ted angus Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Adam I was at Leuchars for both GW 1 & 2 we only had an archaic paint bay in the lead up to GW 1 most of our stuff was in Alkyd FS 30279 , we held a number of contingency refuellers and bulk tankers they were done in the aircraft wash hanger, we did dozens of the ISO size drop tank storage containers and mountains of GSE . We got a signal giving the mix ratios for the paint. it was mixed in a dustbin of course the blanket stackers started beating their gums about dustbins weren't scaled for paint mixing --nothing changes with that lot. needless to say every batch was different we mixed it with a spade. We did a few vehicles in Lt Stone and again mixed our own paint from a formula it had a real banana yellow look to it !! GW 2 was a different kettle of fish we had recently commissioned our £6m paint facility, we had a bay in which we could get in a Tornado and lots of room to spare. then in addition 2 big drive through bays which could be compartmented we could work on 4 HGVs in total isolation, plus we had 2 component bays. WE could roll stuff out in 3-4 hours after final coat we could wang the temp up very high but boy did it consume north sea gas !!! I could have employed 30 painters per 12 hour shift but I only had 32 total, they worked their socks off . AS usual HMG stuck the knife in. You might know the trade has finished in the RAF even on main operating bases its now a Serco task same lads but on an even worse wage. attached is a type not often seen in the RAF. TED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 (edited) Left of shot, Bedford with Roundel on back of cab 1957 (or so it looks to me) Edited April 1, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Left of shot, Bedford with Roundel on back of cab 1957 (or so it looks to me) Hi Mike its possible but it looks the wrong tones.. I would suggest the left hand is a double entry bridge class and the right hand one is a white circle with possibly the Sqn number note the checked roof. No doubt there have been hundreds of vehicles with a roundel on the back but the WW2 AMO and all subsequent regs diud not authorise one. But remember overseas theatres produced their own regs. TED ps I am sure somewhere I have a rear view of a Tractor with markings I will dig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Classic 2 TAF markings roundal and TAF plus unit mark on the offside. TED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Hi Mike its possible but it looks the wrong tones.. I would suggest the left hand is a double entry bridge class and the right hand one is a white circle with possibly the Sqn number note the checked roof. No doubt there have been hundreds of vehicles with a roundel on the back but the WW2 AMO and all subsequent regs diud not authorise one. But remember overseas theatres produced their own regs. TED ps I am sure somewhere I have a rear view of a Tractor with markings I will dig I'd go along with some kind of identification number rather than a roundel in this case. Enlarging the image on my basic photo stuff suggests two numerals, first one a 1 or 7 , second maybe an 8 or a 'squared' type 0. I would say though that they are enclosed in an outer circle of a different hue to the general background. If I get chance I'll stick it through something more powerful at work unless someone else can come up with an answer. Not sure about the interpretation of the left as a double bridge plate. I'm not up enough on RAF / military markings to say what it might be but it doesnt look like any bridge marking I've seeen any where else. Definitely a double number at the bottom centre left but it has some smaller 'blockier' image/numbers/letters to the top right. I would have thought bridge plate numbers would have been of equal size/weighting. Just my two pennuth! (Its about all I can afford these days! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 (edited) I dunno, just my initial impression was a roundel.... The original image I posted seen at pixel size, has just 4 pixels for the cetre of the Roundel, (if that is what it is) I think it is wishful thinking to see figures in the detail unless someone has access to a higher resolution original with a higher pixel count. Edited April 1, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Roundel on offside bumper, Bridgeplate ??? on nearside bumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Looking at the lintel of the shed, are there dedicated parking bays for individual vehicles, Is this a VRN above the door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Looking at the lintel of the shed, are there dedicated parking bays for individual vehicles, Is this a VRN above the door? Probaly many units had only limited undercover parking. TED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I dunno, just my initial impression was a roundel.... The original image I posted seen at pixel size, has just 4 pixels for the cetre of the Roundel, (if that is what it is) I think it is wishful thinking to see figures in the detail unless someone has access to a higher resolution original with a higher pixel count. If you have Windows Picture and Fax viewer on your machine, open the image up with that and zoom in. This doesnt have the effect that Paint has of breaking it down in to block pixels. With my screen set to a high resolution there does appear to be two numerals, or maybe even letters? Using Paint I would have agreed with the interpretation of a roundel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 If you have Windows Picture and Fax viewer on your machine, open the image up with that and zoom in. This doesnt have the effect that Paint has of breaking it down in to block pixels. With my screen set to a high resolution there does appear to be two numerals, or maybe even letters? Using Paint I would have agreed with the interpretation of a roundel. The origoinal picture I posted is 566 pixels by 222 pixels. The zoomed in picture of the cab back matches pixel for pixel what was contained in the original. There is no way I can see of extracting any meaningful data from 4 pixels, and that is the total count of the centre of the "roundel" in the original. There can be no more detail since a pixel is an object of only one colour. If you can get a better resolution image of the centre by whatever means please feel free to post it. If the original digital immage only holds four pieces of imfoabout the centre of the "Roundel" no software can extract more detail exept by making some sort of guess! Paint has not altered the digital information, the picture I posted of the cab back is all you can get from the original by any means.