tim gray

Hi thier, If you do a search for cans of canvass proofer you can get it that has a coloured tint in it restores colour and re proofs it. I don't think thier is much choice in the actuall colours though. Regards Tim

Nice to think that it may actually be true but only time will tell. If proven it would have been a superbly executed task. Not the biggest aircraft in the world but it is an aircraft. If it were still crated, to move it.....locate it as per your wishes, presumably with the wings and get it filled in with all of the subsequent dragmarks etc hidden up by daytime, well, all you can say is good onyer mate! When you think of all the changes to areas over the time scale not surprising that the precise location cannot be pinned down.....when you consider the above it must be close in to the the airfield. Wonder if ground radar would be any good or is it rock solid out thier ?? Tim

"Hi Tim, the RPG didn't penetrate , but caused a lot of spalling on the outer hull just behind the driver hatch and covers......if the driver hadn't of been closed down , he would of been in serious trouble." Hi Thier, Cheers for the reply, i was curious as to how the post war design had coped with a more modern munition. Looking at the chalk marks as you say the driver may have been in trouble. It looks remarkably similar in scenario to that which Beharry survived and was awarded the VC for in more recent ops. He did however suffer serious injuries and was fortunate to survive. Keep up the good work and the pics, its great to see the vehicle being cherished again. Are you also going to delve into the crew compartments etc or hold off at the moment and concentrate on the externals? Regards Tim

With a view to an earlier post re the evidence of an RPG strike, did the RPG actualy penetrate or was the damage limited to external? Tim

Remember some photo,s of the surviving IDF Cents after the golan hights battles, think they were holding back the syrians? horrendous to see what the arty had stripped off the vehicles, i dont think thier was really any fittings left externally yet the crews managed to keep them going and in action. Great work on the go thier, look forward to more. Regards Tim

Absolutley sure that they were used on the engineer headless ferrets, same mount as you have, located to the front plate of the armoured open top section. Dragged an LMG around for a couple of years in the enginneers when i first joined, enjoyed it to be honest.........as a sprog it could have been worse and been the charlie g !! Regards Tim

Hi Chris, The lithy does indeed have the fancy machining to the butt slide assy. Not sure as to your reference to the curved part of the foot on the bipod as the adjustable early ones had rectangular feet with a nick out of one corner and a hole drilled thro. I thought only the latter aussie pattern were curved and also had a foot spike? I was also labouring under the impression that a batch of parts like complete bipods were sent out to speed up the initial production? Hence the possibility of BSA stamps on some parts of the early lithy,s Regards Tim

That is right on the button. So it does exist and to be out in North Africa a qty must have been manufactured and issued. The box is a straight MK1 with no dust seal. Where have they all gone ??? Wonder if both types of mag loader would fit them ? May i down load the pic for my records ?? Regards Tim

Hi Chris, Yup, still got the beast, also scooped up a lithy Mk1 A22. Poor finish but a real warhorse that did not go thro the aussie refurb programme. Just need an original adj bipod for it as its got the non adjustable spike footed job at the moment. Would have had a normal one as original fit. Dont even mind if it was a stacked rifles job as a qty of parts was supplied to start off the production. How are you keeping ? :-D Regards Tim

Yup , The MK1* was issued with both fabric and steel strap/handle. The dates on the drawings for the MK2 mag box are early so presume the intention and design were "borrowed" from the ZB ancilliaries and destined for the bren.........how much/many were made and issued is another issue. The loose round filler and the clip loader for the mags fell out of favour fairly rapidly i should imagine as from my time in the mob i know you can hand fill at a rapid rate. Reason i ask is if i could get one to go with the bren kit it would be rather nice, if not ive got the drawings and i could get a Mk1 or 1* box modified as an example and have some where to store and protect the loader i have. Regards Tim

Hi Gents, Just thought i would test the water here. Has anyone got, or seen, a Bren ammo box Mk2. Metal case with carry strap/handle for placing bren mags in. The difference being the MK2 is split centrally and only carries 6 Mags, 1 mag filler and the gun manual. I have drawings and alegedly thier is an example at the alamien museum (can't confirm that). But ive never seen one in the flesh as it were. The Mk1 box takes 12 mags, and the Mk1* has a felt seal around the lid to keep dust out. Regards Tim

Nice works .........presume big beefy springs for big beefy ballast in the back, lots of work to tow a big laden aircraft. Regards Tim Gray

Hi thier, sorry for the delay in replying, but yes i used my name as an example only, i dont have a problem at the minute

If it was a "follow me" conversion the likley hood that some of the unknown holes will be for rotating amber beacons is strong. Most of the airside vehicles would have had them. Even the little baggage trucks have em on a post mount. Regards Tim

De gunging the moggies fuel tanks after a couple of unintended pregnant pauses last year Hunting for correct parts.......wing mirrors, dizzy etc. Any one got a suitable ww2 seat frame to pattern off???

