Thornycroft Mighty Antar help

[Bishyboy]

I have just finished painting Accurate Armours Antar with trailer in xtracrylix bronze green. The vehicle I'm looking at replicating is a photo of a vehicle in bronze green but the Antar unit is in a glossy finish. I can't make out on the photo if the trailer is also gloss finish. The tank on the back isn't and I like the contrast between worn battle weary tank and shiny almost new transporter. There's three things I'm asking how common was it to see a gloss bronze green vehicle in service? Would the matching trailer be finished in gloss also? Did the maintenance crews ever paint the wheel nuts red and white on a vehicle in service? Thanks Rich

[Kiwidave4]

Deep bronze green as used from about 1950 until the late sixties was a high gloss finish. It was used on all eqipment, so both the tractor and the trailer would have been glossy ex-factory. Not familiar with xtracrylix, I always use Humbrol 75 matt and then achieve the desired level of gloss by applying one or more coats of Kleer.

Cents, and early Chieftains, were finished in DBG, along with all other vehicles, so although you may have a picture of a matt looking tank it will be dirt/wear that has dulled the shine. Of course some Antars in DBG could have survived into the NATO green era so you would find a green & black load, and it would be matt.

It is sometimes forgotten these days that 'spit & polish' were the by-words of the post war military. There are plenty of photos around of gleaming armoured vehicles in DBG, a paint that was finally replaced not because it was shiney, but because it had a (un)healthy dose of lead which added to the lovely deep lustre.

Modern vehicle restorers/collectors paint the wheel nuts, white for the nuts that retain the wheel, and red for the nuts that hold the split rim together. Undoing the latter without first deflating the tyre can prove fatal. I dont think you will find any in-service pics of vehicles with this adornment. A red spot of paint on the end of the split rim studs would be more usual and hardly visible in a photo.

Regards Dave

[rayprit]

Kiwidave covers most points and is 100% correct. All fancy wheelnuts being painted by enthusiasts.....after crossing field and meadow to hide in forests during the night........its a sort of paint we never carried. As an ex 3 Tank Transporter Squadron driver I can assure you many of us were proud of our Antars and wax polish was the order of the day, even without an inspection. The Antar was crewed by 2 people, a driver and a "trailer boy" Antar was the drivers responsibility and the trailer was the responsibility of the trailer boy, who also kept his trailer nice and shiny. Both men were required to stow the landing legs when being stowed due to the sheer weight of the legs. Antars started to be camoflaged from about 1970. I finished my Accurate Armour Antar 3a a few months ago and would like to post pics, but the way you post pictures on here confuses me and gave up in the end................There are plenty of pics on the net of Bright shiny Antars.....Pat Wares book is a mine of information

Regards

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Slighty but I'm desperate for good photos, plans, drawings & documents detailing the Antar.....Could anyone help out or even point me in the right direction?

The info is required for a proposed 1/72 high quality multi-media kit.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Sgt.Squarehead

[rayprit]

Hi

A site where pics are easy to upload can be found at this link, all my Antar pics are there and plenty of others.........in the search bar, just type Antar

http://miliblog.co.uk/index.php?search_image=si

Enjoy

[richellis]

Hi,

I have an article about a preserved Antar in a truck mag if a scan of that would be helpful let me know

[sanguin]

In the late 1950s/very early 1960s some Land Rovers in Malta had neatly painted white wheel nuts and most of the bigger trucks had both white and red, especially those of The Royal Malta Artillery.

I was familiar with the RMA vehicles as we lived in Tigne Barracks at the time; even their Bofors guns were heavily 'bulled'.

As an army brat I was impressed, I'd not seen anything like that in BAOR or any of the UK bases we had lived in.

Even the 'light sand' paintwork was usually polished to a brilliant shine on the army transport out there.

It may be a false memory, but I saw the odd Champ out there and as I recall they had red wheel nuts as well as the usual white.

RN and RAF vehicles were in their respective blues, but most had white roofs and all were kept in pristine condition.

Fuel filler caps were all painted, usually red, but yellow for diesels I think.

I suppose it was the fag end of National Service and vehicle polishing was the norm in a place like Malta.

We must do something to keep the lads busy and away from screech and the Gut......

John

John