dgrev

draganm I had not heard about that 109, great find. Also, please refer to a Tiger I as such, referring to it as a Panzer V1 is confusing. V1 in German terminology is for Versuchs Eines which means experimental mark 1. So that could refer to the prototype or an experimental version of any variant of Panzer. Strictly speaking, the Germans rarely used the Panzer numbering system stated eg. Panzer VI, it just isn't in their grammar. It would be: Tiger I or SdKfz 181 in short form or Sonderkraftfahrzeug 181 Ausfuehrung E ("e" used after "u" if not typing with a German keyboard) in long form (E being version) or Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E Originality As you say, ultimately it really does come down to the owner and any potential buyer as to how much import is placed on how genuine a vehicle may be. There is a story about either a P-40 or P-38 owner at the Oshkosh airshow one year, who apparently was well and truly over rivet counters. His response to yet another criticism of his choice of paint schemes was "you can paint your P-38 (or was it P-40) any colour you like". A great put down. If it was the pink P-40, he was correct and all the supposed experts were wrong. They just could not handle the fact that a pink P-40 was historically correct in the North African theatre. For those who don't know that story, the usual camo yellow very quickly faded to a strange pink colour in the harsh sun. It was quickly realised that it was actually a better match for the terrain than the official yellow. So, back on topic, if someone has the wherewithal to do a Tiger reproduction (note I did NOT say replica) and they do it to a reasonable standard, good on them. But a mutilated T-55 is just a vis mod and in my opinion is a replica, nothing more. Enjoying the debate Draganm! Regards Doug

You did better than me, I could not get that site to work in Firefox or Chrome. Some text only, nothing else.

Dragam > I don't think this debate will ever be settled, I am pretty sure you are correct there. > but I'm not sure using aircraft as a comparable field of collecting is valid IMHO, too much apple vs. Orange. I strongly disagree. Orange vs Mandarin would be a better simile. Both subjects are military fighting machines. Both can require large amounts of money and effort to replicate. If we look at any AFV, the expense, the equipment needed (lathes, milling machines, heavy lift equipment) etc far surpass the infrastructure required to restore/replicate say a Spitfire. Most Spits, Mustangs etc can be replicated in a small hangar. Probably the most capital item would be a press to form the ribs, longerons and fuselage formers. On the other hand, to replicate/restore a Tiger you need lift capacity of at least 30 Tonnes, a large horizontal boring machine (suspension holes), vertical lathe for turret hole and ultimately a VERY big rotisseree (sp?, whatever a hull rotating machine is called). You would then need to make casting patterns for track links and get them done, no small expense there. > With AFV's when is it "original", who knows? I like a simple description like > 1) "mostly original with some reproduced parts" , or > 2) "mostly reproduction with some original parts" . Good point. I still would be commenting "any Tiger is better than no Tiger", but granted, it would need to have inards that look like the real thing, not orphaned T-55 drivetrain. > There are also some vehicles which start in category 2 and eventually make it to category 1 as parts come along, which is a > really cool way to do it if you have the mountain of cash required. Hmmm, AFV promotion scheme, it starts off as a recruit and hopefully eventually makes Field Marshall when it is 100% original? > I've never seen pics of or read about a Tiger Oswalltrum. Same here. I suspect there were none available as Tiger I was out of production by 1943? Whereas Panther was produced right up till the end days. Regards Doug