Dont forget that folks were somwhat different in basic size and build in those days and yor waist was deffinatley in a different place to that we consider today is normal :-D todo with healthier eating i am told.........or the fact we can actually afford food nawadays in most cases. I always wait out and try before i buy. regards

Hi , Been following the thread and thier are mentions of previous case law. Does anyone actually have the references ie DVLA VS GRAY ect? Presumably at least one of them actually created the precedent for defence in the first case? Regards Tim

Believe post war for a foriegn contract. Not actually aware of a specific pouch for the thompson mags. Sten did not originally have a mag pouch, just the basic issue. What i have seen but do not have is a british issue tin case for thompson magazines, 20 rnd only. Regards Tim

Bloke offered me a bag of webbing from his grandads house when i was still serving, offered him 30.00 for it on his description of the kit. Duly delivered and when i got home it had an original para sten mag bandolier in it. Fessed up and gave him a few more quid on the monday. Nice to get tho, keeps your spirits up that its still out thier and miricals do happen. :-D Tim PS 1941 No32 scope mk1 at beltring this year for £120.00 that included the carry case but it has been modified so its missing the internal cast mounting block.( keep yer eyes open it does happen occasionally) Regards Tim

Double standards to say the least, you have sorned the item on thier system and recieved a confirmatory e mail from thier system. They issue automated letters via thier system. AND YOU ARE EXPECTED TO PROVE YOU SORNED IT. How is thier system suitable and sufficient to fine you automatically but not sufficient proof that you have sorned?????? As far as i was aware the burden of proof in our legal system is for the authority to PROVE you are in the wrong, not for you to PROVE you are right. Basically as per previous posts you are guilty before instead of innocent until proved!! These buggers need a kick up the arse.

Usfull bit of kit when used correctly, highligt used correctly. Kinetic ropes will extend to maximum extension then obviously become a fixed tow rope, which still has a set load before it will fail. Once the casualty vehicle begins to move the stored energy will take over when that stored energy overcomes rolling resistance etc. The rope then does the pulling and the recovery vehicle can halt. All very nice as long as you have the data and can work out the recovery calcs which i suspect most will not know how to do. I have a basic tow strop in case of breakdown whereby the outer sleeve is the strength part and performs the towing function, and the inner bungy cords will compress and reduce the tow strop length if i were to overun the strop. Tends to soften the tug when your recovery tractor takes of on you! and stops everything draging along the roads. Stores nice and small and gives you a good final length of tow strop. Regards

Hi Ivor, The chasis plate in my footwell drivers side is plain brass with no infill colours at all. Contract plate on dash ditto. As for the lub charts and info on the engine/gearbox cover they are plain brass but had trace elements of red paint in the lettering of the PTO warning plate. It had been rescued from a barn prior to me and Mr deadman owning it so i cannot say catagorically that the red paint was original. I have wondered myself if the lube chart had coloured infill to the engraving in the same manner as the manuals ( they have black and red lines etc iirc correctly) Lucky man to have enough left to consider colour infill, the lube plate i have is so faint now its almost unreadable (too much MT polishing perhaps) Regards Tim

To be honest i dont know but i doubt it very much. We got them on the back of Chatenden closing down and it made more sense to have all the ADR kit together. Even when we recieved them we were trailing the new hydraulic hammer to go on the front of the terrex heavy wheely. Bit more flexible and handy to use compared to the beast. I actually got on with the compactor OK.......many others hated the bloody thing tho. Had to fail a couple of guys on thier course as they bottled the safety checks, one bloke jumped out of the cab when the overhoist bells went off! Nearly compacted the bloody front end! Best stop or we will disapear into the engineer section!!!!! Regards Tim

Hi thier, Sunday 23/01/2011 News of the World O.A.P M.O.T R.I.P "Historic motors are to be freed from having MOT tests as part of a government assault on red tape. Ministers have decided that all cars built before 1939 will be exempt from the anuall saftey check. They have ordered a review of MOT,S and will anounce changes later this year. The department of transport estimates that 80,000 old vehicles are still roadworthy. They include 54,000 cars, and 23,000 motorbikes as well as thousands of vans coaches and buses. But most do fewer than 900 miles a year. And owners face high costs for MOT,s because they need to use specialist garages. Under the changes, owners will still be expected to keep thier vehicles safe and insured. East Yorkshire MPGreg Knight, who is chairman of the All Party Historic Vehicle Group, said...... " Having to have an annual MOT test for a vehicle that may only travel 100 miles in a year is an unneccessary bureaucratic hurdle" END Article. Interesting to see what will become of this, and i fully recognise that this will not assist the great majority of mil vehicle owners as 1939 appears to have been selected as the cut off. May at least give some guys a bit of relief or angst as i know a couple who have morris vehicles that will fall on both sides of the cut off date, but the vehicles are actually identical in manufacture! Being somewhat wooly the article does not make clear if it is only cars, or inclusive of the other vehicle types mentioned will be included. Comments welcome. Regards Tim

Hi thier, Sunday 23/01/2011 News of the World O.A.P M.O.T R.I.P "Historic motors are to be freed from having MOT tests as part of a government assault on red tape. Ministers have decided that all cars built before 1939 will be exempt from the anuall saftey check. They have ordered a review of MOT,S and will anounce changes later this year. The department of transport estimates that 80,000 old vehicles are still roadworthy. They include 54,000 cars, and 23,000 motorbikes as well as thousands of vans coaches and buses. But most do fewer than 900 miles a year. And owners face high costs for MOT,s because they need to use specialist garages. Under the changes, owners will still be expected to keep thier vehicles safe and insured. East Yorkshire MPGreg Knight, who is chairman of the All Party Historic Vehicle Group, said...... " Having to have an annual MOT test for a vehicle that may only travel 100 miles in a year is an unneccessary bureaucratic hurdle" END Article. Interesting to see what will become of this, and i fully recognise that this will not assist the great majority of mil vehicle owners as 1939 appears to have been selected as the cut off. May at least give some guys a bit of relief or angst as i know a couple who have morris vehicles that will fall on both sides of the cut off date, but the vehicles are actually identical in manufacture! Being somewhat wooly the article does not make clear if it is only cars, or inclusive of the other vehicle types mentioned will be included. Comments welcome. Regards Tim