Mandrake Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) I have recently started a blog dedicated to Esoteric Armour which can be found at: http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com By esoteric armour I refer to military vehicles service that is not widely known or widely published. This could be well known types in lesser known export service, rare or unique variants, or focussing upon the vehicles inventories of small armed forces throughout the world.....in some cases it will even provide evidence of types/variants in service that was not even previously known! Each arcticle will compromise of open source research, my own analysis, hopefully some discussion from you and also some input from a modelling perspective. Longer term I hope to include some build articles on my modelling of such esoteric armour. Ivory Coast Gendarmerie BMP-1 The inaugural post/article is on the subject of Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire BMP-1s & BMP-2s during the recent civil war. I hope to pulbish new articles at the rate of atleast one a week. You can subscribe for updates and/or I will post on this forum when I have updated, providing there are no objections by the administrators/moderators. Some of the future articles currently in the works include: Somalia/Somaliland - M-47 Patton Iraq - AMX-30 AUF-1 Iraq - Old school armour (Churchill, Centurion, Chaffee, Greyhound) Ivory Coast BTR-80 & BDRM-2 Cambodia PT-76 Egyptian M151A2 Any thoughts, comments or suggestions for future research topics would be welcome. Any comments regarding Ivory Coast BMP-1s and BMP-2 can I pleae encourage you to comment on the blog in order to get the ball rolling! Regards Mandrake Edited May 29, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Apologies for the slight error in link url I posted, I have corrected it now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted June 1, 2011 Author Share Posted June 1, 2011 (edited) Esoteric Armour update: 31/05/2011 Libya M113 Further photos of Libyan M113s, analysis, discussion and modelling guidence @ www.esotericarmour.blogspot.com Regards Mandrake Edited June 1, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 (edited) Esoteric Armour update: 13/05/2011 Sri Lanka Daimler Mk.II Armoured Car The curious case of AY4277 Further photos, analysis, discussion and modelling guidence @ www.esotericarmour.blogspot.com Regards Mandrake Edited June 14, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4scourge7 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) Do you mean like this, as used by Israeli recce units....BRDM-2 and BTR-40? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pik...red_vehicle.jpg http://m1.ikiwq.com/img/xl/fHe3wOY6TTyf4DXHtLOxSc.jpg Or Wild-Weasel, land-lubber style, the Kilshon. http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/veh...on/Kilshon.html Eyal observation platform http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/veh.../eyal/Eyal.html MAR-240 MLRS http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/veh...40mm/240mm.html HTH Cheers, Ian Edited June 16, 2011 by ian buick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 (edited) Ian, thank you for your interest and for posting some interesting links In regards to your question of lesser known vehicle service? OR lesser known vehicles types? The former will be the focus of the blog but the latter will also be covered to some degree. For my part the process is mainly about identifying and interpreting images of such examples. In the case if the IDF, which I'm guessing you have a special interest in, I hope to do an article in the future about the PT-76s captured and subsequently used and modified by Israel. Regards, Mandrake Edited June 17, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4scourge7 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Okay, thanks for that Mandrake. I do have an interst in IDF/Mid-East armour but also in the esoteric which I often find on the net, look at, and forget about, so I like your idea of a site dedicated to such types. I`ll post more links as I stumble across them. Here`s a link to an Israeli site, pic heavy with captured types including some very esoteric types and a couple of Israeli PT-76 pics (one in colour from 1960s/1970s?). http://idf-armor.blogspot.com/2008/07/m-48-frog.html All the best with the blog Cheers, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Interesting stuff! Bookmarked that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Okay, thanks for that Mandrake.I do have an interst in IDF/Mid-East armour but also in the esoteric which I often find on the net, look at, and forget about, so I like your idea of a site dedicated to such types. I`ll post more links as I stumble across them. Here`s a link to an Israeli site, pic heavy with captured types including some very esoteric types and a couple of Israeli PT-76 pics (one in colour from 1960s/1970s?). http://idf-armor.blogspot.com/2008/07/m-48-frog.html All the best with the blog Cheers, Ian Some excellent photos in there thanks. This is also a very good blog on middle eastern armour, with a focus on Lebanon. http://milinme.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Hello Mandrake, Nice blog. Some of the future articles currently in the works include:Somalia/Somaliland - M-47 Patton Iraq - AMX-30 AUF-1 Iraq - Old school armour (Churchill, Centurion, Chaffee, Greyhound) Ivory Coast BTR-80 & BDRM-2 Cambodia PT-76 Egyptian M151A2 I'll be happy to hear about AUF-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) Hello Mandrake,Nice blog. I'll be happy to hear about AUF-1. Thanks Antoine, Iraqi AUF-1s wil actually be the next article published. Not much text and/or analysis with this one, they received 85 examples in the early 80s, saw service in Iran-Iraq war and beyond that not much is known. There are alot of photos of derelict examples online mainly at camp Taji but I have only been able to find one picture of an operational example, taken during a parade in Baghdad. If you have any more information or operational pictures then do please get in touch. Also picked up the 1/35 Heller AUF1 a couple of weeks ago for a bargin price of about £10 (inc P&P). Nice base but going require alot of detail work. Edited June 18, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 (edited) Esoteric Armour update: 21/06/2011 Iraq - AMX-30 AuF1 / GCT 155mm Further photos, analysis, discussion and modelling guidence @ www.esotericarmour.blogspot.com Regards Mandrake Edited June 20, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Esoteric Armour Update After a short break I have updated my blog with a new article and an update to two previous articles Tunisia SK-105 Kurassier Further photos, analysis, discussion @ www.esotericarmour.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Esoteric Armour Update Libya Maz-543 TEL Scud-B http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/08...tel-scud-b.html Further photos, analysis, discussion @ www.esotericarmour.blogspot.com Edited August 1, 2011 by Mandrake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Libya (National Liberation Army) / Qatar Ratel 20 http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/08...army-qatar.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Quite a few updates on the blog since I last posted here: Libya (National Liberation Army) M577 Command Vehicle Full article with further pictures and information available here: http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/08...-army-m577.html Ugandan M4A1(76)W / M1 Sherman Full article with further pictures and information available here: http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/09...m1-sherman.html Centurion AVRE in Libya Full article with further pictures and information available here: http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/09...e-in-libya.html Libya Khrizantema-S Full article with further pictures and information available here: http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/10...izantema-s.html Yemen M113 Full article with further pictures and information available here: http://esotericarmour.blogspot.com/2011/10/yemen-m113.html Hope you find them interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 After a long break due to other commitments Esoteric Armour is back with three new articles: Yemen M60 Click for full article Libya M109 Click for full article Libya ShKH DANA vz.77 Click for full article It is hoped that new articles will be added on a more regular basis. It is also the intention to revise a number of previous articles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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