Colin Who's post are you referring to? Regards Doug

Terry You bring up a thorny point. So lets have a crack at it and see who I can upset or who will agree with my logic...... Were it say a Spitfire - throw in a couple of wartime crashes and rebuilds, then post war neglect rotting somewhere as a gate guard or on a dump in Africa/Asia/Middle East. Then recovered, totally stripped to its component parts, new spars (because NONE of the old ones can be reused in a flying restoration) , re-skinned due to corrosion, then modified to twin seat configuration so it can take a paying passenger to defray huge operating cost etc..... So just how much, give or take, of most of the Spits now flying is original, best guess is around 30% on average, really, the main genuine component is the Merlin NOT the airframe. Most of them are the flying version of Grandpa's axe. But I have yet to meet anyone who will denounce one as "only a replica" - they would define that as one of those fibreglass Spits on a pole at the front gate of an RAF base. Then there is the P-38 Lightening "Glacier Girl" (the recovery story is so improbable, that without the photos and authentication most people would not believe it ever happened). But that airframe now flying, is effectively a new build accessorised with recovered components. However, given its provenance and the rarity of flying P-38s, everyone goes "oh wow a Lightening". Then lets consider the couple of Mosquitos that the Kiwis have done ground up builds to result in the world's ONLY airworthy Mosquitos. Without them, there would be none flying, but they are replicas none the less. I for one would not be the least bit sniffy about, especially so given even half a chance for a ride! I do not see why the tank world should be held to a different standard. If Jim has the resources to build a genuine Panther replica, or someone else a Tiger (rather than just another bodged up T-55 as is the norm) then I say good on them and I will be intrigued to see the story here on HMVF. Yes I would expect as many genuine parts as possible, but given the avarice of those most likely to be in possession of them as "ground finds", that could be a very expensive nod to authenticity. It may be just as cost effective to replicate the parts along similar lines to the way they were originally fabricated. Perhaps a good guide is the Gosling clan WW1 restorations. They use genuine where they can, fabricate as close as possible to original spec when they can't obtain the real part. (See their incredible restorations in the "pre-WW2 vehicles" category on this site). Personally, I own a Kettenkrad. It is one of the post war - allied occupation power permission - 550 builds. It took me over 8 years to get a KK and I am not miffed that the date on the data plate is higher than the end of WW2. Although many people are. I have had some people turn their backs and refuse to look at it (as incredible as that seems) "because it is not wartime", yet mine is the only KK they have ever been near in the flesh. I don't even bother trying to talk to them if they are that bigoted. I can name several people (but won't) who will not even consider a post war KK, "because it is not wartime". They have been making that comment to me for a number of years and are still to yet find a wartime build that their bank balance can handle. It will not surprise me one little bit if their sniffyness results in them never actually having a KK in their garage. To me, any KK is better than no KK - they disagree. What's that old saying "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck (has bodily functions like a duck)....... then it is a duck". Besides, no way could I have afforded the cost of a WW2 build (with the reality of ending up with an example in much poorer condition). Where I would NOT follow authenticity is with known defects. Gearbox in Tiger being a glaring example. Who would want to go to all the expense of restoration/replication with a high failure rate and risk your pride and joy breaking down every chance it got. Better to use modern metals and have a replicated gearbox that looks the part but with some of its innards "tweaked". Well, that is my opinion from Oz, who agrees/disagrees? Regards Doug http://www.owningtanks.com

The new broom has had a few issues now to make a difference. The May 2017 is the most recent I have here in Oz. I found the Kübelwagen history was interesting and extensive. Not sure that this magazine is the place for a short article in the "News" section about M1A1 Abrams being fitted with reactive armor, plus other current vehicle snippets. We are collectors of obsolete HMVs. If we really wanted to read about the latest vehicle mods we would be buying Defence Weekly or such. Credit where credit is due, I note that Richard F's gripe about low contrast text on photos has been noted and not repeated. Every photo that had text on it had sufficient contrast to be legible. Although the white text on a mid or dark background is a bit demanding on the eyes. There does seem to be a W&T feel to the articles on WW1 trucks and obscure Italian (Vespa TAP) and French vehicles (Panhard 178). Not sure how much interest there is in the latter, but it is an attempt at variety and I get the impression from the posts here, that is what the readership would like. A lot of self controlled must have been exerted to result in the minimal amount of text devoted to Jeeps and Landies. ;-) I note the "highlighted exert" (I commented on it in post #27) went away for the first issue and then immediately came back the following issue. Which does suggest that the editor may have got a rap over the knuckles for deviating from the official formula. That being the case, I don't envy him his job. If the readership are letting their displeasure be known here, but if those on high are dictating the corporate policy, we all know who triumphs in that battle. Traditional media is suffering an identity crisis in the era of instant information, so no doubt this will be an ongoing area of interest.

