact a 3A.... Oops. As for the other one (now in the Big Shed waiting for me to catch my breath and make a start) I am not sure (but I will try and remember to look)

Ditto AVG with no ill effects on performance. The latest Norton is miles better, but the older one was best described as the sleeping policeman on the information superhighway..............

Well done - it seems to be a bit of a faff som,etimes yet a breeze on other occasions. All you have to do now is get it to pull up straight when asked..................

The gate guardian finally makes it onto its display plinth at the Defence School of Transport, unveiled on 18th August by Earl Attlee:

FINALLY I managed to transfer some of my ols slides into digital format... The place is Germany (around Hameln) somewhere in the early 1980s.........

Fancy a BV202? If so get in touch as I might know of one for sale...................

So.......... Who has got a spare pintle hook lying around to finish the front off (and yes I know it is missing the sidelight lenses but with luck that will be sorted tomorrow)? Oh and the bivvy cover is on the way too (subcontracted).

Antar 12 DM 85 heading east to its new home (see the Tales from a Big Shed thread...) All the other pics are at http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr206/RustyTrucks/Antar%20Mk%203/

Finally getting some green paint on.............

It has to be more than £3500 but probably less than £6500. In my humble opinion. They should be more but storage space is always a limiting factor.

Gunners in boats eh? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ujpA3WwN5c although they might have been Engineers................... same motto anyway!

I commend "smartwater" to the house...................

Although Tilly tanks and Humber timber have featured on the "to do" list this month in The Big Shed the main effort has been the Leconfield Antar. Progress is steady but encouraging - a good job as they want it back very soon to put on display and I have a second Mk3a booked in for similar work. Heres a few piccies - the rest are at http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr206/RustyTrucks/Antar%20Mk%203/

If there was a "golden age" in the old motor game it was when that yard was on the go. It was the source of some great Sunday mornings. Ill have a look for some piccies.....

Must be a SF thing.....get the gucci kit then - er - modify it, and not always for the better!

Well the Antar got its blasting done - pretty much back to bare metal everywhere so the race was on to beat the rain and get a few gallons of primer on. There are some good pictures in the last few of this sequence http://www.robinsonblastclean.co.uk/epages/es144606.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es144606/Categories/Before__after_photos/Metal_photos and since then the thing has started to take shape (sadly at the expense of everything else except a couple of fuel tanks and a Bedford windscreen) but its a big blighter and I only have the one pair of hands... anyway all the piccies are here http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr206/RustyTrucks/Antar%20Mk%203/

A long time ago and in a far off land (well Duisburg anyway) we always used to spruce the paintwork of the Knocker fleet with diesel. Rubbed on with a big lump of cotton waste it removed the gunge and left the paintwork - er - refreshed. Well as refreshed as hand painted IRR black and green on ancient lumbering beasties can look..........

It was based in Alexander Bks in Spandau and I am pretty sure the BFG reg would have ended B not M. I also had a fleet of military MAN buses ( C troop)

Well well well! As an ex OC of 62 Sqn I think I can add a bit of info. The bus was not an Army one - it was purchased and run by the PRI (welfare fund) of 62 Sqn and hired out for parties and trips by visiting units and so on (and jolly lucrative it was too). It was registered as a British Forces Germany (BFG) vehicle (ie the same as for private cars). It was indeed ex BVG (in fact I think they sort of donated it....) but I am a bit at a loss as to remember what make it was...Bussing sounds familiar but I cannot be sure. That said I know lots of ex 62 who might know.

Yell.com lists quite a few blast cleaners in Oxon - worth ringing round and having a chat.

Sorry I don't - but someone will I am sure!

For serious scale use a needle gun, then blast clean. Blasting is great - I just had a whole Antar done - see the last few pictures in this sequence http://www.robinsonblastclean.co.uk/epages/es144606.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es144606/Categories/Before__after_photos/Metal_photos These days the medium of choice is recycled glass. Nothing comes close for speed and cost effectiveness and the surface finish is perfect for a good quality zinc rich primer. I am going to introduce a dip system soon (I am testing a system to do the inside of fuel tanks at the moment which as you can imagine you dont want to sandblast), using a suitable mix of chemicals, and some swear by electrolysis. Those might be a bit of a struggle for your turret though, but it will be good for freeing off rusted mechanisms and cleaning smaller items. If you need any advice then get in touch!

A book worth reading is The War of the Landing Craft by Paul Lund and Harry Ludlam ISBN 0-572-00935-6 and also a book which I think was called The Forgotten Fleet about Army vessels including LST and LCT.

And I would have politely declined thanks - not enough oxy acetylene and big hammers involved for me!