From: Think Tank Subject: Think Tank Vol.0095 28/10/2001 Think.tank@tesco.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS' INDEX 1: FV numbers 2: Warrior organisation 3: Message for Ian Hanratty 4: Yugoslav M3A3/PaK 40 5: DAF M39 armoured car in Dutch service 6: Distaff support for modelling 7: FV numbers 8: Models at Bovington 9: Tank interior decorating 10: Tom Jentz 11: FV numbers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: HK aluminium barrels 2: Next digest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: John Harris [ukmilmod@ukmilmod.force9.co.uk] Subject: FV numbers Hello to one and all, Not sure if it helps, but I think Warehouse Books do a book titled "Post-War British Military Vehicles", which covers 1946-81. Having said that, the 'one man tank' designed (and apparently built as FV4401 "Prodigal") prior to the Chieftain project (FV4201) and described in the recent Chieftain Book by Rob Griffin was new to me. What I'm not sure about is quite "when" in a project an FV number was given to the project, at first idea, when drawings were produced, or when something tangible existed. I think the bulk of the models (occasionally more Dan Dare than FVRDE) at the Tank Museum are the products of the fertile imaginations of students of the RAC? John -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: MALCOLM IRESON [ireson@carltons36.freeserve.co.uk] Subject: Warrior organisation I would imagine that different regiments have different set ups for their companies; I can only speak for the regiment I served with. Within a regiment, you will have a number of companies; we had A, B, C, HQ, RECCE and FIRE SUPPORT, which consisted of mortars, MILAN, anti- tank. A, B, C were what’s called the fighting companies, each company had 4 platoons: 1, 2, 3, HQ. HQ Platoon consisted of all the important people, like the officer commanding that company, the sergeant major, the REME callsigns, possibly a medi-vac call sign. The O.C`s wagon (callsign AOA, for A Company, BOA for B Company, etc ) would have the O.C, normally a Major, a gunner, a junior NCO, a driver, a junior NCO or a very good private, and in the back , a radio operator (the company signaller, normally a junior NCO). The radio operator would handle anything up to 4 radios, all set to different frequencies, the company net, brigade net, battle group net and sometimes another. A typical fighting company vehicle would be commanded by a full corporal, the gunner and driver would both be privates. In the back he may have anything up to 7 men, consisting of lance corporals and privates. They would be armed with their personal weapons, either an SA80 or LSW (light support weapon); they may be lucky enough to have a GPMG in there somewhere. They would also have, stowed in the back, a couple of LAW 80s, if they were even luckier, a MILAN with a few rounds. This was mainly found only in a war time situation (Gulf War 90/91). I could go on like this for hours, if you want to know more, email me personally, that way I won't take up half the news letter! Hope this is of some use, glad I could be of some help for once. Cheers, Malc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: john.baumann@talk21.com Subject: Message for Ian Hanratty Bob, I sent this in last week but it never appeared in the last issue, maybe my e-mail failed, John Message for Ian Hanratty Could you please pass a message onto Ian Hanratty? I received an e-mail attachment from him (via a Gary Gray) but it had a virus so I had to delete it; unfortunately I didn't make a note of his address before doing this. Many thanks, Best regards, Andrew Crutchley -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: shanger [shanger@supanet.com] Subject: Yugoslav M3A3/PaK 40 I have recently been modelling this unusual vehicle (you may remember Steve Z's article in MM a few years back). In doing so, I have had some valuable assistance from Will Ward. He enhanced the well-known picture of the vehicle, taken in Trieste at the end of the war, and helpfully pointed out that it has a series of low armour plates protecting the front of the turret ring. With Will's permission, I can supply more info on this feature to anyone who is interested. Best wishes Andy Lang -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: shanger [shanger@supanet.com] Subject: DAF M39 armoured car in Dutch service I have been reviewing my references on this attractive subject in preparation for my next modelling project. The DAF M39 isn't commonly thought to have seen active service in the 1940 campaign. However, I re-read a passage in the excellent Histoire & Collections book ' Guerre Eclair a l'Ouest ' by Yves Buffetaut. It recounts the use of a single DAF M39 alongside a Landsverk M38, in support of a counter-attack by a Dutch Grenadier regiment at Overschie during the final hours of the campaign in Holland. Interestingly, the registration of the DAF is given as III-2203. This suggests that: i. The DAF was marked with the later military registration (other