Rick I note the turret ring has taken a massive hit. What size turret ring fits? Is it the same as Matilda, Staghound, Lee/Grant? Regards Doug

The thought of the work involved in restoring that thing is sobering to say the least. I would guess that both the engine and transmission will have taken hits during its target days, hull work can be done from new materials, but how to source a usable Meadows engine and a correct Wilson transmission would be quite a task? By the way, many years ago I came across 2 or 3 sets of those unique road wheels with the characteristic holes/dimples in the rubber tyre in a scrap yard in central Victoria. I do remember that the pair of wheels on the swing arm were darn heavy. At the time I had no way of transporting them. They were complete to the swing arm which is where they had been oxy cut off the vehicle (of which no trace remained). I offered to recover them for Bovvy, who showed no interest even though their Crusader had damaged rubber on its road wheels, so did not take it any further at that time. On the next visit they had gone and when I asked where was told to South Australia. Given that the HMV community in SA isn't all that big, chances are that some enquiries may locate them. Worth a try. Regards Doug

Phil. Those coils are big heavy and powerful. I replaced the output seal in one bevel box and won't be doing that again for 2 reasons: 1) It made absolutely no difference to the leak rate. When I studied the design I realised there is a pumping action as the challice moves in and out with suspension movement, however, the seal is cork and just doesn't grip tight enough to seal effectively. My experience is that if the vehicle is driven weekly, almost no leakage. The seap happens sometime around day 10 onwards. On my vehicle all 4 bevel boxes drain into the hubs, which then seap. People tell me that is not mechanically possible. If not, then how come I only ever let oil out of my hubs, I have never had to top them up. 2) A mate ended up at the hospital for stitches when a steel bar he was using slipped and he conked his head on the body stiffening fillet. We were battling the coil tension at the time trying to reassemble. So no desire to risk life and limb again. Ferrets are typical Pommie engineering. Having said that I still like my Ferret, lovely thing to drive. When they designed the CVRT, they had 3 choices: 1) The older Yank philosophy (WW2 to 1970s), basic and reliable, but that would have meant bigger. 2) The German philosophy, way over designed, complicated and expensive, politically unacceptable. 3) The Pommie philosophy, way over designed, complicated, maintenance headache and thus less reliable. But the main criteria was light weight and compactness and that came at the cost of size/strength/durability. Lets take the final drives as an example - epicylic like the Ferret hubs. Both are very sensitive to lack of oil and quality. Or the turret basket , why did they include those guide rollers on the hull floor? I don't recall any other design that needed that? Baskets are supposed to hang from the turret ring and all the other designs seem to do so very successfully. As the Yanks never built a CVRT equivalent, you can't compare it. Perhaps with the German Hotchkiss and Wiesel 1 and 2. They are so few in private hands that they really don't count. The CVRT design has the epicylic final drive, centrifugal clutch, crash change gearbox, hydraulic steering, non-replacable track pads, road wheels that shed rubber if you so much as look at them: all are problematic. It just means that you must stock up on parts and accept that as a cost of ownership. There was a very good reason hydraulic steering was abandoned in the Universal Carrier (Bren Carrier) design, yet they went back to it with CVRT. I once costed getting a Scorpion. To be realistically secure for parts I factored in 5 sets of NOS tracks, 2 spare engines, 2 spare gearboxes, a couple of spare torsion bars, a spare set of dampers, lots of road wheels (hysteresis nightmares), 2 x final drives, brake pads, a supply of the CVRT specific consumables such as the large toothed drive belt (for the fan?) and so on. Back then, (about 10 to 15 years ago) it would have added 50% to 75% on top of the purchase price of the vehicle. The £ was something like AU$2.35 to £1 and it was just too much money to get it all out here and any unexpected parts were a long way away. Also back then, manuals weren't to be had. I have driven one a couple of times and they certainly are cute. What really came across is that longevity of the vehicle is very dependant on how they are driven and maintained. Dry storage being essential, perversely, for something designed in the UK! I do however realise, that they are the ideal "little tank" and are the tracked equivalent of a Ferret. You can actually get them into a domestic garage! They are something that the average person can aspire to own without having to be a millionaire in order to fund WW2 light armour, or post war medium or heavy armour. There in lies the attraction. Regards Doug

