strange target

[David Herbert]

Could you elaborate please ?

 

David

[Balmae]

good to get a bit info on this odd target, can you tell us how you came by the information. cheers

 

Hi, i was told this by a local gentleman who's sadly passed on. I was show an old black and white pic of said mock up with parachute attached (presumably just after it had been dropped) from a book he was in the process of producing documenting the sites history. Unfortunately the book was never finished or produced. There may have been further prototypes developed also but i can't confirm this.

[eddy8men]

thanks, that would explain the heavy construction :thumbsup:

[challenger]

thanks, that would explain the heavy construction :thumbsup:

 

Some more pictures of said vehicle. It indicates there were at least two. Why the different turret I don't know

 

And the one at Kirk

 

We shot at the one at Kirkcudbright in the early seventies, it was just one of many targets on the range at that time.

[Adrian Barrell]

Looks like this one had a 77mm gun ex-Comet. Excellent pics, thanks.

[Balmae]

Done a bit more digging about today and came across Project Prodigal and Project Contentious here is a Link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV4401_Contentious

 

Also here is the pic of the Kirkcudbright dummy being checked after one of at least 5 air drops it was involved in and some more pics from it's current state from today when i get a minute.

 

 

Also found this pic of the second Dummy :

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by Balmae
Extra picture

[David Herbert]

Well done Mr Balmae ! :tup::.

 

When we found the Kirkcudbright one none of us could figure out why it was so heavily built for what seemed to be a mock up. You have more than explained this little mystery but any more photos of them in use would be great.

 

David

[Balmae]

As promised a few extra pick of her current state, notice also the large slabs of i'm assuming marble or granite ballast to either add extra weight or balance it out. I'm told it was also fitted with an engine, gearbox and radio set as the trials progressed.

 

 

 

 

One intact slab i mentioned with others smashed inside and out side.

Floor mountings and remains of what looks like a bulkhead or cross member.

Great fishing spot also

Enjoyed helping fill in a few of the pieces and there are a few more mystery prototypes here to get me teeth into also, Cheers.

[eddy8men]

thank you for such a comprehensive explanation

[GeePig]

I assume that the turret on the one used for a target is welded on, or are we seeing pictures of one 'vehicle' with two different turrets fitted?

 

trevor

[Balmae]

 

Hard to tell in this pic due to the corrosion then i noticed another which clearly shows it has been bolted.

 

 

Ease of access for getting engine, gearbox ballast etc in and out would probably dictate it being bolted.It has been suggested that there were others or another and common sense would say they would have spares on the side line in case of a failure during the air drop. Just looking at the front end of each you can clearly see differences in the design and the second one appears to have a boxed armoured profile were as the KTA one is boiler plate with no added boxed section. Cheers.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Balmae
Extra info

[robin craig]

So,

 

should this be saved or left to be absorbed back into the ground?

 

Robin

[Balmae]

Personally i'd like to see it saved as it's the foundation for all CVR(T)s out there but there is also the small matter of a Tortoise sat on the range wasting away also that i would like to see saved.

 

I suppose the next question is what happened to the other dummy? Can anyone remember seeing it used as a hard target also perhaps at Lulworth or anywhere else for that matter?

[Balmae]

Just comparing the two photos of the presumed second mock up and i'm noticing a slight variation in the front quarter on each just behind the front near side strut. There is a definite line vertically down the side just below the turret. I hope you don't mind me grabbing your pic Challenger just to compare them side by side.

 

Above Challengers pic without the vertical line where the turret meets the hull.

Above again the pic i found with a definite line vertical where the turret meets the hull. Also the lack of any Eyelets on the Glacis plate.

 

Could it be that we have a third mock up or has there been additions added to the one above and am i merely seeing a shadow? Cheers.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Balmae
Another observation

[eddy8men]

sorry jason but i can't see them making two protypes of the same air drop platform

[GeePig]

Now I have looked closer, I can see differences as well, but do we know that that any of the development photos show its final form? I can see that the wheels on the 77 mm gun version have some kind of protection bar across them that I cannot see on the range tank.

 

trevor

[challenger]

Two more I have found from around 2011

[eddy8men]

those cromwell hubs would look nice in my spares racking