sources suggest they were unmarked) ii. Either someone took the trouble to record the registration in a contemporary account, despite the dark events unfolding around them, or (tantalisingly) that it was photographed at the time. Can anyone shed more light on this small episode from the momentous 1940 campaign? Best wishes Andy Lang -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) From: shanger [shanger@supanet.com] Subject: Distaff support for modelling My wife makes an often-unwitting contribution to my modelling. I have used her hairs for tie-ropes and other fine wires. Emery boards make cheap and surprisingly useful files - these are quite coarse when new, but I wait until she has finished sharpening her tongue on them... Her make-up items (lipsticks, eyebrow pencils etc) often yield useful formers for moulding items. None of this should be really surprising as part of her attraction (when we first met) was the fact that she claimed to have done some modelling. It turned out that she meant Marks & Spencer, not Airfix... Best wishes Andy Lang -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) From: Bill Scriven [bill.scriven@mail.which.net] Subject: FV numbers Re. the previous posts on FV numbers, AFV Weapons Profile number 53 (The FV 432 Series) is a good source of information on numbers allocated to the various types of carriers developed after the second world war. These include: FV 3904 – Churchill VII APC The FV 300 series. According to the profile a chassis was completed for running trials but the series was cancelled in the 1950s. The following planned versions are listed. FV 301 Light tank armed with a 77mm gun FV 302 Gun Position Officer/Command Post Vehicle FV 303 20 pdr SP Anti-tank gun FV 304 25 pdr SPG FV 305 5.5 in. SPG FV 306 Light Armoured Recovery Vehicle FV 307 Radar or WT Vehicle FV 308 Tractor Field Artillery FV 309 Section Vehicle Royal Artillery FV 310 APC FV 311 Armoured Load Carrier The FV 400 Cambridge series. As far as I am aware the Cambridge never entered service. The profile lists the following vehicles that were either planned or built in prototype form. FV 401 prototype APC FV 402 AOP FV 403 Tractor, Light, Anti-Tank, Artillery FV 404 Charging Vehicle FV 405 Light General Purpose Carrier FV 406 Command Vehicle FV 407 Tentacle, Air Cooperation Signals Vehicle FV 408 Armoured Ambulance FV 409 Gun Position Officer/Command Post Vehicle The FV 420 Series. Both the FV 421 and the FV 423 are pictured in the Profile. It's not clear whether all of these were prototyped, or whether any entered into service. FV 421 Load Carrier FV 422 APC FV 423 Command Vehicle FV 424 Royal Engineers Section Vehicle FV 425 REME Section Vehicle FV 426 Orange William Anti-Tank Guided Weapon Vehicle The FV 430 Series. The best known is the FV 432 APC. Lesser known variants include the FV 431 load carrier, the FV 436 Green Archer Locating Radar (both of which are pictured) and the FV 437 Pathfinder (prototype only - there's a picture in The Royal Engineers by Terry Gander. The FV 438 was originally a Swingfire launcher but was subsequently converted into a Royal Signals Wavell vehicle when Swingfire was withdrawn. I've read that this vehicle has also been referred to as an FV 435. The FV 500 series. The Profile records that this series was developed in the 1940s at he same time as the FV 400s. It was intended to be fully amphibious, but development stopped when it was found that the FV 400s could be made so. I assume that none were built, even as prototypes, but the following are FV numbers listed in the Profile. FV 501 Tracked Load Carrier (Neptune) FV 502 Tracked Workshop Vehicle FV 503 Tracked ARV Having typed all of that out, I have two questions of my own. Does anybody know what the designation FV 435 was originally intended for? And did the FV 431 load carrier ever enter service (the Profile includes a picture of the P1 prototype, but also what appears to be a later version with the registration 06EB03)? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) From: GRBroman@aol.com Subject: Models at Bovington > At Bovington on one of the upper levels in the museum there used to be a > whole series of wooden mock ups of 1950s and 1960s tank and AFV designs > which were I believe produced by officers training at Shrivenham or some > similar such place. Does anybody know the background to those models? Since I've not been at Bovington in a great number of years, I can't provide any information on the background of the models there, but I can add something on industrial models in general. The museum at the Rock Island Arsenal, which is the premier manufacturing Arsenal remaining in the US, has hundreds of these models. Some are incredible working models in 1/10 scale that were manufactured by apprentice machinists over the last 100 years. Others were built by the old Model shop of designs and variants under development. Some of the more unusual are a Mark VIII Liberty tank, of which 100 of the real thing were manufactured at the Arsenal