Phil I would say Robin was curious due to his knowledge of older vehicles with torsion bars such as the Saracen and Saladin, IIRC Stolly also. On them, the height and weight distribution of the vehicle could be adjusted by way of the torsion bar settings. I read up on the procedure a very long time ago, but if memory serves correct, on those vehicles it could be done without having to remove anything such as suspension arms etc. Just how enjoyable a job it is I do not know. The Ferret has a set of massive coils, which aren't any fun to install or remove either, even less so on the Aussie versions due to the hull strengthening fillet. Regards Doug

To explain Andy's observation: a cannon typically uses the breech ring in various ways to connect the barrel to the recoil system. Take away the breech ring and normally the barrel will just slide out of battery of its own accord if at all muzzle high. Beware as there is considerable momentum once it starts moving. Given that yours is obviously muzzle high, either it is rusted in place, the grease has gone solid or as Andy says, it may be welded. What ever the explanation, it should not be sitting the way it currently is. Were it a traditional French 75 (slay and recoil system) as used by almost all nations artillery and tanks up to WW2 the barrel would be connected to a slay, but would be free to slide without the breech ring. Were we talking the special light design that came about for the Saladin, the recoil unit would be effectively a wet tube (inner and outer cylinders with piston rings and a spring) that would surround the barrel and be very compact with the barrel NOT retained by way of the breech ring. But the Scorpion from what I can see in your photos uses a system half way between the 2 types mentioned above. It appears to have the barrel surrounded by a tubular mount but with separate return spring and piston tubes - most odd. There is no slay from what I can see. The barrel just slides in the housing - what is effectively the trunnion block/mantlet group. I would expect to find a large accurately machined bush in that housing and some means to lubricate it. I cannot see that removal is a case of a twist and a pull, but who knows, as this is a rather curious system. The Centurion had a lovely quick change barrel using an interrupted thread. You undid a locking bolt on the breech ring, then turned the barrel something like 30° and slid it out from the front. This left behind the breech ring still attached to the recoil system. Your photos appear to show a flange forward of the breech thread that is hard against the mounting, so I would think the barrel could only be removed rearwards. Somebody in the Alvis AFV group must have a manual detailing the workings of the main gun? Regards Doug

Andy I have these on several vehicles and can assure you that when they work, they really do. One use for this version of horn was as the fire alarm in Centurion tanks. More than loud...... Other than if they have been under water, they seem to be a very well engineered design. Regards Doug

Phil, If the CVRT turret rings are similar to most other vehicles, eg. Matilda, Staghound, Grant/Lee etc, they are very straight forward. They disassemble into 2 main sections and with a thin keeper ring that serves to lock the balls in. There is no continuous cage as such that you would know from a regular ball bearing. There are usually bronze spacer plates that serve 6 or 8 balls - effectively the cage but not continuous. I would expect that the grease may have dried out. If this is the case, pull it apart, BUT look for any shims, if you find them number them and make sure to match their location with corresponding numbers on the race. You should then just need to clean everything, re-lube and put it all together again. Do your homework on lubes as I would be worried in your climate that a dry lube would not be sufficient protection from moisture. Perhaps Morey's Big Red (I may not have that name spot on) could be worth investigating. It is a chassis lube and intended to act as a dust and water barrier. Have a look here on my website for a section drawing of a turret ring: http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~dgrev/dhmg/stagints.html Worst case scenario is that the turret has been left off at some time. If this is the case, rain will have got in and wrecked the balls. If so, you would be in need of over 100 1 1/8th or 1 1/4 steel balls. Not cheap! Hopefully not what has happened. Being such a light vehicle there is the possibility that the ring is alloy not steel. This being the case, don't be surprised if you find ceramic balls. If so, you need to do your homework about correct lubricant. The T50 turret on the M113s had ceramic balls and they had issues. I think they were later superceded with Acetal (an engineering plastic) balls which have good load bearing properties. This may be what Secondshooter is referring to and the use of dry lubricants. Regards Doug Broken Hill Australia

