matchlesswdg3

I just booked online using the IMPS form and that went OK. Payment for the toilets resulted in them immediately emailing me a receipt which has an instruction to bring with you to the show as it represents your ticket. So if you dont get this, you have a problem, it looks like. My only slight hassle was that I had to upload vehicle photos twice and I still do not understand the logic behind this one, bearing in mind you have to submit the registration number of the vehicle (which they can check and confirm what it is) and a submitted photo hardly guarantees that this is the vehicle you are taking, or even own! Anyhow, the proof of the new pudding will be in the eating.

But why do they need a postcode? I seem to recall they already asked for a County or Region as the location.....surely that is enough........unless in the fullness of time you want to flog off the database......like many other institutions and charities. I am afraid I do not trust any of these people with data and it is, collectively, their own damn fault.

I am no paint expert, but I was advised to use an eggshell finish rather than drab as the former is more weatherproof. The eggshell starts out a bit too shiny but soon weathers nicely and I assume under the weathered surface, a weatherproof substrate remains.

Regards what I would like to see in CMV, the existing content type and variety is OK.....you cannot please everyone I know so its a case of covering the bases. But they do need to greatly improve the quality of the articles and everything else.....the Classifieds, the trade advert range, etc.. The existing mag seems to have gradually declined to about the least you can get away with and still have some diehard readers! I think everyone noticed the lurch downward when John Blackman left........they need people who know their subject and have the enthusiasm.

I agree with that last. The Classified Adverts seem to signify a lack of effort......they are now just a token gesture. There have to be trade adverts to make the thing viable of course, but even these are very limited in range and interest. There are always a couple of articles based around a series of old black and white library pics, that may appeal to the purist or someone who has the vehicle type in question but are usually VERY dull! The restoration features are the only bright spot but as noted, make up only a few pages each month. In the current issue, there is an article about the Dads Army Museum in Thetford, based around Corporal Jones' lorry. And that was about as far as it went......it COULD have been the jumping off point for something meatier on recreating Home Guard vehicles illustrated by readers' efforts in doing this and providing some inspiration and guidance on how to do it.........but it didn't. The mag is no worse than many other hobby mags, but if it wants to survive in these internet times, the green wooly socks will have to be pulled up! My other main interest is in motorcycles....especially green ones of course, and one magazine in that area stands out as the way to do it.....Real Classic....which is put together by a team of very good writers who are passionate about the subject and are really engaged (as they say these days...sorry!).

Having just come to the end of my sub to Classic Military Vehicle, I shall not be renewing. Under the new team, IMHO the quality has gone downhill although it was doubtful value in the first place being pretty slim pickings at the usual high magazine price. Some of the stuff in it is plain daft........I note in the so called MV Price Guide that they have the L/R Lightweight at £9500 to £15,665! Prices supposedly based on recent sales....to whom?! I obviously sold mine too cheap!! Are there any alternative mags? Seems not. Pity.:cry:

Have a look at War Paint on Milweb.......you can phone them up and I am sure they can suggest the best scheme for what you want...... http://www.milweb.co.uk/dealer/76377/

Hey, Ron, maybe we can swap mudguards here as you thought my latest acqusition has an RE guard! :laugh: It certainly does not fit this G3WO!

As someone points out in the parallel War and Peace thread on this Forum, there are some significant changes to the layout for 2016. It looks like they are aiming to have all/more public car parking within the site boundary which means that the area to the south of the perimeter track all along the souther boundary is for car parking (see layout plan on the W&P website). So this cuts down a lot on the area left for MVs and MV support vehicles. Also on the parallel thread to thus is some organiser feedback from Stoneleigh. Will be interesting to see how this all pans out, especially the edict on the Saturday lockdown, which includes, they say, a check round the campsites to see everyone is being good!

I fully agree; I have done a lot of buying and selling and while happy to buy on eBay ( 'cos I trust ME!), I have only sold via the likes of Milweb and specialist mags that attract the real enthusiasts. NEVER post your email address unless you want the scammers to pounce.....and this applies to posting an ad' anywhere! Use a phone number. I have always found my stuff good homes snd met some really nice genuine folk this way. The local paper also used to be a good place to advertise, but our local rag has gone mainly web-based with classifieds and the results have been poor.

One of the things that did make me chuckle in this CMV interview was his firm insistence that a "lock down" would be imposed on all exhibitors on Saturday to prevent exits before the Show's official close on Sat night , " unless they had a very very good reason". Slight air of unreality here? Also appears rather unjust insomuch that if we pay to attend, we are customers and I have not been to any shops where they lock people in! Having cake and eating it? I mean, its right to appeal to folk's better nature to stay to the end and what with now having the Sunday as moving out day ( good idea) I would have thought that was enough and lockdowns are just going to needlessly cause trouble. Maybe something for the clubs to sort out with Mr Allison?

