mark m uk

I'd guess you guys are pretty much the same as myself and hoard loads of useless stuff. The garage/workshop generally becomes your own private domain - so what things do you have as useless decoration on the walls ? I have loads of old junk hanging from the walls of my garage This is my favorite piece - a couple of years back I stumbled across a picture of it on the interweb, A very special day in 'Ye old Yankee pub' celebrateing the end of the war in Europe, May 1945.

I don't think I seen anyone put 'G503' - is that significant ?

:-D....Go on, post it up, I want to see it if no one else does. Way I figure, life is too short to alienate people that have the same hobby and only disagree on the preference of a couple of years, a shade of paint or a particular countries products. There is no shortage of peadophiles and polititians to hate.

I like them coming...............gives me something to laugh at, a bit of light comedy can make the day go well :-D Seriously, I agree with you. I do prefer my stuff to be authentic, and certainly I prefer to see well restored and original vehicles at military vehicle shows. I do sometimes take my military stuff to classic car shows - they are very welcoming, and seem to have a very pleasant disposition that does not include a prejudice of design type - they just enjoy life with an open mind, and have a nice time - all together.

I second this, Vladimir is top guy in my book,. He sends parts befor the money gets to him. It is all done on trust, and it makes a real change for the trust to be this way around. His stuff is very good too. I guess sooner or later some pig will take advantage of his good nature, and it will be 'business as usual'

I do,..............It's only an old 432. Of course it is OK to cut them up and smelt them for metal to be reused in the manufacture of dustbins, but if someone takes a piece of scrap and makes it into a vehicle that loads of people will have fun with, then what ? We should pick up the pitchforks and flaming torches and organise a vigilante hunt ?..............I personally think their efforts and hard work should be applauded. No, it is not to my personal taste - I would never waste that amount of time and money making such a piece of crap out of something that was better befor the time, money and effort was wasted on it. But so what ? .............I do not have a monopoly on good taste, only what I consider good taste. The very vehicles that we strive to preserve, were for the most part (allied) manufactured specificly to maintain a way of existance where freedom was the fundamental principle of life - that freedom includes allowing others to do as they like, and to enjoy life as they see fit. If that includes painting some old scrap red - so be it, lets celebrate the creativity and applaud the effort.:yay: :yay: Yi Haaaaaaaaa !

Next year, My hummvee will be wearing the 'redneck' look.

Some great views here expressed on the subject of originality. Most opinions are either leaning towards one side or the other. Personally, I believe it depends on a number of factors, What you have, how rare is it, what money you have, are just a few that spring to mind and are all part of the mix that has to be considered. This will upset some purists, I have a '43 GPW. I bought it over 30 years ago in a very sorry state. It was my first car, and aged about 18, was my daily driver for many years. If ever there were an example of 'triggers broom' - there it is. Since I bought it, it has had 2 different engines, 1 rear axle, 3 gearboxes, 2 transfers, 2 sets of rear springs, 1 set on the front, a replacement ww2 body and now a philipino one (I can hear the tea being spat out) repro seats, repro bonnet hotchkiss windshield - I couldn't give a tuppeny fart. Why ? .....because the world is nearly poisoned with jeeps, there will always be a nice one for someone to look at on showgrounds. Mine is for fun. My amusement, not for anyone else's benifit. I have come in for a lot of stick in the past from very critical MB and GPW owners that are all to quick to sneer and pass judgement. look down their noses at me because of the blatant use of post war spares - and still the cheek to paint a white star on the bonnet. I also have a GPA, and you would be very hard pressed to find a better, more complete and original example. So, I have a foot in both camps

Pleased to meet you John, You are a brave man taking on such a daunting task. I wish you every success and a great deal of luck with your project. DUKW's are the absolute tops when it comes to fun and adventure. Your scheme to sail the channel is the mark of a true adventurer, I wish you every success with that. I was lucky enough to get an invite to crew on one when we sailed the channel for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. A great thing to have done, an adventure I wont be forgetting anytime soon, and enormous gratitude to the DUKW owner for inviting me.

I occaisionally sell one or two. I don't deal, I collect. PM me with your requirements, and I will see if I have anything that you might be interested in.

:rofl: .............top post !

Yep ! 1%, Y'see the facts are the facts - statistics help sell anything. Problem is 97.5% of people interviewed said they would tell lies during a survey for statistical research. :???

A very good point - this is exactly how new levels of monitary value for all this old crap are achieved. That para helmet, is no more useless than a deactivated weapon, Hitlers errant testicle, a finely restored Sherman, Eva Brauns undies, a lancaster bomber or the Ark Royal. None of the above have any real value above scrap - so the amount of money that change hands for is irrelevent anyway. Strange isn't it. We have all heard that rather smug reply to the eternal question of "what do you think this is worth?" People that have no idea, are not prepared to go on record with an opinion, cant resist answering in the rather obvious and well worn phrase "its worth whatever anyone is prepared to pay for it" So here is the question - "what is an unoriginal us WW2 parahelmet worth?"..............and the reply could now legitemately be "about £55,000"

Exchange and Mart ?.............you'l be telling us you used to buy jeep spares from metamet next :-D Regards Mark.

