Jessie The Jeep

That's fine, I'm reading with interest!

I won't bin it, I sleep in it to keep my locks nice at night!

It was carefully chosen, It was going to read 'do you want to feel the weight of my helmet' Steve

Thanks, See my signature!!!! Actually, I'd be perfect if it wasn't for my modesty!!!!!!!!

That was just how the helmet was bought. I won't be using the net on the GRP version. Steve

Making the helmet was quite labour intensive, so I'm not sure anyone would pay the costs for me to make one! Getting the GRP off the football follows the same technique as described above. So long as the GRP doesn't extend more than 50% around the ball, the ball won't be trapped in. You then use the thin plastic strips forced down between the GRP and the surface of the ball. The tougher the plastic used for these strips the better, but it must be thin, about 0.5mm is best. Work these in all the way around, and gradually the GRP will release as the touching surfaces are forced apart. Eventually the two items pop apart! Assuming you waxed the original item well!!!!! Here's a site that explains some of the basics and terminology. I'm sure there are plenty of other 'How To' websites out there. http://www.fibreglass.com/HOWTO/k-mould-frp.htm Steve

I had no plans to produce any further helmets of any nationality. It was just a means to an end to achieve a realistic lightweight helmet for Lynne. I don't really have the time to go into production. The technique isn't difficult if others want to have a go, but I suggest reading up on GRP work and trying a practice piece on a football for example, before having a go on a helmet. Steve

Steel is a rear seam. The GRP is a front seam. I'm yet to do the weathering as the paint hadn't had time to fully harden when the pic was taken. Steve

Lynne bought loads of stuff at Ursel to do a Nurses outfit, but she was unsure about getting a steel helmet because of the weight. She tried one on, but said there was no way she could wear one for more than a few minutes. I told her she should buy it anyway as it had all the internals, and I had a cunning plan! Here's the one we bought. Having been a model maker all my life, bar about the first four years, I figured I could make a lightweight fibreglass copy of the helmet using the original as a mould. First stage was to coat the steel helmet with release wax, polished on and off with a cloth. After that, I brushed on two coats of PVA woodworking glue to form a barrier which would prevent the polyester resin from sticking to the steel. Once that was dry and hardened off, I was ready to start laying up the GRP. Polyester car body filler was then mixed with resin to create a paste gel coat. This would be thick enough to be applied to the helmet on the curved surface without draining away under its own weight before it cured. Once it cured to the 'Green' stage, I started adding strips of fibreglass mat, with more resin to bond it to the gel coat. When the resin had fully cured on the matted layer, the excess resin and mat was trimmed back to the edge of the steel helmet. With the trimming complete, it was time to prize the GRP off the steel. This was done with 12 x 1 inch strips of 1mm thick styrene, forced between the GRP and the steel. Gradually working around the helmet, forcing the strips in released the friction grip the resin had over the steel helmet, and after about 30 minutes, off popped my basic GRP shaped helmet. I now had a smooth inside to the helmet, but a bit of a fragile edge. The inside edge of the GPR helmet was then reinforced with Carbon 'Tows', attached with more polyester resin. These can be seen in the picture below. The outside of the helmet was of course still rough GRP, so all the high spots were sanded down and low areas filled with car body filler. This was then sanded to a smooth finish. Once smooth, it was sprayed with filler primer to check the finish, and once happy, two layers of masking tape were layed around the rim, about 3/16 inch from the edge of the helmet. This left a ridge up against I would apply more body filler. This filler was then sanded down to the level of the masking tape, and once the tape was removed, I was left with the simulated rim of the helmet. The helmet was sprayed again with grey primer, and the seam added to the rim with a sharp knife cutting into the filler. With that done, the helmet was given a base coat of olive drab to see how it all looked. Once the base coat was dry, a second wetter coat was added, and while wet, the helmet was sprinkled with fine ground cork to create the rough texture. Before the first wet coat dried, another coat of paint was added to seal the cork into the paint surface. With that dry, a light rub over with my hand removed any excess large cork chunks. Then it was just a matter of hand painting the markings on the outside. I bought some reproduction straps from Ebay, so all I need to do now is make the attachments before I can then fit them to the helmet! End result, a pretty good copy, which weighs a fraction of the original, and I can probably still get my original purchase price back if I sell the steel one. Steve

