Chris Grove

Well, I have been using Humbrol enamels for over 50 years and, sure, sometimes there seems to be less pigment in the paint, and sometimes more, but I have been (and still am) pretty happy with the stuff. Someone mentioned Colorcoats. I love their colours, but it usually takes me three or four coats to get a decent finish! Chris

I have a Grex Tritium TG3 and am in need of a new needle (and, presumably, a new nozzle) grateful if you can let me know if, or when, you have the spares. Chris

A bit of carving and sanding works wonders in converting a Type B barrel to a Type A! Chris

Hi Obsessed Member Lovely pic of a jeep on the dropping beam of a Hastings. But what do you (or anyone) reckon is on the other end of the beam? Could be the American 75 mm Pack Howitzer (judging from the holes along the trail) which was certainly used by the airborne, but it only has one wheel each side, so maybe a limber as well?? I seem to remember that the dropping beams were designed for the Halifax (same maker as the Hastings), but I would reckon it more likely that the Hastings dropping beams were developed from the Halifax ones. I would think that not many of the Hastings ones were made, as in 1955, most of UK's heavy drop was done from USAF C119s; hence the panic when we needed to do our own thing at Suez! Chris

and like most British military vehicles since! Chris

One Cromwell was captured by the Chinese, used against us and, as mentioned above, was knocked out by a Centurion. Not a Comet; these were certainly stationed in Hong Kong (I believe the last ones in the British Army). The Churchills were indeed Crocodiles, but the flamethrower trailers were not found to be of much use, so they were taken off and the tanks used as gun tanks. Chris

Hi everyone Jeeps at Suez were almost relics. They had virtually been replaced by Champs and Landrovers. However, since they had to be dropped from the dropping beam on Hastings aircraft (the dropping beams were also relics) and they were only designed for jeeps, a few Jeeps were dug out, painted yellow (with white H) and dropped in with 3 Para, some with 106mm recoilless rifles. They were rapidly replaced with more modern transport once this started coming ashore. Jeeps were common in Palestine and also in Malaya, as well as in UK and BAOR up to the early 1950s. Chris