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 (edited) Matador with roundel painted on the bridgeplate steel disc, and a painted yellow circle bridge plate on offside scuttle. Anything goes! Edited April 2, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Not at All, both those vehicles are in Germany so they are both spot on for that theatre, On the introduction of the 9" roundel, unit production of a 9" dia disc onto which was painted the the roundel was an option given, So in reality metal discs for roundels were around as long as metal discs for bridge class numbers, in fact they may well have preceded them. However not the case above though as I said both are serving in Germany so the roundels are on the offside !! also bear in mind the bridge circle was to be on the front in such a position as nopt to obscure any other marking as on this pair. TED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Even the four pixels in your example have different tone levels, which would suggest that they are not part of the same small area of paint. At the distance the pic is taken at, a red dot in good lighting would likely show up as identical tones. If it uploads ok the attached might show more of what I believe to be there. sample.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les freathy Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Dodge VK60 crew bus with roundal on the off side and bridge plate 6 on the near, number is RAF 31496 and on the off side bumper it appears to read B/3, Interesting array of vehicles in the background, the K6 bomb flat has the roundal and bridge plate the opposite way round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) Even the four pixels in your example have different tone levels, which would suggest that they are not part of the same small area of paint. At the distance the pic is taken at, a red dot in good lighting would likely show up as identical tones. If it uploads ok the attached might show more of what I believe to be there. But if there is a different proportion of red and white within each pixel, the tone will be different. unless the four pixels are centred exactly on the centre of the red dot (if that is what it is) they will be different shades! IE the ratio of red to white in each pixel is unlikely to be exacttly the same. Edited April 3, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) Not at All, both those vehicles are in Germany so they are both spot on for that theatre, On the introduction of the 9" roundel, unit production of a 9" dia disc onto which was painted the the roundel was an option given, So in reality metal discs for roundels were around as long as metal discs for bridge class numbers, in fact they may well have preceded them. However not the case above though as I said both are serving in Germany so the roundels are on the offside !! also bear in mind the bridge circle was to be on the front in such a position as nopt to obscure any other marking as on this pair. TED My point is that some matadors have the bridge plate where the roundel is on this mat. And I believe the drillings for a standard bridge plate were put in by AEC on the scuttle ready to recieve the bridge plate, although the position does vary, and AEC may well have included the bridge plate in the build. Even the post war Matadors that went new to the AWRE , built from new with a coach built cab and recovery bodywork had a bridge plate fitted to the scuttle. (Can anyone explain why the AWRE recovery vehicle has a bridge plate unless AEC fitted it? This vehicle was built 8/7/55, In 1954 AWRE had transferred to the newly created United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). so this vehicle was bought and operated by a civilian organisation yet it has a bridge plate fitted to the scuttle) In army vehicles and some RAF vehicles this plate becomes the bridge plate, but in this instance they have painted a bridge plate on the other side and used what would often be the bridge plate as the roundel. My RAF Mat had the bridge plate were this one has the roundel. Edited April 3, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 (edited) also bear in mind the bridge circle was to be on the front in such a position as nopt to obscure any other marking as on this pair. TED Although from a different time period, clearly the roundel and the bridge plate can not only be on the same side of the vehicle, they can be almost touching. But this time the bridge plate is a bolt on disc and the Roundel is painted (or possibly a completely flat disc with no raised lip), not vice-versa. and the other Matador in this shot has the bridge plate on the opposite side to this one, on the same base...(sorry but I still say anything goes) also of interest is this Mat has masked headlights, whilst other vehicles in shot do not... Edited April 3, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) Post war Hong Kong Looks like RASF blue grey, including mudguards looks like Blue grey but with Black mudguards. O864 with RAF lettering on cab front( although part of registration), The vehicle having been taken over by shell, but with cab still RAF liveried.(note no Roundel, identification by this lettering alone) O854 servicing an RAF Lancastrian.(from same series of photos) Edited April 4, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) RAF Nubian collecting scrap R.N. Jeeps Kai Tak area. Post war era, identification by RAF lettering. (albeit as part of the registration) Matador brings in Scrap C-47??? (or similar??) fuselage to (presumably) the same scray yard as the jeeps are heading to. Edited April 4, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Elsdon Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 These are great in service photos mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 someone gave me them at a rally, I don't know who he was, but he told me they were taken in Hong Kong not long after the war.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted angus Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Mike, I think you have lost the original point of the thread at #1 AUSTIN asked the question """ I wanted to see the correct color and markings for a post war vehicle too."""""" I have endeavoured to answer the question by giving the official info current at the time his vehicle would have been in service. Yes Of course "anything goes" and I for one would never dispute that, but that does not answer "AUSTIN'S" question, whilst it has generated some outstanding period pictures for which I m very grateful for everyone sharing them, we have now ended up with a thread requesting info for a post 1953 Austin that is full of piccies from the WW2 and imediately after WW2 era . But keep them coming anyway they are priceless, Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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