from 1919-1920, and a 1/10 scale Atomic cannon that has working parts. Although a number are of 1920s and 1930s designs, most are 1950s-1960s and some are pretty off the wall designs. Glen Broman -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) From: Daniel Taylor [d-taylor@dircon.co.uk] Subject: Tank interior decorating Hi All By way of a follow up, that Italeri Crusader Mk II is well on its way to being built. One thing that I definitely got wrong was saying that the mantlet was approximately correct. In actual fact, the shape on the starboard side (where the MG goes) needs a fair amount of Milliput to put right. It is much more bulbous towards the top, with a flattened off section on top. The slot for the MG is also too wide. On the opposite side, the outer edge of the sight slot needs a bit of trimming away. By way of additions, I happened to pick up the Eduard etch for the Crusader III, much of which is usable on the Mk II. It provides a 19 Set (although it fails to split the two parts and is therefore dimensionally incorrect). Incidentally, having taken enormous care not to lose any of the tiny etched parts when cutting out, one of the bin latches hyperspaced after I had stuck it on. If you notice that there is an oddly placed bit of kit stowage, should you see the completed kit that is, well that is why. Now, down to the question. I have an excellent source for information on the Crusader - a group of veterans from the 4th County of London Yeomanry. So I asked three of them what colour the inside of the tanks were. Each of them gave a different response! One said off white, another grey, and the third thought grey/metal. Do any of you know which is correct? Or indeed if the answer is none of the above? Many thanks Dan Taylor The British interior colours question is one that Messrs Starmer and Cooper are well qualified to answer - as I recall, the answer is silver or white (silver first, then white, then back to silver). Robert -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) From: Daniel Taylor [d-taylor@dircon.co.uk] Subject: Tom Jentz Hi again I was wondering if any of you know whether Tom Jentz has produced the second book of his series on Tank Combat in North Africa? I already have 'The Opening Rounds' and am eagerly anticipating the next part as it will cover Op Crusader - a particular area of interest for me. Thanks for any information in anticipation, Dan Taylor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) From: Andrew & Louise [Andytelford@medic67.freeserve.co.uk] Subject: FV numbers Hello, Following on from Nick Balmer's piece in Vol 94. I picked up an old book yesterday "British Tanks 1946-1970 1st edition 1971" published by the Royal Armoured Corps Tank Museum Bovington Camp. Within its slim 60 pages are photos of the following prototype vehicles: FV 301 Light Tank (Wooden Mock-up) FV304 25-pr SP Artillery prototype FV3802 25-pr SP Artillery prototype, Centurion based. FV3805 5.5" Artillery SP Prototype, Centurion based FV3904 Churchill VII APC Experimental CDL on A41 prototype FV4004 Experimental 120mm Centurion 3 FV4005 Experimental 180mm SPG (Automatic loader, concentric recoil on Centurion) Wheels & Tracks No. 70 has a very good article on the Avanger (Challenger SP variant) which did not have an FV number allocated. Anyone requiring a copy of a particular shot, please drop me a line. Regards Andrew Telford 7956 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: Clive Harman [cliveharman1@yahoo.com] Subject: HK aluminium barrels Due to change of mind on a shared order once it was en route I have spare Barrel Depot turned aluminium barrel spare on current Hong Kong order. BD35012 120mm Leopard 2A5 Price is £7.50 plus 27p postage For those of you not familiar with the range these are a "new" source from Hong Kong with following barrels in the range. BD35001 40mm Bofors BD35002 M68 105mm gun without mud guard BD35003 88mm Flak 36/37 BD35004 M68 105mm gun with thermal shield (for US Army M60A3) BD35005 122mm 2S1 BD35006 115mm T-62 BD35007 120mm M1A1/M1A2/K1A1 BD35008 M12 BD35009 M68 105mm gun with mud shield (for USMC M60A3) BD35010 Tiger I mid production BD35011 125mm T-80 BD35012 120mm Leopard 2A5 BD35013 155mm Paladin (M109A6) BD35014 155mm M109G BD35015 155mm M109A2 BD35016 73mm BMP-1 BD35017 100mm T-54B On the subject of barrels I also have a Modelpoint barrel spare (not having much luck on the shared orders recently!!) #3515 2A20 (U5TS) 115 mm.T-62 for "Tamiya" kit £5.00 plus postage 27p Please email me if you are interested. Clive -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: Listmaster Subject: Next digest I will be at the IPMS UK Nationals next weekend so the next issue will, in all probability, not be out before Monday night. Robert -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Lockie (Think Tank Listmaster) Back issues of Think Tank (thanks to Shane Jenkins) can be found at: http://www.tac.com.au/~sljenkins/thinktank/thinktank.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume