Redlodger

Thanks Old Pro, that link is fantastic!

That tracks, I have only seen the jerboa on Challenger 1 tanks.

Hello everyone, I'm about to embark on painting some 1/100 Chieftains in the black and green camo scheme used by the BAOR. I want to decal the tanks to appear circa 1985. I've been doing some research, but there are some things that are unclear, and I wanted to ask about before I commit to applying decals. I don't know the proper term for some of the lettering, so I'll describe it as best I can. Location of Tactical Markings (two digit number inside a geometric shape) There seems to be a great deal of variation, but a marking on the back of the turret appears to be most common. Was this the "official" placement? Were markings on turret sides or hulls added for exercises? Does the color of the marking mean anything? I've seen white, yellow, and black. Placement of Union Jack on Hulls These appear most commonly on the right hand side, front or rear, of the hull, which I gather was the recommended practice, However, I've seen photos of tanks without a flag, but mostly post-1985 it seems. Did the habit simply fade away, or was there an official end to it? Markings Unique to Particular Units I'll be using the Team Yankee British Decal Set, and it includes markings for the Desert Rats (a red jerboa, and a red jerboa on a white field), and for Scottish units (St Andrew's cross flag). Who would use the Desert Rats insignia, and was it commonly applied? I think it would be the 7th Armoured Brigade, but I'm not certain about that. As for the St Andrew's cross flag, I'm thinking of lettering the tanks for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (I think crew figures with the light grey beret would look cool). The flag looks to have been applied to the sides of the turret. Would the Union Jack still be seen on the hull? Would other combat vehicles, such as Scorpions and FV438s, also sport the flag? To further complicate things, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards seem to have been part of the 7th Armoured Brigade in 1989. Would one insignia have precedence over the other? Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mark

That is wild, I didn't know that! One thing I'm not clear about is the designation AVRE. Does this describe the standard the tanks were upgraded to, or does it mean they were assigned to the Royal Engineers (then loaned out to the Royal Artillery)? The Team Yankee formation I'm working on is a Chieftain armoured squadron, so the Centurion Mk12 would be ideal. Unfortunately, the only artillery observer listed for the British is an FV432. Still, I don't think that would rule out a Mk12 as a proxy model.

That gives me plenty of information to go on. I'm going to try building an NOD from scratch, but worse comes to worst, the kit includes a commander figure holding binoculars.

Thanks for the photo of the NOD. It’s actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be (I was going to try cutting down a TOW missile launcher). Was there a similar daytime scope?

Thanks Kingsman! I didn’t know the sight and the laser designator were integrated. I haven’t found any pictures of the sight, either, so the photos of the TimeCast model is a big help.

Hi Everyone, I'm building a 1/100 scale FV432 to be used to play Team Yankee. It's going to be a vehicle assigned to a forward observation officer. Were there any distinguishing characteristics of these vehicles, such as extra stowage bins or antennas? I've read there was a removable sight or laser rangefinder mounted at the commander's hatch in lieu of a machine gun, and I've come across two photos of Royal Artillery FV432s sporting four antennas, but the captions didn't indicate what they were used for. A third photo of an RA FV432s had a large wire basket mounted on the top deck, and the caption said it was equipped with the Field Artillery Computer Equipment system. Would this have been an observation vehicle, or more of a fire control vehicle stationed with the guns? Thanks, Mark

Hello everyone, I'm working on some 1/100 scale Chieftains for playing Tanks: The Modern Age and Team Yankee. I've been watching videos on YouTube of BAOR Lionheart exercises from 1984-85, and it seems like all of the tanks had the wing mirrors removed. Was there a rule or regulation calling for this, or was it just a very common practice? I'm also curious as to how this was done. In most cases it looks like the mirror and the bracket have been removed. Other times, it seems just the mirror has been removed, and the bracket is folded down and forward to rest on the top of the side skirts. However, the film is a bit grainy, and the brackets could still have been there. Was one practice more common than the other, or was there only one way it was done? Thanks, Mark

Hello everyone! I'm writing from Ottawa, Ontario. I'm working on some British AFV models to play Tanks: The Modern Age and Team Yankee. I know very little about Cold War British armour, so I'll have plenty of questions about details, paint and lettering, and some random stuff that pops into my head.