ajmac

Jim, Do you intend to go down the Multibank powerplant route in the M4A4 in the future or is the Radial their to stay? I was scratching my head when I saw it last year.... then I spotted the old engine in the back of the T :idea: I am trying to find the photo....

Maurice, Could you post a photo of each as they stand at the moment? If that isn't being nosey! I understand that any mark of Sherman could be suffix'd with a 'c' according to the book, but I have only seen photo evidence of Sherman 1 hybrid's and V's in NW Europe. I'd love to get some interior shots of a restored Firefly, from reading field accounts they were a bugger to get along with - due to the size of the breach in that cramped little turret.

You were correct Adrian I was suggesting the normal Normandy 'troop' of four tanks: three 75s (Shermans or Cromwells) and a 17 pdr Sherman..... I'm sure the Sherman 'troop' is going to be much more likely than a Cromwell 'troop' any time soon! Talking reality 1944 in service conditions.... were Shermans issued to the British Army based on mark (i.e. if you already had M4A2s you would ONLY be re-stocked with M4A2s) or was it rather luck of the draw what arrived from the beach?

What a hook! Sadly I am neither in possession of or have located a Sherman Firefly to restore, but I would like to know who has. There is a Firefly turret with cut off 17Pdr at the Wheatcroft Collection and a VC in Belgium that is (was) regularly seen driving around. Do we know of any other runners in the UK? It is all we need to have a HMVF 'troop' (Adrian, Jim, ****, Firefly Owner) I know ideally an original VC would be restored, but 65 years later I am confident no one would complain about a home made VC so long as it is faithfully reproduced using an M4A4 (most common) and original Firefly turret. NB: **** = Person or persons name escapes me ATM.

Adrian, Not really concerning the Cromwell but do you have any notion of where you will be taking the M4A4 this season? I'd like to hear that engine running :-)

Great information Adrian, In line with a couple of other people I have spoken to over the years about Cromwell restoration (all were Charioteer converted) where are you going to find a turret in a hurry? I think I saw one in the long grass as the Cobberton (sp?) Combat Collection a few years ago as the guy said they currently had a wooden mockup on there Centaur and were planning to rebuild an original. Probably a silly question, I imagine your biggest problem is which of the three in your shed to use as the basis of the rebuild rather than where to find one!

Adrian, Do you have any photos of the Cromwell listed in your signature? Is it currently in a similar condition to the Sherman when you first brought it home, or is it 'on the way' to being completed? It would be nice to see a photo....

This may seem like a silly question, but is based on a practical assesment! I am considering the demand for WW2 armour; lets say that tracked WW2 armour was topped out at 20k for a Sherman. Even if that were the case the market must be limited firstly to the people intrested in the subject, then by the space available to store and maintain such a vehicle and by the practical aptitude to restore it. Finally there is the cost of fuelling these vehicles, both for transport to events and actual operation. Thus my point is that even if these vehicles were optainable (in cost terms) the market must be incredibly limited. Am I missing the fact that the market is international? Conditions for restoring a WW2 Tank: Own a Farm with workshop Lots of time Forklift truck Mechanical Aptitude OR spare cash. I'm working my self to death around the world to get the farm, but when I've done that I'll have blown all the cash PS. When did armour become unobtanium? It wasn't in the mid 90's :confused:

We are lucky that permission was applied for... quite a few local listed building (Victorian) were refused PP for demolition so the owners simply put the windows through and removed the roof... then 10 years later oh gosh they had to be pulled down for safty reasons!! One local chap had the oldest remaining wall (originally part of a blacksmiths) in the village, not much but from the 17th Century, it was in the newspapers that he wanted to remove it to make room for his Caravan. All applications were refused...so what did he do... get a JCB and knock it down on a Sunday Afternoon while no one was looking! I think he had a fine, it was all in the local paper, but when you drive past now, no wall and one big caravan :nono:

In an earlier post I said that I had seen Adrians M4A4, now I'm not so sure:sweat: as there was a Multibank in the Diamond T next to it.... which after seeing the HMVFTV movies today I think was the M4A4 shown which has a Radial fitted??

I got you....:idea: One has all the bits just requires a box for them to fit into.... Couple of years ago I dropped off a few castings for a new chassis at an Historic Vehicle restoration workshop in Shropshire, lovely people and the best fascility I have ever seen. The owner showed me around including the restoration project 'inbox'. This consisted of a pallet with a few fragments of body, chassis or engine and most importantly the chassis-body date plate and a requirement of what the owner wanted building out of the bits...or should I say what the owner wanted building from the dataplate :-)

Looking at the photos of the Stugs that were auctioned off this year in Finland for those incredible prices where on earth would you start? Damaged hulls, No drivetrain, no engine, no interior, you might as well be building one from scratch! The one that went for 185k Euros, was that any better? When you consider the spares and support situation for American Armour the one for German Tanks must be all but non-existant.... For those amongst us who have already restored WW2 armour, if you were to be gifted one of those Stugs or one of the Bulgarian PzIVs where on earth would you start? The major sticking points that I see would be the transmission and I presume the Maybach V12s aren't that easy (read impossible) to find. Tiger 1: I read yesterday that KW is restoring the Tiger 1 from Aberdeen, Maryland, and truth in that rumour?