:-D..........Yep Ashley, you certainly know your stuff - Enigma wrote that you were the resident German helmet expert. I'll show you mine, if you show me yours :-D regards Mark.

Thanks for the additional information, Enigma. Can you clarify this business about the D bales being stainless. All my fixed bales (about 15) have stainless bales, my swivels are about 25% stainless. The only D bale I have is a semi relic, and has steel bale - i assumed it was a fake/repro, because the bale was not Stainless. Hopefully you will be able to help me understand a little more about the US M1 helmets I have. Regards Mark. P.S. Hopefully you will be able to help with the German stuff too :-D

That is news to me - learning all the time here. I thought all wartime production were riveted under the 'A' Frames. Also interested to hear/learn more about the lot no, (I assume you refer to the heat stamp) you are the first person I heard of to figure out how to date an M1 fom that, Regards Mark.

Here is a link as requested to the auction site that has the helmet. http://www.hermann-historica.de/gb/index_58_auktion_nov.htm Look under 'USA' then about page three of the catalouge. I agree enigma, the straps are wrong - there is no male popper on the extended strap to secure to the liner - sure, some M1, FB's were used with para liners but this has the 'D' bales, and none were made without poppers on the straps. Plus those bales should be stainless and the ones in the auctioned helmet are rusty. I find it amazing that anyone that has 55k to spend on a helmet is A) to dim to know what he is buying, and B) to dim to ask opinions. Regards Mark.

I have been following an auction this last week that has taken place in Germany. I was attracted to the auction by a schwimmwagen - but it made too much money for me, never mind. The auction also had all types of militaria, and as I also have a small collection of steel helmets I kept my eye on a few of the 'desirable' items. Here is an item from the auction. A WW2 U.S. Para helmet. Marked up as a helmet of the 502nd Parachute infantry regiment, 101st Airborne Division. OK, sitting down ?...............it made a hammer price of 46,000.00 Euros, the house fee was 23%, so this helmet cost the lucky winner - approx £55,000.00 Now here is the rub,................it is a fake. The liner is a post war Korean war liner, the shell has been altered. Most likely the para D bales have been added to a mid war front seam helmet with swivels. Certainly the chinstrap is wrong. The painted heart is too large - I could go on and on, but I am convinced it is a fake. Some poor schmuck has parted with a lot of dough for somthing you can buy all day long for a oner. Regards Mark

Yep, not so far off 30 years ago - my, how time flies! Hadn't noticed those stars befor - you could be right.

er.......................it's a comic ! :-D well spotted, I imagine it was one they cut out of a poster for the battle of britain film - a Casa built (I think) merlin engined Spanish Me109.

lol: Victor, Hornet, remember those comics? Comics eh ? That is so 'last century', but they had their rightful place in social culture and were a prominant part of most young peoples lives..........eventually they died out and were consigned to the collectors shelves, ....but what about that last gasp of the genre, the 'final fart of the ferret' - worst comics ever made were the 'photo strip' format, an act of desperation. Some of the titles from the 50's and 60's were determined not to go down without a fight - here is one that should revive a few memories. Eagle comic, ..................How dreadful is this ? Now imagine admitting to your kids that you were the model that played 'Maddocks' :lol: ...........how embarrassing is that ? ....and would you admit that, or keep it quiet ........

Good stuff Mr Deep, I almost agree - only one I don't agree on is the Sherman hatches, I love 'em. TBH, not much of a tramp that isn't over engineered. Its a clever piece of kit, but I really think they lost the plot, somone should have gone into the designers room and written on the blackboard 'SIMPLE' 'CHEAP'

OK, just for a bit of fun, In another thread, I posted a picture of a swim prop unit from a Schwimmwagen. Another forum member remarked that he thought it was a nice looking piece of kit. This was my reply "I really like the bonnets on Dodges, the way they are hinged and all the vents just look so good - I also like front wings on Jimmies, Radiator grill on an MB/GPW Split screen on a Diamond T I cant bear the front wings on White half tracks - yuk ! Most British built lorries look like they have already had an accident. Guy ant - ugliest truck ever invented. Kubel - looks like the designer couldn't draw freehand so just used a ruler. Ketten krad - most over-engineered motorcycle, and totally fantastic." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyhow, that got me to thinking it might be a bit of fun to ask you guys for your thoughts and random likes and dislikes as far as individual; componants or parts are concerned - from an aesthetic point of view.

How wonderful Nice to see Karma in action.