Snapper

Makes sense - a model is a model and should be admired for the work involved - it would be a shame to cover up the wood and brass. As for the cab, someone will be along to tell you about Deep Bronze Green or something similar...will you be adding the mud guards? Best regards, MB

Nice on Roland. Thats that one sorted then!

Now that would be good. A flag for each location or nationality on the forum standing in on the hill up by the wind turbine Jack built last year and which should be working again by Easter. What happened to the Egyptian fella who was on here for a while? From memory we have the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Rep of Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Canada, USA, Australia, NZ, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Libya, Colombia, Germany, Malta, Italy, South Africa, Egypt... please add (and apologies to those I have forgotten...............)

One of the 6x6 Saurers with a drivers steering wheel for left and right was at the HCVS Brighton run in 1987 - the first year I went. I think it was part of a collection which has since been sold off. It was a stunning vehicle. I can't remember the type number off hand.

Hey Dude, are you going to paint over all that nice wood and metal work? It looks fantastic...

You're not joking Mike.I've been out to her (2001) and it was something of an excellent if scary experience. My snaps show the distant masts protruding through the surface and the boom around her. I'll see if I can find them - they are not dramatic - more like sticks in a pond.The ship lies off the Isle of Grain in the Thames Estuary and is opposite Southend on Sea where I live. The explosion, when it happens - (not many ifs on that score) will be catastrophic and the tidal wave alone will do huge damage to Southend, Sheppey and right up the Medway. We live on high ground, but I still don't fancy it when the day comes. They took a lot of explosives off the wreck year ago, but much remains.The remaining explosives, three and half thousand tons of it - is mainly made up from high explosive bombs which some websites say are safe. The big problem is a couple of hundred tons of highly unstable cluster bombs on the deck, which is rotting away. If these fall through and detonate......call your insurance company. There are rumblings that the powers that be are going to make a concerted effort to remove the explosives. With the new container port opening in a few years shipping traffic of very large vessels will multiply in a big way. So, the wreck must surely go. They have been trashing other wrecks to clear a channel for the port already. Fun times ahead.

We have similar shots taken from the roof of the Times office at Queen Victoria Street, which was itself blitzed, but others were also taken from Unilever House and the Daily Mail's building in Tudor Street. They are all brilliant snaps. There is a classic old book, The City That Would Not Die from 1953 (ish) and the more recent Blitz, which tell the story of these nightmare days brilliantly. Highly recommended. MB

A quality item, cheers Nick!

Panzer 38T based on the Czech design. Also made in Sweden. It's a great little tank - a beautiful restoration. At the other end of the scale I still have the Fujimi model of one I built in 1974. The other vehicle is a kfz - a Horch, I think. Someone will know better. MB

I think the word I am looking for is WOW! I love those Saurer trucks. Feel free to update at any time with more snaps and details on the collection. (Looks like we have another forum tour to organise, Jack!)

Agreed. This is great news, Phil;and good on the MVT at all levels. MB

You have an interesting story to tell there, Mike. I am a Scots-Irish-English mix and am British to the core. We skirt as carefully around politics as we can on the forum - avoiding it as much as possible - my old Dad (who was a committed communist) always said NEVER discuss politics and religion. I was a five minute wonder in the army as opposed to a good many blokes on this forum who had to serve across the Irish sea. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and everyone has a point of view and no one side can claim to have their hands clean - it would be a lie. But being entirely biased I would direct you to the excellent book A Long, Long War by Ken Wharton; which is covered elsewhere on HMVF; which is a sorry tale of how the armed forces always get the excremental end of the politicians' stick. Things never change....

Don't worry about your English - worry about ours! Good to have you here. We like Cents. MB

Happy days, Boely. Welcome aboard.

Not until May, scalliwag. Not until May. Lots to win and lose in the mean time.:coffee: mb

Good to have you here Rob. Being a little shaky on computers is no problem.. I'm always having to rescue the other moderators. Just ask them! MB

Welcome Steve - No bar on membership because you don't have an MV...hopefully you'll get some ideas how to spend your dollars - depending on the economic slide. MB

If you ever watch the classic In Which We Serve - you'll see a JU88 doing it's stuff for the camera. I think this is a captured one - but someone will correct me. M

Yep. But my son has discovered guns since.....

Welcome to the Friendly Forum. We definitely have plenty of room for many more folk from across the Pond. Owning a Ferret and a Pig proves you have a sense of humour. Writing from Baghdad proves you are completely nuts. You have come to the right place! We do have some clubhouse rules you will need to follow. We can provide our own burgers - but we don't like ketchup stains on the Mess carpet. Jack can't get the staff to clean them up. MB

Ups and Downs: Getting back to reality after months of kneesy does it. A quick jaunt to the Somme in April. Viking funeral for the Renault 5 at the Bunker Bash. Beltring snapping - always good and bad moments. Campire frolics with HMVF crowd. The plank conspiracy. My neice's wedding - the first in our family for 20 years = quite an occasion. BUYING THE MUTT - heaven. Rebuilding my house - ten weeks of dusty chaos. Still more to do. Going To Hong kong. Waiting for the chop....

No socks this year. Books (no surprise) a couple of cds (no surprise) a small remote control Tiger tank (minutes of fun) and a window box (required). M

Nice to have you here Mike. I haven't been on the island since 2002, but it is one of my favourite places. It's always a pleasure to build up the Canadian branch on HMVF - so welcome to the Friendly Forum. There are or have been a few other lads from BC on the forum - some of them Western Command Association members from BC. Maple Leaf Up! MB

This all sounds interesting, if a little daunting, to me..Please let us know how things went, Deggsy. Richard - did you let the Cubelets near their pressies?

We really need to look at this method in a bit more detail for the HMVF book. I'd appreciate opinions and any further info especially from Paul and anyone who can work on this sort of system to see if it is a runner for us. It strikes me that if this is a path to go down we would might need to secure orders up front and to do that you all would need to see some samples of the content. Having your name in it should not necessarily be enough to flex your friend. Discuss..