I have just finished reading the War & Peace Show interview with John Allison in the February edition of Classic Military Vehicle. If this is accurate reporting then it provides a lot of insight into the new philosophy adopted by the Show's new owners. Certainly John's comments appear to tie in with what I have posted here regarding his views on IMPS attendance, etc.. The aim apparently is to make it much more public focussed. He thinks of the previous shows under Rex as follows: "It's a massive event run by enthusiasts that just meet up once a year but you cannot run an event of this size on that ethos. It's an entertainment, and that entertainment is for the visiting public not for the likes of you and me who are there because we enjoy it." I take this to mean that its not an event for the benefit of the likes of us in IMPS, MVT, etc.........which kind of begs the question of whether we are really welcome at all? I get a sinking feeling about all this. Still, only way to find out is go, I guess. Certainly the proposals to improve layout, access, viewing etc look good. Do have a look at the article.

Please excuse my ignorance of such auctions, but is it not true that the VAT is only charged on the auctioneers premium and not the hammer price? So the total extra to pay over and above the hammer price works out at much less than 40%?

Lauren, I have just done a cut and paste from another forum from John Allison's post so its his words and they DO relate to his views on the way IMPS members (and MVT it seems) used their entry entitlement. I challenged him on this view and he remained firm in his viewpoint. As I suggested above, I still do not really understand fully why he feels this way, so if you want to follow up, please do as he suggests and phone him via the W&P number. I hope to meet him at the show and have a chat about all this in person as I intend going. Its all about the show, and the show is still us. The organisers "just" provide the means!

Prior to 2015 I have been trying to encourage more of the WD motorcycling clan to exhibit at W&P, but many remain firmly in the camp of "why should I pay to attract visitors to the show?". My view is that it is a commercial show catering equally for the public and the MV attendees and for many reasons represents very good value for the money........and still does! You cannot compare it to club or other "amateur" events. I was just taken aback somewhat at the feeling by the new owner that IMPS and MVT attendees had been seen as scammers by taking (exploiting?) concessions offered to them. Maybe I have been naive but I always thought that the great majority of folk abided by the concession rules and if they had not then surely Rex would have voiced his ire? And whatever is the correct viewpoint, it seems odd to me that anyone would want to antagonise potential customers for 2016 in this way..........after all, the average MV owner is always reasonable, intelligent, kind and considerate (ahem!). I can understand the need to maximise revenue, but some revenue generation is not immediately obvious. For example, in my experience MV owners tend to be the folk who do most of the serious buying at a lot of the stalls and stallholders presumably pay to attend on the basis that they will get lots of punters. If the serious MV owners stay away, stallholders will suffer and think twice about coming back. Maybe such aspects effectively underwrote financially the concessions offered to IMPS, etc? Anyhow, notwithstanding, my sympathies do still rest with the new incumbents and I hope 2016 will be a success for them and their punters. The proof of the 2016 pudding will be in the eating and I am going to give it a go.

Mike, John Allison posted these points on a military motorcycle forum as he is keen on the military two wheel scene, but he did stress that if anyone has issues, to phone up the organisers.

