N.O.S.

Didn't you just love the sound when you didn't give it quite enough time to engage?....... :-D

I only found Tenko compelling watching because I found it so appalling - until the series ran, I conveniently ignored the plight of prisoners in the chain of hotels run by this operator. Have to say I found the story extremely well told, as were some other wartime exploit productions (I'd forgotten about Secret Army, would gladly watch it again), we are good at some things in the UK! My old friend, who was interned for quite some time, was spending the day with his son. He went down the garden to feed the family chickens. When he didn't come back, son went to investigate and found his father running around in a desperate state, absolutely distraught and unable to speak. An hour later he had calmed down enough to tell is son that he'd found one of the chickens dead, and revealed the following tale: Every year, in late Autumn, the guards would give each hut a young chicken, to do with as they chose. The idea was that each prisoner would give up some of their meager rations to the chicken, so they would have something to eat for Christmas lunch. Inevitably birds would die, and the hut concerned would then go to any length to steal a neighbouring hut's bird. It became the only reason to survive, and channelled everyone's energy and emotion. This, some 50 years later, was the first time that he had spoken to his son about his camp experiences. He died a few years back, so it's too late to tell him it never happened......

I had same problem once with my old minivan which strangely I've just mentioned in another thread - Accelerated like crazy, smoked something awful, wouldn't go over 30mph, ran on for ever after ignition turned off until stalled. Problem eventually traced to filling an empty fuel tank with a 5 gall. jerrycan of 28sec heating oil by mistake. Oh well....

:shake: :shake: :shake: If there is enough interest shown, HF, I'd certainly be up for one copy of your book of "HF's Mad Motoring Tales Collective", subject to price of course. :whistle: I don't think I could touch that tale for insanity, however I too have been afflicted by LTTBD syndrome (loss through the back doors): I was returning with my ex Electricity Board minivan from a track dismantling jolly at Harlaxton, Lincs for my local railway preservation society, the freight in the back was a whole load of crowbars and big stuff, 2 budding platelayers and a set of cutting gear. The mini's acceleration was still not bad, and this coupled with a run at steepish hill allowed the oxygen bottle to have a slight disagreement with one the rear doors. The bottle won and gained its freedom onto the highway at about 40mph. Those things bounce well you know..... We all just laughed a lot, backed up, reloaded and went on our way. Not a care. Of course I'm a bit more :banana: :banana: now...

A good place to brush up on TK guide prices is the Ad section of Classic & Vintage Commercials - usually a fair selection of TKs of all sizes and conditions, this should give you an idea of what to expect.

Welcome, Dave :banana: Your http://www.armorama.com site looks to be a great blend of scale and prototype information. I suspect it could be more use to us lot than you imagine, not just the mv modelling faction of HMVF. Let me explain guys...... The front page of Dave's site, primarily aimed at MV modellers but with a lot of full size content, contains a link to a new product review, PERFECT WELD BEAD TRANSFERS At last, there might be an alternative to my technique of quickly brushing red oxide primer onto extremely hot scabby welding to produce the look of a perfectly formed weld bead - all I need to do is see if full-scale versions of the transfers can be produced...... :whistle: Anyone got any other "Weld Improvement" techniques?

Tenko is back on. Watched it first time round, rivetting. In the meantime I got to know a lovely old boy who spent time in a camp, and silly thing is now I don't have the stomach to watch it again.........

What a great picture! An iron dinosaur..... Could you please explain a little bit more about the exercise (was it some kind of "RECOVERYFEST"?), and what sort of unit 6BTL is? The Cat 30/30s must have cost a bomb to develop - are they simply a high-speed dozer? What advantage do they have over a slightly modified commercial spec. machine I wonder.......

:what: I just had to google Perentie! What an interesting variant, anyone else curious should try this site and its technical info link: http://www.landroverclub.net/Club/HTML/Perentie.htm Wonder if it will keep Landrover in the running with our forces?

Commercial Motor 27 September carries a 2 page spread of mv pics from the DSEi military equipment exhibition. 2 interesting subjects are: a British Army MAN 4x4 fitted with 1400kg of cab armour (looks like an off-road Securicor flatbed!!), and a 6x6 version of the Landrover Defender, rated at 7t GVW. Apparently Solihull refuses to "give up just yet on the Operational Utility Vehicle System procurement programme to choose a light to medium vehicle" (quoting article here.....)

Not at all! Some folk enjoy restoring and running, some just like to restore, some just enjoy driving and/or showing old mvs. A lot of folk get a uniform to go with their vehicle, so what's wrong with getting a staff car to go with the uniform? :whistle: It would only be a crime if you were to have one restored and it never came out of the garage for others to enjoy. The point is another vehicle would be saved and looked after. :-)

One of those 1/8 gmcs = 12 ex norwegian yellow gmcs :what:

:schocked: What a beast!! With the right towed implements you could do most of the gardening with that!

Dear Doctor Rifles, I must have as many unopened kits as unrestored vehicles. I just don't know which way to turn - what should I do? Yours desperately,

At £475 you could not NOT have it......... :whistle: Well done! Is there so little interest in these vehicles in Norway that keeps values low, or are there so many vehicles about? :dunno: Alas cost of transporting and importing trucks like this to UK would be considerable, so it's down to you Martylee to save as many as you can :-D

What a great experience - thanks for sharing.