I only got a copy a last weekend. With all that went on, you could have filled the whole magazine with Bolero!! Steve

Just done some searching and got this....... G-AMPY and G-AMRA are still registered with 'Air Atlantique' at Coventry, though only G-AMPY is shown on AA's website. G-AMPO was de-registered in 2001 and was placed as a gateguard at RAF Lyneham in Sep01. G-AMPZ was de-registered in 2003 and was transfered to Germany. G-AKNB was de-registered in 1985 and was transfered to the USA. G-AMHJ was de-registered in 2003 and permanently withdrawn from use. G-AMYJ was de-registered in 2001 and went to Elvington. Steve

Yes, it was Embsay this year, on Saturday, so I presume it was one of the Yorkshire MVT members. Steve

Before I start, I'll apologise for the quality of the pics, they were taken with a Halina 'Disc' camera, and by disc I mean the film was a circle of 12 x 10mm square negs! I remember seeing G-AMPO at the last Sunderland Airport Airshow giving pleasure flights in 1982. Then again when I worked at Newcastle Airport after the aircraft had been impounded. It sat at the airport outside our hangar for at least a year before debts were cleared. At one point, the RAF came to visit Newcastle with six hawks. They were to be parked where the Dak was, so we taxied the aircraft down to the 'East Loop' out of the way. Eventually my boss and I gave it a quick look over before pilots from the 'Air Atlantique' company collected it, taking it back to North Weald. I flew in G-AMPY at Cranfield in 1985, but I don't know if it is still in the UK. G-AMYJ I believe is the aircraft now at Elvington. http://www.wheelsandwings.co.uk/07wheelswings/aircraft/elvac1.jpg[/img] I have no idea of the whereabouts of the other aircraft. Steve

Maybe there was a General visiting, and this was all they had for him to ride around in? Steve

I'm with them too, and they were/are significantly cheaper than my previous company. Steve

Here's a few other pics I quite like. Not all perfect pictures, but all have qualities I really like. The C-130 take off has the props squeezing the moisture out of the air, as has the high 'G' loop by the Typhoon. I'm not sure why the other two appeal, but they do. Steve

I used to work in a model making company that did lots of MOD work. Here are a few examples of projects I was involved with. On the warships, I usually ended up making all the little deck vehicles, helicopters, landing craft etc. Boughton Barracuda Airfield Fire Tender - 1/35 Scale Resin Cast http://www.sacarr.co.uk/models/other/7barracuda.JPG[/img] 155mm Howitzer - 1/12 Scale Resin cast http://www.sacarr.co.uk/models/other/15_155mm_howitzer.JPG[/img] HMS Ocean Assault Ship - 1/200 & 1/100 Scale Vac formed hull, Brass/styrene/resin superstructure. http://www.sacarr.co.uk/models/other/16lph1.JPG[/img] http://www.sacarr.co.uk/models/other/17lph2.JPG[/img] RAS Vessel - 1/200 Scale Vac formed hull, Brass/styrene/resin superstructure. http://www.sacarr.co.uk/models/other/18ras.JPG[/img] Steve

I bought a 1/35 scale Jeep and trailer in 2005 to build and measure before buying a real Jeep. Space was tight in the garage because of my aircraft trailer, so I built and measured the model, then scaled up the dimensions to see if it would fit. The measurements said there would be 1 inch each side of the jeep to fit next to the trailer. I bought the Jeep, and as it happens there was 1 1/2 inches each side! http://www.sacarr.co.uk/jeep/newjessie/garage2.jpg[/img] This year I measured the model trailer to see if one of those would fit.... It does, just....... http://www.sacarr.co.uk/jeep/trailer/garage1.jpg[/img] http://www.sacarr.co.uk/jeep/trailer/garage2.jpg[/img] Steve

What was he flying?

Probably in a similar way to houses on a multi agent contract. Steve

Here's one of my favourites, taken not long after I got my Digi SLR. Steve

Steve

The event at Stewart Park in Middlesborough was the first of what we hope will be an annual attraction. The event wasn't just for military vehicles however, and living history groups from all eras of history were present from Romans to the Wild West. My day started at 7:45 heading off to Chester-le-Street where I met up with another jeep for the hour drive to Teesside. There we met up with several other vehicles. From there, we headed to the park in convoy, by chance meeting the rest of the groups vehicles at the park entrance arriving the same time.