In Oz, outside dunnies are also known as "Thunder Boxes". I would imagine that the ones at the Hop Farm have been described in much more uncomplimentary terms than that........ We don't appear to have any nicknames for Port-a-Loos that I can repeat on a public forum. Out here they are an object to be avoided if at all possible. Combining our heat and flies, gives a sauna like temperature that is dangerous to your health with an over population of insects just to add insult. I will leave the rest to your imagination. There are worse scenarios than the Hop Farm. Regards Doug

Really? So no real world appreciation that some people have to travel the length of England (or further) to get home, pack away everything, do the washing, ironing, prep for work, get the kids ready for school and then turn up bright eyed and bushy tailed on the Monday and be meaningfully productive? It would have got under my skin too. The classic new broom sweeping too clean. Although it is not 1% of W&P, our equivalent out here is Corowa. Maybe as much as 40% or more of the attendees roll in from vast distances in Oz on the Friday, usually appearing about 2pm onwards, catch up with as many as possible, do the Saturday morning street parade and swap meet then are gone by lunch time. It is astonishing just how the numbers collapse Saturday arvo. Getting the Friday off work to make the trip is doable, getting the Monday off too is something most bosses won't tolerate as the majority find that too annoying to roster around. The alternative is being forced to take 2 weeks holidays to get the Friday and following Monday. I can't imagine it is much different in England? Sounds to me that the new owners at W&P have either never worked for someone else or have forgotten what it means to do so and that time off is at the boss's pleasure not the employee's! The keener Corowa attendees tend to leave on the Sunday at whatever time they get moving, I will add that they tend to be the ones who have been there since Wednesday or so and are retirees and have the free time. Regards Doug

I have been told that the new owners objected to the "free" list that Rex had. Whether this be for traders, friends, long time attendees, family of exhibitors etc. It is his business, he can make the rules, but the punters will respond each to their own. Having it get out so early that he thinks so many are scroungers does not appear to me to be a wise approach to PR with his customers. Time will tell which attitude prevails. Does the objection also apply to assisting armour owners with transport? I know Rex was pretty kind hearted (or was that PR and business savvy?) in that regard and if you were taking armour it was a fair chance he would transport it for you free, PROVIDING you were willing to comply with his schedule, which could be as much as 2 weeks before and after Beltring. Which meant up to 5 weeks that your vehicle was not in your possession. Nobody has ever told me how Rex managed to keep the vehicles secure and not have stuff disappear off them. Also, who drove them on and off the transporter at the Beltring end, which would be a major concern for me if it was my vehicle? At the end of the day, at least the show still exists, which it very well may not if the new owners had not bought it. I have not heard why Rex so precipitously exited, the cynic in me says it was savvy business and he was able to get a quick sale and presumably the £ amount he wanted. On the other hand, there may have been personal reasons and he just needed to unload and not have it all drag out. As to the Beltring location, hmmm. My Dad used to say to me "the first rule in business is NOT to give someone else control of your business". It all fell apart 5 years ago with respectively 2 different owners, we shall see what happens this time around. Being beholden to a rental situation, such as is the arrangement for this year on, where you have to fit in with an existing business would not be my idea of business nirvana. Then, just to make life more complicated, a whole heap of re-enactors are in the mix, digging holes all over the place, building "props" and dragging in all manner of stuff. Then the tracked armour owners show up and plough large areas into a churned moonscape. I do wonder if the Beltring owners have really grasped the scale of a real W&P as compared to last year's Military World? I do wonder if they have a clue just how many people are going to want to shower, shave and s___ every day and what that really means to their infrastructure. Regards Doug

