simon king

Could it be the repurposed generating set and trailer from an RAF Chance Light? see http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?1007-Chance-Light&

Sprayed the markings over the weekend - in addition to these seen, there's just tyre pressures on the mudguards and the unit serial on the o/s/f frame. Might add the speed limit if I can tease the stencil round various bolts and fit between two rope hooks. Last step today was to finally attach the new dataplate - from Robert at Dataplates4U. Luckily the plate for a GS trailer built by SS Cars was a stock item

Alastair - my point is that why should the Tank Museum have to farm out restorations or rely on swapsies. As a national museum with a staffed, fully equipped workshop and presumably plenty of goodwill to call upon if required,, surely there should be the in house capability, desire and drive to undertake a full range of restoration work without the need to rely on these alternatives. If individuals can do it, why shouldn't what is arguably the best tank museum in the world be doing the same with vehicles of national importance - ie the last survivors (Cavalier) or sole home based examples (A30 Challenger). Look at what you've done with the Loyd (i'm sure you do every day) or Adrian's or Tim's Shermans -or Rick's Cromwell - or any number of privately managed and financed restorations. I just don't see any projects of similar magnitude being undertaken in-house by our national museum, which should be equally capable of churning out such restorations.

I'd like to see the Tank Museum completing their collection of British designed and manufactured tanks so would hope that the A24 Cavalier and A30 Challenger soon figure somewhat higher on the restoration list that where they currently appear to languish. Come to think of it, what has been fundamentally restored from a wreck or a less than promising starting point (as many private individuals seem to be able to achieve) - as opposed to just kept running - in the museum's workshops.

Sorry Niels - should have been more specific - was referring to the Me110

thanks - i appreciate your response. Hadn't seen it on any of the survivors listings so was wondering its provenance.

Niels - apologies for the thread drift Is the Me110 in your museum an original airframe or a reproduction with/without some original parts? thanks sk

BS381c No 499 Service Brown - as per the above thread

The warm weather this week has enabled me to progress the painting a bit. Got the first coat on the outside - just the inside of the bed to paint. OK I know I should have started on the inside - but I was only going to do the odd difficult bit on the outside and then got carried away.................. Not entirely happy with the finish (semi-matt BS381c 499 Service Brown) as it's not a constant matt finish - so might rub it down and recoat - or even flash over some thinned Ronseal satin varnish - something I've used before - if it browns with age it's not going to matter. Any ideas how to avoid the "pooling" which seems to lead to patches of shinier paint? - or any recommendations for idiot-proof non-temperamental paint. Hey ho - One step forward and two steps back

The best reference for colours around are probably Mike Starmer's self published books - particularly the one for North West Europe in our case. They include precisely matched colour chips. see: http://matadormodels.co.uk/tank_museum/xcamo_starmer.htm Having said that - although there were standard SCC colour charts issued to manufacturers, I suspect interpretation differed from manufacturer to manufacturer - if my experience of trying to match the current standard 298 olive drab from one manufacturer to another is anything to go by.......

David Fletcher or Pat Ware is probably writing one as we speak to be published by Haynes................

Still got the vertical footmen's loops on the rear panel for the Humber sidescreens, as well as those on the side below the hood bow mounting. There should also be an angled one on the outside in the general area of the driver's/passenger's hips. The Lucas horn push is often indicative or an airborne conversion as the standard horn push on the steering wheel was lost when the quick release mechanism for the wheel was fitted.

Another one and a half genny trailers for sale http://www.milweb.net/classifieds/large_image.php?ad=76689&cat=7 wish I was nearer sk

The 2-ton rated Morris Commercial WD10/40 was a military version of the commercial model CS10/80 produced from 1936 -1940. The one pictured in the pre-war Vanderveen Directory has no step in the bulkhead, with the doors in a line with the bonnet, a single piece windscreen and no brush bar though

is the Spirit of St Louis down for a refurb? - those definitely aren't the original wheels..............

Must admit I was doubtful at first but it was just possible to determine the faint outline of a hole through the hinge pins filled with the cross section of a split pin when I de-rusted and cleaned up them up. With that evidence it was just a case of drilling them out as the remnants of the split pins were rusted solidly into the hinge pins. More likely that the mortar trailer was designed to carry nothing larger than mortar parts or boxed mortar bombs so no need for a removeable tail or head board - he said charitably :-)

Thanks Tony - always good to have comments from the 10cwt trailer community. No the hinge pins are as original - The pins were/are drilled for a split pin and a retaining washer so the tailgate can be removed as required - so presumably if the load is longer than the trailer bed then you can transport said item without the tailgate swinging around and banging itself to bits Finished your nice new compressor yet :-)

Primed the mudguards yesterday and fitted them today - so that's all the hard work done. Looks a bit like a Bomb Disposal trailer at the moment though. Made up an L-shaped plate for the axle flood/tail light changeover switch and Butler WD type tailight. The axle floodlight has been fitted with a little L-bracket to the central of the three brackets (for who knows what???) which are welded to the frame. Seemed to be a pragmatic solution - although as I had to replace it, I think it had been cut off originally to allow the fitment of the floodlight and switch on a flat plate. The axle plate is an original item. Although the T-plate was originally hung on two bars welded to the RHS rear stanchion, I decided to instead screw it to the RHS of the tailgate - it fits nicely. There is a precedent for this - see the example parked up at Pegasus Bridge

What about something like this http://www.banburytrailers.co.uk/trailer-mudguard/plain-steel Original is 170mm wide so wider but surely worth a punt to adapt if you can't find decent originals

John - thanks for the comments. Tony - I fell lucky - managed to swap them with someone for the old mudguards plus a chunk of cash - so can't help I'm afraid I'm going to do something different with the markings - no Div/AoS signs but instead just the unit code number and three coloured POM bars on the rear LHS as seen on some British vehicles around D-Day. The order to remove existing markings and replace them in this format for security reasons seems to have been widely ignored in British/Commonwealth units but it is on record that these Allied orders went to both British/Commonwealth and American unit commanders

Been a while but finally some progress - other than just filling the bolt holes in the woodwork. Got the replacement mudguards reshaped last week (thanks Bill!) and fitted the first of them today. Wasn't easy as neither brackets nor mudguards are original to the trailer - although the mudguards were off one of the 10cwt trailer family - but they seem to be OK. Second one tomorrow - weather permitting - and then it's fitting the brake rods, adjusting the brakes and finishing the wiring before it's ready for paint and markings - there were times when I never thought I'd get here. As an aside - it may be coincidence or not but the body is exactly the height of a jerrycan

see http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?48067-Is-this-a-wartime-British-10-cwt-GS-trailer

Think that's a Robey-built Maurice Farman MF.11 Shorthorn

You only need a minimum of 50 people to say they'd pay 25p a week and it's sorted. If there was an idiot/memory proof way of doing it I'd be happy to contibute - but not PayPal!

Heavy Recovery Section or Heavy Repair Shop perhaps. See http://www.thelincolnshireregiment.org/abbreviations.shtml