DFC1943Fl.Lt.

Hi Tony, yes I've used my MVT card before to buy some of the deac's and replicas I have but when I mentioned this to the gentleman at Airsoft UK he said that it may not be sufficient to comply with the UKARA rules concerning Airsoft. Anyway I have been in touch with Barry from D & B Militaria and they have a replica that is virtual impossible to tell from the real thing, it strips, dry fires and is one hell of a replica, you need to see it to believe it. Now although it costs, deep breath, £2,750 I know its a lot of money but you need to look at this GPMG on their site. I have been looking for a deac GPMG for some time now and there just ain't any about. Having said that if there were I'm sure they would be one hell of a price now but also welded up solid so this is a way of getting as close to the real thing without the hassle of all the s**t that goes with it. Have a look at it on their site and see what you think.

Back again, been looking at a Airsoft version of this weapon which looks quite realistic. M240 Bravo. Have enquired about one but seems you have to be a member of a 'Skirmish' / 'Paintball' outfit before they can sell it to you. Looks like I need a UKARA membership number before they will sell. Anyone know of another way to buy an airsoft, these M240B do look the biz.

Cheers for that, duly noted. Looks like I may have another look at Crossfires version. Really difficult to get a true feel for these looking at pictures.

Hi WW and thanks for your reply. Can you elaborate on why it was so bad. I've heard that the MM are better than the Crossfire replicas but I do understand that to make an exact replica is going to be out of the reach of most. I've seen one on D & B and that was 2 grand but say it was hard to tell the difference. It is hard to tell from their web page as with all sites I have looked on so this is why I'm asking here for guidance. Many thanks Steve.

Hi all and Happy New Year, for tomorrow. I am in the process of making my Series 3 109 landy into a reccy. Just getting all the bits and bobs together and now looking at the correct weapon for her. I have a bren but know that's not the one, even though it is a 1957 model. Looking at the GIMPY but can't find a deac and if I did most likely could not afford it. Been looking at the ones on ' Military Muckabouts ' and seem quite reasonable at £325 for a replica. Had a chat with them and they are very helpful as I want one with the wooden stock not the resin or plastic type. They can supply with the wooden looking stock. Has anyone here had any dealings with them as I have heard stories about their replicas but there again have heard the same with 'Crossfire'. Any help would be appreciated. Maybe someone has one for sale.

Hi, I have a early MK1 33BA93 and have not touched a thing with regards to the internals. It is exactly how the last squaddie would have left it and I think its got that history of service when I'm sitting in the drivers seat. Just feels as though it's still operational. The outside has been painted up though. I know some like the full restro. showroom condition but each to their own. When it boils down to it, it's your vehicle to do as you wish but I think as for like 'Bucket Seat' and Perspex hatches, your losing the ferrets identity. I think you may get a bit of stick from the die hard's on here but as I said it's your ferret. The hard ride, noise, smell of fuel, oil and getting wet is all to do with owning a ferret, it's what makes it fun in a weird sort of way. Some might say mad but it keeps me from going mad in this day and age.

Hi buddy, I live in Newmarket. Off to Tanks, Trucks & Firepower this weekend up near Rugby. Good little show with Draycot Water next to the show. We are driving the dodge WC51 up there and hopefully the weather will be kind to us lol. There are a lot of great people in the Suffolk area, I am with the Norfolk group as I keep my Dodge with a mate up in Wymondom. Be good to catch up sometime and have a chat.👍

A Land rover for that price is just plain crazy, who in their right mind would even think about buying that. That's just pure greed.

That is very true, unfortunately there are people out there with more money than sense who want a toy to play with. I have a good friend who is very much into MTB and thinks nothing of spending £5k to £6k on a mountain bike. Money is not a problem with him so can afford it. I at the other end of the scale find it hard to imagine someone wanting to part with that much money for a bike. While there are people out there willing to pay this sort of money for a jeep, it will carry on. But that puts the avro bloke in the collecting world at a disadvantage because it's always out of reach. Great for the seller but is the average jeep really worth upwards of £15k to £20k I personally I don't think they are and a lot of the guys I hang around with think the same, some even have jeeps and say if people are willing to pay that sort of money then we will keep selling them for that price.

Here Here, well said. As for taking your own F**cking toilet, if I had know what sort of state they were going to get in I most properly would have. As said above, the ladies must have cringed at the thought of using them. Our crew in the end used a jerry can for pissing in as it was to far to walk, if you had the weakest of bladders. We were at the end of 'outer monktons' and the loo's were at the cross roads. could have split them and had a few at the end near the corners. Only needed a bit of common sense. Rant over as this will keep going on forever.

With regards to the taking over of the show, I was always led to believe that old Rex made a healthy profit from which he gave a great deal to charity. I have complained about the toilets and know that you can never please everyone but if they were spaced out a bit more that would have helped. As for them not having the flaps, I don't think anyone can say that they were happy at looking at someone else's crap.

Good on ya Ron, rant aside we did end up having a good time. Weather is always out of our hands but it's what you make it. We did end up having our own porta loo's, those US jerry cans with there wide filling holes had there uses. :-D

OK Ron perhaps the word 'greed' is a little out of order but surely a few more toilets down at the end of 'Outer Monktons' would not have cost a lot more. There were only about 10 to cover the whole of that area, not even the drone on the 2017 video even ventured down to that neck of the woods. Just felt like we were all forgotten down that end of the show, even the public hardly turned up to view what was going on.