I would have liked to have done Folkestone too as the facilities sounded much better than the Hop Farm. But travel from the other side of the world is not cheap or easy, so unfortunately, I have missed out. As to the arena, pulling up google maps and going to earth view shows what purports to be a recent aerial photo. Granted I haven't been there since 2000, but the arena looks nothing like I remember it. But I also was not viewing it at the time from 1000' above (not about to fork out for that *&^%$ helicopter ride). Correct me if I am wrong, but was the factory in the south west corner there, or is it on land that was formerly Hop Farm and where the off road course once was? I also seem to remember a back gate in that area and a side road which was convenient to nip down to Paddock Wood. The gates all had names IIRC along the lines of "MacArthur Gate" etc? Regards Doug

Larry Hopefully! The original name was "War and Peace Show", so still 4 words. Although, nobody except Rex and co referred to it as that. "Beltring" was by popular use, although it took me some effort to locate it on a map back in the early days of the internet. Apparently, it is a historic locality name. The name change was a legal thing due to the parting of ways with the previous Hop Farm owners. So there may still be legal reasons why it can't revert to "show". If I was in a mischievous mood I could suggest that everyone bombard the new W&P owners with emails complaining about the toilets at Beltring....... ;-) Ah, nostalgia.... There will probably be a groan at South Kent Water too when they get the news. I well remember when the demand saw the taps run dry IIRC late Thursday or early Friday in 1999. Wonder if the reticulation system has been improved since or will South Kent again have a water crisis thanks to all those strange people in old army tanks? Regards Doug

I have just received the email notification from W&P. It is certainly good to know that Beltring will be Beltring again. The unwieldy "War and Peace Revival" tag just did not roll off the tongue the way "Beltring" did. Besides that, everyone knew what you meant by "Beltring" even if it was a geographically vague term. Some things just have to be! Some points for discussion: 1) I was told that the reason for the move down to Folkestone was that the owners of the Hop Farm (don't know if it is the same people who now own it) were wanting too much slice of the takings. Hopefully W&P have a very well thought out and solid contract with options that lock in terms for decades to come? 2) Have the new owners of W&P bought the Hop Farm? 3) Folkestone was a much larger venue, will the Hop Farm be making a similar amount of space available? 4) Get ready for the complaints about the toilet facilities and lack of water by Thursday of the event to become a hot topic again- probably another one of those things that just have to be! ;-) Regards Doug

Ray Please email me direct on dgrev@iinet.net.au Regards Doug

Hello Would anyone have a mount the same as or similar to the one pictured for sale. Preferably in Australia, but will consider international. These mounts came in a variety of versions, with ammo box holders at different angles and with the remote firing controls and without. Thus lots of Mk numbers. Thanks Doug

Andrew Can you please go into more detail as to how the torque rods are anchored? Also, how do the thicker stubby rods factor into this? Regards Doug

Please see my comments at post #12! The dreary some potted histories of well known vehicle types is particularly irksome and just blatant word count padding. A mag for enthusiasts really DOES NOT need to preach the origin details of vehicles that even the average school boy would be familiar with. Also smacking of word count padding is what I shall describe as the lemming like "highlighted exert" (no idea what this is officially termed) which has plagued the magazine reader for the last couple of decades. It consists of a coloured block with words in large font that are an exert of usually 1/2 to a full sentence from within the article. If the reader has read those words once already in the article, why repeat them out of context a 2nd time? This may fly as a tactic in a high school essay, but does the jounalistic world really think it fools the average reader and that we don't recognise it for other than what it really is? Oh, by the way, it would be really nice if you are going to have a photo of yourself with/in a vehicle; that takes up a goodly % of the available space allocated to the editorial ("Despatches" article), that you CHANGE IT, each edition! Using the same photo of the editor sitting in the driver's seat of an FV 432 every edition does get rather deja vu and suggests self promotion combined with either editorial indifference or laziness. Good luck, best wishes and glad to see that you are open to suggestions and can take criticism (which is actually aimed at your predecessors really). Hopefully you will sweep clean as the new broom and morph CMV into something that is worth purchasing. Regards Doug