Smashing photos, thanks. As I've been out of the show circuit for so long, does anyone have info (ie a list) of the WW2 tanks that are fully restored and in private hand in the UK, I don't include large private collections as sadly one doesn't seem to see them out and about too often :-( In my limited show visits over the last 5 years I've seen: Adrians M4A4 this year at a steam festival. An M10 (or was it the later 90mm version, can't remember) style destroyer at the same festival. Grizzly (local farm) Three Stuarts at a living history festival. To be honest it was Adrians M4A4 that got my intrest going again as I thought that there were still just a few Grizzlies around... and there at a steam show was an M4A4...where the hell did that spring from I thought! Follwoing this revelation I poked around on Youtube and found tanks in town - jaw dropped again....there were how many WW2 tanks there!!!

Any photos? Drove past the Army base here in Cali today, no armour in use or as gate guardians though... I did watch a C47 fly over in Colombian Airforce colours though.....an 80's mod with turbo props replacing the original Radials.

A great job indeed. There was me being impressed with my 2.25 Diesel and couple of old Triumph engines rebuilds! I don't know what Adrian thinks but I find engine rebuilds good for the soul. Especially when you're driving the finished vehicle and you know everything that is going on in that noisy block of Iron (or Aluminium :-). Adrian: I would buy the book, use David Hardcastle's Rover V8 book for inspiration! Alastair PS. My wonderful wife is reading what I've written and says I am mad:rofl:

According to various reading materials a number of M4s were sent to Colombia in the 1940s in a similar fashion to other Central and South American countries. The locals I have spoken to down here in Colombia all say that Colombia has never had ANY tanks what so ever! News is a bit sketchy here so they probably did....any further info? A thought, where do people think the next Sherman to be restored is going to come from? If I were to make a bet I reckon India or Pakistan would be the best place to find one that hasnt been changed beyond all recognition! That is if they have not all been gas axed:cry:

Hi All, Although I am new to this forum I am not new to MVs having started the interest back in 1992 when I met a local farmer who owned a Sherman Grizzly and Diamond T. Luckly enough I got to watch him drive around, on and off the Diamond T transporter and on a couple of occasions I had a rumage around in the turret and got to sit in the drivers position.... I was only 13! In 94 my Dad took me to Normandy for the 50th which was a fantastic trip, unforgetable... I even got to say hello to Major Howard outside the Cafe at PB. Later brought and restored a 1966 Landy and a 1969 Lwt Landy, brought a 1971 Spitfire and a 1972 TR6 which were already in good condition. Ever since 1994 I have built MV models and wone a couple of awards, but only very minor ones. Although I am qualified as a metalurgist to MEng level I went on to work for Jaguar and since 2003 have worked for Siemens Turbines in Lincoln, UK as a Commissioning Engineer / Controls Engineer which has taken me all around the world for months on end in Desert camps, Jungle compounds and also some nice cities... that is where I am at the moment: Cali, Colombia, in South America. I am only really intrested in Armour and am building up to restoring a WW2 vehicle of some kind with the scope wide open from a Carrier to a Medium AFV...it is just a pity that the price of WW2 AFVs had rocketed since my intrest was first sparked:cry: Oh yes, my main intrest is engines, any and all, I spent most of my Uni years rebuilding Rover V8s for people and trading spares between Racing types and Landy types.... Thats All Alastair McMurray PS. My Dad owns a small Steel and Iron Foundry in Bilston, UK who support the Vintage Sports Car Racing scene and Historic Vehicles as well as making parts for current British AFVs. Formcast Ltd.

Any idea of the as sold prices? Alastair

Not long ago I saw some photos of a number (6 or 7 Pz IV) hulks that had just been removed from their fixed positions on the Turkish border in Bulgaria. Some looked OK but the majority were only hulls with turrets, everything else having been stripped out many years ago when they were burried as gun emplacements. The rumers with the photos said that they were to be auctioned this year or in 2009.... Any news? When I first saw them I thought they were too far gone to be the bases of a viable project, having seen the M4A4 on this site I am now not so sure.... Alastair PS. I will try and find the photos again, they really are fascinating!

I saw that photo a while ago too. Look at the tracks, they are Grizzly based for sure. IIRC the photo was take in Portugal, I am amazed that there were no buyers, or perhaps it was easier to scrap them and get the quick cash at the time.... Alastair

It is incredible that so many WW2 tracked vehicles have been restored in recent years. I started to follow the interest back in 1992 when I first saw a local farmer driving his M4A1 Grizzly Nr Bobbington in South Staffs, he also had a Diamond T. We got chatting and eventually followed him over to Normandy for the 50th in 1994. IIRC there were two Grizzlys a Sexton and a few M5 Stuarts, one of them was local to me having come from Bridgenorth! NOW, there seem to be so many restored examples in the UK that I find it hard to believe. Where are they all coming from? For me the life of the vehicle pre-restoration is as intresting as the vehicle itself....I know that the farmers Grizzly came from Portugal and he brought it for next to nothing ! Lucky bugger :-) Alastair Cali, Colombia (at the moment)