I raised some of the IMPS concerns over W and P on another forum and John Allison posted the following ( you dont have my queries below, but I think you can work out what points he is answering......quite robustly); he clearly holds views 180 degrees from some people at least on this site. I cannot really accept that past practice by members to minimise cost of entry could be classed as a scam, as it was within the rules. But hey ho. I think it is still likely to be a good value show but I can sympathise with folk who have serious multi- vehicle entries. Here is what he says: Item 1 :- I did pay for W&P it was not a gift,,,,,, if the corporate print companies had got hold of it ,,,the £10 charge for loos & showers would be the last of your issues Item2, IMPS still have an allocation of tickets for their members fact ,,,, NOTE imps never had free entry ,,,, IMPS & W&P had a financial contra agreement IMPS did not take monies in return but entry tickets issued to IMPS members Item 3;- one of the many scams in getting your mates in !!! having sat at booking in all day it was rather sad being honest ,,, Mr imps man books in his vehicle £25 two adults both meant to be imps members + two children along with his four other vehicles all complete with 4 persons in each YET none being imps members other than the driver booking in ,,,the loss being either IMPS membership or W&P ticket sale ? Item 4 ;- based on item 3 its approximately 6 out of every 10 vehicles ran this scam ,,,question they all go for a number 1 & 2 every day and they are happy for me to pay for the removal of said items,,, I forgot plus a shower Item 5, going back to item 3 mr imps with his 5 vehicles ,,,he + his team have arrived for their ten day holiday,,, YES over 80 % of all bookings arrive for the 10 days PS its £25 + £10 total £35,, 2016,, for ten day hols and all you have to do is bring a MV Item 6 ;- if you don’t want to pay your £35 to enjoy the show for ten days ,,,,, bring nothing and pay for public camping £200 ,,, or park in public car park buy day ticket walk round,,,, SORRY i am a bit tight i will go for the £35 option Item 7 ;- Service charge brought about by you the visitor ,,,you brought the issue of loos & showers not enough & unclean,, easy fix £10 charge loos & shower cleaners 24 hrs a day,, simple Item 8 ;- you don’t have a show without my MV mr organiser !! correct PS without me you dont have no show to attend ? PS its £35 for ten days camping have a great ten day looking around the stalls and mv if you wish ? Item 9 ;-attractions stall holders over 90% of the visitor attend the stalls ,,, A thought when I attend Netley Marsh bike jumble I get charged £60 to camp ,,,that was for one night ,,,STILL i do like going around the stalls Item 10;- booking in ,,,the picture,,, yes the size was incorrect and yes we altered this all being correct on the website ,,, question why did no one kindly drop an email to say you could do with looking at this problem ?,,,,, reason for picture ,,,,to stop another scam people booking in and not even having a vehicle ! still it was cheap £25 ten day holiday,,,, REF mv & motor cycle or private vehicle & motorcycle whats the problem your booking form will say what you are exhibiting and the staff will see it your exhibit Item 11,- Our digital marketing platform has brought back many MV owners that have not been to W&P for many years plus more traders so the in all we are very happy with progress in the short time in charge Item 12;- W&P 2016 has elements never seen before ,,, during Malvern people had a sneak preview ,, and all went well Item 13;- explain why I would set about damaging W&P this is a long term business plan to return my investment Item 14 ;- just clear up this point the scams do not all point towards the IMPS it applies to MVT also both as bad as each other

I have tried a few times to look at the vehicle entry form for non-IMPS folk, but it does not appear to be working, so maybe the site us still work in progress? Certsinly, although the design and layout looks nice, it seems to be a little ramshackle in the way it works and is animated. Hopefully, the forms will be edited to make them intelligible and workable for real people or its going to be very thinly attended!

I have had a look through the IMPS vehicle ehtry form and find it clear as mud! It says there is a £25 "facility fee", whatever that is but in the next sentence says that vehicle entry is free if driver is an IMPS member. Then there is this toilet fee on top of that. For me it gets complicated as I have a Landie entry whuch tows my military bike on a trailer, so I am sole driver of both. So how does that work? Seems like a less than transarent way of dealing with this!:-X

I am assuming you are new to the MV scene and Normandy, so I will stick with my advice that joining a group will enable you to get the best out of a first trip. You will not be stuck with having to follow the group on every trip, but they can provide access and participation at events and commemorations and can advise on places to go. Also important to for you, perhaps, facing the prospect of a trip to France in an old vehicle is moral and actual logistics support and mechanical assistance. Clearly it's up to you to decide what support you might need, but going with a group can be an easy introduction and thereafter, you can make up your mind for subsequent visits.

Back to "Airline", it is obvious that the production budget had some limits, so that what looks like a location in Malta has to stand in for airfields in Rome, Haifa and..........Malta. Just watched a programme where the hero, Jack Ruskin, gets bailed up in what us meant to be RAF Luqa. I am no expert, but the set looks very convincing as do the various elements of the plot which includes Ministry organisations that had to deal with the somewhat chaotic post-war situation. Was very pleased to see a nice Matchless WDG3L in desert colours and a civilianised Bedford OX on the Malta set. And at this stage, Jack now has TWO DC3s so nice shots of formation flying. The credits say the aircraft were supplied by Aces High.

No, there was no mention of the series I recall. It was just a show I enjoyed and realised one day it was probably available on DVD, so went on my Amazon wish list. Am half way through the series now and it stands up well........as you say, it gets stuck into detail and it's mostly live action with real kit......not cgi.

The versatile spud! On an entirely unrelated subject, early gold miners used to extract fine gold from the concentrate in their gold pans using mercury (artisanal miners still do) and when the mercury started getting lumpy, they knew it was saturated with gold as an amalgam. They would then place the lumpy Mercury inside a raw spud and roast it on a fire. The Mercury would mostly vapourise off, leaving gold (mostly) in a nugget in the potato. Alas, some miners then liked to eat the baked spud, Mercury residue and all. "Gold fever" was not a myth!

I often wondered what people meant when they told me their engine had been chipped! Now I know why you get Crisp acceleration.............but too much and it can result in a bad Smash. I'll get my coat............:cool2: