DavidJ

Bruce Culver's Panzer Colours has a section on "method of application". It states that the engine-driven spray gun was the most common method of application and other methods were sponges, brooms, mops, rags, hands and throwing buckets of paint or whitewash. The photographs on that page of the book show a King Tiger receiving an immaculate spray job using the engine-driven spray gun, a Sd kfz 250 having thick paint daubed on with a relatively small paintbrush, a Horch(?) personnel car being whitewashed with yard and straw brooms, and a Sd kfz 232(?) having paint applied with a sponge and bare hands. The book is full of photographs showing how variable the camouflage finishes are . . . and then there are the other two volumes in the series.

They could be either Tony. While SCC15 was different to US olive drab, it was adopted in part to remove the requirement to repaint lend-lease vehicles. As a general rule, lend-lease vehicles would not be repainted unless they underwent refurbishment or modification. For example, Shermans converted to Fireflies or Crabs would be repainted but other Shermans in the same units could still be olive drab. I don't think it's possible to determine whether vehicles are SCC15 or US olive drab from photographs so no-one will know whether you have chosen the wrong colour. Cheers David

Retrokit produced replacement tyres for the IBG Bedfords with three different and accurate tread patterns. Although the IBG Bedfords are 1/72, the replacement tyres (and the IBG wheels) are the correct size for a 1/76 model. It is a little fiddly fitting the Retrokit tyres to the new Airfix Bedfords but I suspect that fitting them to the refueller hubs should be easier. Unfortunately, the Retrokit tyres seem to be out of production but you may be able to find a set online. Cheers David

It is an early petrol engined 854. I didn't notice the autovac tank below the LHS windscreen.

The same photo is reproduced on the rear cover of Steve Richards' "AEC Matador; taking the rough with the smooth". The photograph is captioned as an AEC 854 (early model with petrol engine) but the refueller doesn't seem to have the larger radiator of the 854. Interestingly, the lighter colour is brown rather than green, perhaps a lighter brown than that used on the Stirling, ie not SCC2. However, I suspect that the brown is a product of the reproduction of the photograph (the blue of the RAF rondel is too light). The colour demarcation on the tank sides is quite clear as are the stains running down from the top of the vehicle. Cheers David

An interesting photo. At first glance I took the colour for SCC15 but a closer look revealed what I think is a two colour disruptive camouflage: possibly the G5 Light Green and G3 Khaki Green of Scheme 2. An AEC 854 in that camouflage would make an interesting contrast to my predominately SCC2 and SCC15 models. Cheers David

There is a DVD "Nightbombers" in the Archive of War series that documents a Lancaster bombing raid from vehicle maintenance, planning, briefing, loading, take off, etc. A number of different RAF vehicles are shown and a couple have yellow on their upper surfaces. These include a Thornycroft with Coles crane - the upper surface of the jib is yellow - and a David Brown tractor. The top of the tractor bonnet or engine cover is yellow but it is obscured by a fitted canvas cover. Perhaps the cover was removed at night. Cheers David

I spotted a fire truck based on the Bushmaster when I was travelling in South Australia last year. It could be a conversion option for the Showcase kit. My kit is still in the box and will stay there until the Arms Corps updates are released.

The following mix was provided by Mike Starmer for WW2 Desert PinK: 5pts XF2 + 5pts XF15 + 1 pt XF52 (a touch more white) I'm not sure how the WW2 colour relates to that used on Landrovers and they seem a bit 'pinker' to me. Mike's mix may be OK for weathered Landrovers. David

I have built one and I have another couple (different versions) in my stash. The earlier releases had terrible tyres but PST released an upgrade tyre set that came with the later releases. The kit is not as detailed as it could be and apparently there are some inaccuracies with the cabin - not that I worried too much about that. Steven Zaloga had a construction article in Military Modelling a couple of years back. It shouldn't be too hard to find and there is a lot of reference material on the web. David

The Australian Army operates a range of 6 X 6 Landrover Perenties in addition to the special forces patrol vehicle shown above. See http://www.grubby-fingers-aircraft-illustr...walkaround.html They are in the process of being replaced by Mercedes G-Class in 4 X 4 and 6 X 6 configurations. I wonder if Bill's 6 X 6 Landrovers were ex-Australian Army. The special forces patrol vehicles are being replaced by a Supacat design called "Nary" in Australian service. I understand that the British Army operates similar vehicles. David