But why should we have to pay extra on top of what has already been paid for this service. Its just total greed on the part of the organizer, Loo's and shower's are a basic need and these should have been placed in a lot more areas for ease of access.

Yes agree totally with regards to the lavs, every morning for 7 days the last thing you want to see after a night on the lash is a great big turd staring back at you. 💩 We will most likely hire one in next year just to be on the safe side.

Well just got back and it ended up a great week. Went down on the Sunday last week, midday and had nowhere to set up as all the plots were staked out. We unloaded the GMC, Jeep and dodge WC on the plot reserved for good old Mr Compton for the night but were told to move on. After a few mins explaining that we had nowhere to go they let us stay there for the night. Monday morning at 5.30am the 2 of us had a look at the whole site and found nowhere for all of our crew to set up. Complained to a few of the site organizers and was found a pitch after asking people to move their fence lines in, but still not enough room for the whole setup. After about half an hour they made room for us at the back of beyond in the middle of post war and foreign vehicles with plastic camping and owners cars and vans. Not best pleased, as we had WW2 set up. No toilets within a 200m only those who rented them. Seems that a lot of people went down days before the official date for setting out and took more than was needed for their own set up. Not a lot of the public ventured down our way as it was quite a walk from the main gate, most of the few WW2 guys who had set up down that end were not happy at the fact they had travelled a long way to show off their vehicles and hardly anyone ventured down there. Wish the organizers had said that no plastic camping and modern vehicles were allowed to mix in with the main WW2 theme, spoiled the whole effect. We all ended up having a great time but hope next year things will be sorted out a bit better. As for the weather, we all have no control of that so can't complain and brings it home to us how those who fought and gave their lives for us, must have felt with all that mud around trying to move vehicles and walk getting covered in it and expected to fight, humbling and moving when you think about it.

Baz is correct, the caterpillar club was for bailing out and surviving with the Irvin chute. I have a gold caterpillar badge and the I.D. card that went with it to a Fl. Sgt. Adams. dated 1943. The badge is actually that of a silk worm with ruby eyes and the name of the airman on the reverse. It was not an official award and most airmen wore them under the lapel of their SD tunics. They are faked and some have green eyes, meaning being ditched in the sea and the red eyes from a burning aircraft but that is all tosh. The original ones are made of gold and have ruby eyes and you would have to have survived the bailout using the Irvin chute, nothing to do with the aircraft on fire and also it would be down to the individual to asked for the badge and become a member of the club. As for the badge in question at the beginning of the thread, I've got two. One is in the blue colour as shown and I also have one the same but in red. I have always thought they were just an award for some sort of service within the Irvin factory. Would like to know if they were actually awarded for anything. They are not made of any sort of precious metal.

Agreed there are some cheap MV's outside of the UK but by the time you get them transported back to the UK and registered the price is going to be quite high again so although they may sound cheap to start with they end up being expensive.

I agree with everything said, but have always thought there will come a time when the bubble will burst as us oldies get on in life and, like my son who has no interest in anything green and oily, will have to one day sell our beloved vehicles on to someone. But If the younger generation cannot afford them it will come to a stalemate. It's obvious everyone wants the best price they can get, it's greed, human nature. There are a few who are selling even now not to rip people off but to get back a reasonable bit of profit such as my Dodge for £8500. Restored. Great vehicle with a lot done to it, but this Dodge WC could have easily fetched £10K or £12K. I was just lucky that I was in the right place at the right time. I would dearly love to have a jeep but not at the prices they are going for at the moment. I mean what is going to happen when it gets to the point when people cant sell their vehicles because the price is to high for the youngster to afford, will they just sit in a barn and left to degrade as the owners can no longer get in them or are able to drive them. Will they still say that, no my jeep is worth that much and I am not lowering the price just to sell it. What then, it's got to come when the price will peak and the good times will have gone and the whole experience of collecting will start again with the young up and coming collector. Most might say I am talking tosh but it is just my way of thinking how it will end up. Rant over lol. :-X

Yes Tony been thinking about going down that road, in two minds as I like to see the canvas look natural over the hoops as opposed to it looking flat between them. How does yours look between the hoops?

yep I'm with you on this one, my pump was knackered but bought a couple of repair kits, fitted one and away she went. Also nice to know that it's as it should be. Being brought up on plugs and points system I think that so long as you have every thing set up properly then there shouldn't be a problem. I like to think that if I brake down and it's fuel or elecy I can fix it on the side of the road. But each to their own I guess.

Ha Ha Ha not in my lap but down the back of my neck. Have learnt to check the top of the canvas now if she has been out in the rain. Also had a tip to cover the bonnet when stood in rain to stop the water getting through the hinge on the bonnet and filling up the plug depressions in the cyl. head. Been nearly a year now and have been out in her when ever possible. As you say, having a whole lot of fun and can't wait for next Sunday when we set off with 3 vehicles loaded up for the W&P Show.:cool2:

Been a while since I added some new pic's of her so here they are.

I can understand the frustration of the stallholders who have paid a lot of money to sell their goods but I would have thought it down to the discretion of the marshals, who are selling a couple of their old items for a bit of beer money as opposed to someone flouting the rules and setting up a massive table and selling goods. Then again I suppose it's clear if there is no selling from the camp sites it's easier to regulate. ( Bet your bottom dollar some will be trying to get away with it.)

Yes that's a shame as I have quite a lot of equipment I was hoping to get rid of for beer money. ☹️