There are 2 diesel production options - 1) Plant which processes new or used vegetable oils, producing biodiesel and a glycerine residue 2) Plant fed by oilseed rape direct from the combine, producing biodiesel and a cake residue suitable for stock feed A guy in East Anglia pioneered production of biodiesel from oilseed rape, got a full scale plant up and running and got clobbered by our political system which did not want him to succeed, they closed him down in the end. Perhaps he was a year or so too soon...... Anyway, he got so fed up he is launching a range of home-use plants, claims cost works out at approx 47p per litre all road legal, but I suspect this is based on cost of production of oilseed rape, not the market price. If you grow it or can buy from neighbouring farmer, all well and good. My neighbouring farmer looked at possibility of setting up a local cooperative to produce heating oil using this gear, and decided the economics were too iffy, so I did not bother to go into it in detail. I cannot find details at present, but am very well acquainted with his accountant and will get info for you if you are interested - PM me if this is the case. Certainly there is no great rush at present to grow rape for biofuel, must tell you something about the economics of it. Tony

Help! I need a set of data plates for Chev M6, but will probably have to make do with those for a 1 1/2t cargo (only one is different I think). Been looking at what's available and now very confused :dunno: There seem to be brass and aluminium types, and some are a lot better than others. Best I've found so far are Wildenberg's. Can anyone advise why the different material? The only original plates I have on trucks are brass. Can you recommend a source for really good repros? Thank you kindly, Tony

Thinking of 101 stripping, does this mean it is no good for aluminium panels?

Thanks for that info, REME 245. Not one of the 7 W&Ts in my possession, so another borrow job from a mate! I guess what I am trying to find out is A) Is there any way of accessing FVRDE records to find out what PKG 888 might have done, and when disposal date was, given that the registration no. is civilian, not army? B) Were more than the 6 mentioned produced for the MOS tank haul job? (I'll check out W&T article) The 2 supplied in 1955 were PGK 887 (might be the one owned by Steve Guest with big replacement cab?) and PGK 888. A Scammell expert reckons the 2 cancelled ones were in fact produced and sent to Australia - possibly to the armed forces there? Was there any tie-up between UK and Australian army army?

I once thinned ICI transport enamel by mistake with cellulose gunwash to paint a lorry chassis gloss black. It looked great, but did not dry. About 5 hrs later it looked like a giant giraffe with red oxide primner showing through the edges of big black blotches..... I went in the next morning and it had blended back into a solid black finish, but took 3 days to dry. Result is an incredibly hard gloss finish, still going strong, but not to be recommended :shake:

Hi air portable tipper deuce man! The extra roof is a classic Scammell "standard" accessory - they made a lot of trucks like this one for oilfield work, and fitted the heat shield to stop crews from being fried by the sun! The trucks all had louvred side panels to the engine compartment, these are in the "secure store"......had to make a pair for the last one! How's your truck restoration coming on? You must have been one of the very early importers, I believe quite a few larger trucks have been heading stateside in the last few years.

You are right Richard, it was MOS who ran the job. Try Page 22 of Bob Tuck's '100 years of heavy haulage' - MOS depot at Knottingley on A1 (where Ferrybridge Services now are). NGY 593 shown, with new Centurion Tank from Vickers factory at Newcastle, was part of 1953 6 vehicle order for civilian use (6/VEH/11698/CB27B). Driver Stan Wass related that MOS rule was to average 5mph max. As their top speed was 38mph, they had to park up after 55 miles, which could be as early as 2pm....... :schocked:

A few years back I swung the RAF Scammell Constructor out of the drive into narrow village road and got into 3rd just as 85 year old cheroot smoking Mrs. S pulled out of her drive in a Peugot 306 facing us. She rapidly reversed back into her drive and we went passed. 10 minutes later we came back, and yes, she was still sitting in her car in the drive....... :shake:

I've been following advice given to trace MV histories, and wonder if anyone can help with this one, as it might not be so straightforward? Scammell Constructor, with wooden ballast body, as used to move tanks from factories (service run by the Home Office, sometimes with civilian drivers for empty runs). Issued with civilian registration number in PGK series (Home Office). This was part of a 1955 order for 4 (later changed to 2) - interesting that a sales order alteration for the 2 cancelled vehicles showed tyre spec altered to 14.00x20 from the usual 12.00x20. Museum of Transport Beverley responded to request from previous owner, advising that this vehicle had been on trial at Chertsey 1955-6, indeed it came to me still fitted with a steel Matador-style cover on ballast body with remains of a lot of instrumentation and wiring. This suggests it might have remained at FVRDE for its service life. These 2 are not the demonstrators illustrated in Pat Ware's Tugs of War as being supplied to FVRDE for evaluation (after deliveries of production vehicles had commenced in 1952!), though it is possible that this vehicle was supplied as a replacement for the demonstrators for long term evaluation :dunno: Any ideas on how to go about this?