Planning on getting to work on Dragon’s 1/35 Saladin soon. Wondered if anyone could recommend resources for finding out what units were in Northern Ireland during the troubles. I know they had Saracens, Saladins, and Ferret armored cars as well as a centurion AVRE that was used in Operation Motorman. Hoping to find out what units were there and when. I haven’t gotten too far into Tim Pat Coogan’s book on the IRA so I don’t know too much about what he has. Poking around the internet I found a few photos from Motorman but nothing from the mid 70s or into the 80s.
Just to let everyone know I bought the Operation Banner book and am reading it. I do remember the Bobby Sands hunger strike from when I was a boy, and the 1983 New York St. Patrick’s Day parade that was boycotted by numerous people, including Senator Kennedy and Patrick Moynihan, because a man from the IRA was the grand marshal. I also remember a Catholic high school teacher being unhappy about the Northern Ireland violence, and later a leftist Irish mass communications professor talking about stereotypes. One example he gave was the century-old stereotype of happy-go-lucky Irish alcoholics, and then suddenly Irish people were killing each other. (He never said anything about either side being right or wrong, and he was a leftist.)
I did want to depict a Saladin car in Northern Ireland, but I don’t know which markings and coloring to use. Yes, many different British regiments went there, but I want to depict one that was right.
The Saladin in the photo is crewed by 17th/21st Lancer Regiment. The vehicle would probably have carried the Regiment’s dramatic death’s head badge (or “motto” as the Lancers call it).
Yeah he was the Lt Col at HCMR in London during the Hyde Park bombings and then the Col - (Silver Stick in Waiting) of the Blues & Royals (RHG/D) while I was in Germany –
Tom, for a black and green scheme in Tamiya acrylic, XF 69 NATO Black would work, and most guys would go XF 65 Field Grey for the green. A good example is this Ferret in Belfast in 1972:
