CVRT FV101 Scorpion History Request - 03FD14

[eliongater]

Hey Team,

I've recently purchased an early Scorpion, ERM 03 FD 14 or 79 MS 32 (I suspect this number was applied as part of the export process). I've had a look at the merlin archive, but being from the other side of the world, all I can make out is that it served with the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Does anyone happen to know the history of this scorpion, have any in service photos of it or know the name of the camouflage scheme/colours it was painted in?

Specifics out of the way, this scorpion was imported into New Zealand by my late grandfather Ross Hopkins in 1993, sold to another local collector and then finally 30 years later I've purchased it back into the family. Given the import date and build number of SCO124 (or SC0124) my assumption is that this must've been one of the first batches brought into service and subsequently sold to the public. It still has it's J60 engine, large single rear towing eye, headlights below the sponson and lack of stowage bins.

It needs a bit of a birthday/service, potentially new top armour (replaced with wood/composite, quite easy to get into) and ideally a paint job as it's been painted black.

 

Also happy to hear any tips or tricks. I'll be looking to purchase/find appropriate manuals etc soon.

 

A bit about me given this is my first post.

As alluded to above, I've been involved with military vehicles my entire life, with my late grandparents being founding members of the New Zealand Military Vehicle (Collectors) Club, and unsurprisingly I followed in their footprints and more recently unfortunately inherited a chunk of their collection. Of which I have an awful lot of work ahead of me getting it all back into a reliable state and even more work to restore the dingo for example.

 

Cheers,

Elijah

Edited November 21 by eliongater
Added photos

[Grego]

Hello! 

If you contact the Bovington Tank Museum in the UK there is a records department that will look up and send you copies of your vehicles service records. Worked great for my Ferret. I think you'll have to pay 20 British Pound, but totally worth it.

 

https://tankmuseum.org/services/archive-and-supporting-collection#1583246099015-dc386b8b-adb8

[fv1609]

I haven't got a picture of yours but I do have this of 03 FD 13. It is very likely to been painted IRR NATO Green (the British interpretation, being BSC381C No. 285) then painted one third IRR matt black.

[eliongater]

Thanks for the responses team, @Grego I've reached out to the Tank Museum, so will see what they have to say. And @fv1609 I think you might be right about the colour scheme based on the singular photo I have, I might try and gently remove some of the paint to see what's underneath.

[Elphiel]

You can also ask the MoD directly by transparency sites like https://www.whatdotheyknow.com.
I did this myself with my Spartan and got quite an amount of maintenance reports and a full history data while merlin database showed pretty much nothing, Also im not even an UK citizen and it worked out just fine.