Being that I am revealing all the secrets of carrier track, I would like something in return from the carrier community - shameless off topic question below, please pay particular attention to the Normandy versus W&P decision. Ok to email me direct if you don't want this thread to go off course. To drop a bait, I will upload a photos of the mold in the previous post IF people will respond to this question! dgrev@iinet.net.au === Myself and family are THINKING about visiting the UK/Europe in the June/July/early August period in 2017, roughly 5 weeks duration. It has been over 15 years since we were last on that side of the world and doubtless much has changed in the MV world besides Brexit and the value of the UK Pound! Back then, Beltring was the ultimate experience and was hog heaven for an MV collector. With the W&P move to Folkestone and the new management, from what I have been reading online, it is a very different event now. Mainly I am an armour person, it was that part of the hobby and the parts stalls that captivated me: I have read that the modern event is sorely lacking in both those areas? New Beltring back at the Hop Farm seems too recent and small to be considered? Having said all of the above, I am looking for suggestions as to what events I should be considering if this trip comes off? I am aware of Tankfest, very much a case of - stand behind the barriers, watch everything thunder around, but no interaction with the vehicles - more like a display than a hands on access event/show. Or would we be better off looking to other events, on the continent such as "Tanks in Town" in Mons (which is way too late for us to attend), are there others that I should consider? I did Normandy 1999 which was excellent, the atmosphere, the collective bon homme of the mix of nationalities attending was memorable. But that was a 5 year "additive" event, ie, 1944 +5 and so on. 2017 will not be a 5 year anniversary, so will that mean a "quiet" rally style turnout or have things changed and any year is now a big event? Not being an additive anniversary also should mean no Presidents, Royalty or associated VIPs and thus no security lock down wholly and soley for their benefit that ruins it for the other 100,000 people there? So, in summary: schedule our trip to arrive at beginning of June and "do" Normandy and whatever shows are on in the June early July time period, which will mean missing out on W&P. Or miss Normandy and "do" W&P and whatever shows are on late June to late July very early August? What shows are worth pivoting our holiday around? Opinion please? Thanks Doug

I highly doubt carrier track was ever made from manganese steel. The use of that material was an engineering revolution and started with the Valentine. It took the Matilda era track life of 500 miles out to 1500 to 2000 miles. The giveaway is the colour. When it rusts, manganese steel has an odd dark blue to black tinge to the rust, it is quite distinct, once you have seen it, you can recognise manganese steel from then on. As to the practicality of doing more track, I think it comes down to an agreement with an engineering company who has a CNC machine. Once they have a suitable fixture, the raw links can be dropped in and automatically bored quite quickly. The boring part being the high cost item if done manually. I don't know about British or Canadian track, but LP2 Aussie track used a lead plug in one end of the link as a retainer for the track pin. This required a groove inside the pin hole which the lead (being very malleable) flowed into when hammered home and effected a locking function. The pins were retained at the other end by a reduction in the hole diameter. The pins themselves were just a plain piece of steel bar. Probably a suitable stock can be bought off the shelf these days cut to length. There is a bloke in Western Australia who has some of the alloy molds (4 in total needed to give all the segments needed to produce 2 links per impression) for the Aussie track. He knows who has the 2 molds he doesn't possess. So for Aussie track, casting would not be an issue. I have sighted and held the molds, so know this isn't another jeep-in-a-crate legend. Regards Doug