pete sheridan (no login) from IP address 4.228.159.82
Mail Jeep just arrived with the Valentine from Nigel at Parabellum...order placed 12/16, all the way from Birmingham, England to southern Colorado just in time for a very good Christmas...Nigel charges 15.00 US for these Valentines, plus postage...quite a bargain compared to e-bay!
Ken K. smuggled a few extra Parabellum Valentines into the country for me earlier this year and I agree that they are "just fine". Not "perfect", just fine, and for a longtime Western Desert war fan like me, a gotta have.
The BEST part is that it arrived BEFORE Xmas... Congrats!
Opened the box to see that (despite the cover art) the kit comes without sand shields. From photos these look to be rather straitforward card construction, but I'm curious if the shields stood out at the shallow angle portrayed on the box? Other illustrations (notably Osprey's #23) seem to show them straight up and down.
Also, I seem to recall seeing photos of Valentines sporting small stowage bins on the turret rear...ammo boxes, maybe? As an old Western Desert hand, I figure you're the one to go to.
Yes, that box art makes them appear as though they are flared out, but most appear to be quite vertical. I am attaching shots of my two which may help (or hinder).
I converted my first Val to a 25pdr Bishop SP, and built sand skirts for both of them out of sheet plastic etc.
As for the stowage box on the rear of the turret, that was fitted to later Marks III & V and contained six Bren magazines.
Many thanks, George. Those photos make it perfectly clear how the sand shields should go. Now to choose a proper paint and markings scheme...oh, the horror!
Great to see other Valentines. Mine's got it base paint job (same as George's). Question is, would a tank in this pattern still use the white/red/white flash on the turret?
Pete: With the early sand shield you can go plain stone, I suppose. George's book on AFV camo and markings in the desert has an example from Bardia in plain stone. Need to check what else is on it though. I'll have to check and edit this later.
Edit: Checked, the vehicle in George's "Armour Camouflage and Markings: North Africa 1940-1943" is with the 8th RTR, Bardia, January 1942. It's in plain stone, with a WRW flash about a third of the width of the turret and a smaller flash on the front of the sandshield. Don't know about the divisional markings on the front, will have to have a look for that later.
P.S. George: Will mail you when I get on the other computer. /Nik
This message has been edited by Nik_Grundstrom from IP address 86.145.255.252 on Dec 26, 2007 9:13 AM
Tread carefully when referring to a book that is now 40 years old, like mine.
From what I understand the White/Red/White ID markings were only used around the time of Operation Batteaxe.
Later at Alamein, the WRW was changed to Red/White/Red, and that seems to have carried over right into Italy. I would sure love to have someone enlarge on these ID markings and how they were used when. Were both WRW and RWR alive at the same time? and the photographers didn't cature both versions at the same time period?
I've never figured it out. Maybe Mike Starmer is our man.
GB
This message has been edited by George_Bradford from IP address 65.93.142.94 on Dec 27, 2007 9:46 AM
Hi everyone! Just wanted to ask George (and possibly to remind everyone) about the cover art showing the backward wheels?! I seem to remember you telling me that the wheels should be fixed like your pictures depict and not the way the box art shows. Please correct me if I am wrong.
The cover art on my 2 boxes looks just fine (considering when it was done).
I think what Ken is referring to is some box art we saw somewhere that had the two Large road wheels arranged in the centre of the suspension, instead of one at each end. I REMEMBER it well, but damned if I can track it down now. It was featured in a series of old armour box art that some web site displayed. That was over a year ago Ken.
