Snapper

It is very stable, even with my driving.....:coffee: All correct on the handling....the A2 is a pussycat. I am trying to wreck the gear box going from second into third, but I am actually doing very well with the driving. This is me talking about a jeep - not a bloody wrecker...I guess its what you're used to. Mrs Barnes does not like the MUTT experience any more than she liked the Iltis ...and she HATED (DOUBLE UNDERLINED - IN LUMINOUS BOLD TYPE) the Iltis. I believe there are twenty or so in the UK. I have to admit to having joined the MUTT owners forum G383.com I've been chatting with a Texas based Brit who has several Mutts, a Ferret and a Fox and an Abbot out there. Told him about the Friendly Forum and hopefully he'll have a look. MB

No need to say any more about the stunning restoration of this vehicle done by ToocleverMike. It is brilliant. It now lives with me in Essex. I should have been at Mayhem, but stuff came up on Friday which put an end to that. Sorry. So, here is the MUTT in Westcliff On Sea. She is class. There are a couple of oil leaks to investigate but this is hardly shocking from a 37 year old machine. I am totally made up....cheers Mike! MB

Really sorry I had to cancel at the last minute. I am disappointed to have missed everyone. It was all looking good, but there were a number of logistics issues that made it impossible for me to attend. I know I've let people down and I hope to catch up in due course.... MB

STOP PRESS: I can't get down to Faversham on saturday due to some stuff I have to deal with at home. Nothing to do with the MUTT which is going like a train...It would do given the quality of the build by a tall man from Surrey. It's a question of timing for me. I could only do Saturday anyway, and need to spend some of the day on stuff here. Humble apologies to every one I have let down. MB

Fantastic bit of kit. Thanks for showing us the snaps and sharing the info.

My two are sixteen and thirteen. However, my niece brought a nice young man to visit us a few years ago. I took him out for a ride in the Iltis which ended up with it being recovered by the RAC and his future father in law jumped out of the thing and walked into a lamp post; and do you know what? He still married her. Congratulations to you and your family, Robert.

These are superb models and I see no problem with model making being an aspect of the forum whatsoever here in the other chatter area and welcome more examples and lots of information...I have a large collection of die cast models and have a small number of military models...but it is a very casual interest these days. I do, however, hope to find some Authenticast solid models of armour and MVs made in the USA in the forties and fifties (though they also made aeroplanes and ships).....so if you chaps see any, let me know. I'll try to post some snaps of the three I have...the molds were sold on and there are variations. I don't care. They just look good. MB

Ok - who is attending Mayhem that I have promised snaps to?? I owe Lee, Mike, Mark the fireman, John Wheatley, Redcap and a raft of others. MB

well, you certainly do Master Banner, T.:-D I've seen your mid-term report from Mr Plank the headmaster....:sweat: MB (History faculty).

No north south divide poo here. We are all mates doing what we like to a very high standard (even Jack the King of the Planks). Enjoy... MB

Welcome aboard Jan, Hope you enjoy your time hanging around with the Friendly Forum gang. MB

Welcome to the Friendly Forum. I totally agree it would be a shame to lose all that originality. There are a few Quad Ants in military guise. Yours is wonderful as it is and looks amazing. Keeping it running is another matter altogether. You need all the support we can help you with and no doubt Steve's MVT contacts would do likewise. You've got an absolute classic there. MB

This must apply to a million sales items. The sad thing is, there ARE people who fall for it. How many articles have you seen where people have actually paid money to Dutch lotteries or to Nigerian ministers in the hope they will get the cash? To be forewarned is to be forearmed, they used to say, so sharing examples of this stupid business is a brilliant use of forum time. Thanks to all concerned so far. MB

Have you been using electrickery, Dave? Bloody clever.... Look forward to seeing more of your Boticellis. MB

Some excellent photos. I would say, however, that many of these MVs look exactly the same as last year. But I wasn't there. MB

Definetly looks like a scam to me. Not dissimilar to the chancers I had when I sold the Iltis. I do not blame the sales method, it is just the b4st4rds out there looking for any way to get one over on people.

Believe me, Dave, I never overestimate my abilities! Always happy to meet up and see how you work... I've never been brave to do anything but record things using faster shutter speeds. I think I'd like to try something clever, but the W&P is not the place for it. I hope to post some decent (maybe) event snaps in the days ahead. I've been swamped with family stuff...but there is more on the horizon - small matter of a lad's birthday and picking up an MV. Watch this space.

The shot from the cherry picker was done by John Blackman and the shot of JB with his trophy is by Simon Thomson. The guy up in the cherry picker using my camera was Marc Summers. I've got a raft of snaps of the award thingy and the aerials. I'm happy to supply. I'm on the case with the majority of people I snapped. MB

Here's a snap of the Severn Leigh sinking... I'll try and add some other stuff at a later date.

at 12.50pm on this very day in 1940, the merchant ship Severn Leigh, commanded by Captain Robert George Hammet OBE, was torpedoed south of Iceland by the U-37 commanded by the ace Victor Oerhn. She was carrying ballast from Hull to St John's,Newfoundland. It was a tragic meeting. There were 43 men on the merchant ship, which had been part of Convoy OA-200 which had been dispersed three days earlier. Out of a the crew, only ten men survived the sinking. The ship was hit by one torpedo and while abandoning her, the enemy submarine captain noted that the wireless was still transmitting and that the rear deck gun was still manned. He surfaced and opened fire. It was here that most of the crew were killed when a shell destroyed two full life boats. The ten survivors were left in two open boats and it was from there they began an epic journey which took them to the Western Isles of Scotland where they made landfall on September 5th. Captain Hammet was awarded the Lloyd's Medal and his 3rd Officer, Edward Leslie Barnes, the George Medal - the first to be awarded to a Merchant Navy man. Edward was my dad's older brother. He was born in 1913 and had served in the Royal Navy between the wars. He served with the Merchant Navy throughout WW2 and died of heart failure in 1957 in the cabin of the ship he captained- at Buenos Aires - two years before I was born.

Welcome to the Fun House.....hope you have a grand long stay. Feel free to build your own pier or tower in the back garden by the ornamental pool. MB

I'd emmigrate, if I were you.:-D

Now you see, this is the power of HMVF. I come along to ask for opinions on tarting up a lump of wood and iron. You lot go all mushy on the glory days of gas settings and all manner of musketry. Top hole. What has any of this got to do with MY SLR? Don't care. As you were. Carry on....:-D

I know you were, I was using some Vietnam irony. Thanks for the tip. Could you kindly pass it on to the other clowns with whom I was putting the tent up. Ta:sweat:

You weren't there, man.... Crochet with canvas is not my bag.