I am looking for a suitable colour to paint a scale model of the RUC Tangi.
I have tried Revell’s enamel colour 79, but am not entirely satisfied with the result.
Perhaps there is a more accurate shade in acrylic (Tamiya, Revell or Humbrol).
Any suggestions?
Paul
Weather plays a big part, you can have a dark blue/gray, new or workshop, to more blue with weathering.
Think it was humbrol 248 or tamiya xf23
The colour of RUC landrovers was often described as “battleship grey” but I’m not sure if that’s a very meaningful term.
Steve,
Yes, I have read that term in my research. However, the actual colour appears to have been more of a blue-grey. Of course, changes in lighting tends to affect the appearance of colours in photos.
Paul
It’s actually colloquially known as the pig wonder why
I think you are getting that confused with the Humber Pig which was used by the RUC for a while. I’ve never heard the Hotspur, Tangi or Pangolin referred to as that. Most people just call them Land Rovers.
Just for the historical record there was another “Pig”; this was the colloquial term given to the 2 x massive AEC Armoured Command Vehicles we had at Corps HQ in Germany back in 1971 (my first posting):
Well Brian I can see exactly why that was called ‘Pig’! Never seen this vehicle before- almost as ugly as the WW2 era AEC command vehicles. Is it just me or does it look even worse in two tone?
Funny you should say that; I was there when they were repainted from gloss Bronze Green into the Green/Black combo we know so well.
The Corps HQ vehicle fleet which must have been vast, was paraded on the square for around a full week; it consisted mainly of Bedford RL office trucks and the 2 x Pigs. No rubbing down or proper paint preparation, just a SNCO chalking lines and then the soldiers and Mixed Services Organisation set to. Paint brushes? Well, probably, but I saw hand brushes (the type that goes with a dustpan) and even mops as the paint was applied. Masking - ie windscreens? Not a bit of it.
It wasn’t just trucks, nearly every vehicle towed a trailer of some description. Of course, this was happening all over the British Army, but that’s how I recall it at Ripon Barrakcs, Bielefeld back in the early 70s.
As for the ACV, I think only 3 were built. We had 2 (one for Main HQ, one for Step-Up), God knows who had the other.
I remember seeing pictures from WW2 of soldiers painting in the chalk-lined schemes- funny that they were still doing it in the 70s but I guess its a simple way of getting it done.
You and I discussed this in another thread some time ago Brian as I recall; there’s no kit of it that I’m aware of but I’d love to build one someday from scratch.
We did indeed! The only one in model form was the effort in 1:300 made by a modelling friend of mine for my Corps HQ diorama. so
The real thing really was a beast and as a lowly Private soldier I only entered it once - it was the home of the commanding General so was far from my normal turf.
Same here- it would be an interesting piece to model.
That’s a scale I’ve not seen much- they look great in the dual tone camo. So what was the small tent on the side for?
Karl, what I should do is direct you to my 1:300 Corps HQ model somewhere in the campaigns of time, but I won’t - that would be churlish. Instead, I produced some time ago an account of how Corps HQ went to war for a club newsletter of a modellling friend of mine. I described in detail (10 pages of everything I could remember) - this was to support an earlier article they had produced on the technical side of the ACV; however, being just about the only man alive (not really) who knew how the vehicle operated and integrated, I produced aforesaid article (yours if you really have problems dropping off at night).
Below is an extract from said blurb:
The office trucks were primarily Bedford RLs; such vehicles are often referred to as BBVs - Box Bodied Vehicles, regardless of function. These were often parked up in a cruciform with steel mesh platforms and/or tailboards extended to provide a sort of gangway at the height of the Box Bodies ie the office part of the truck. Metal steps led down to ground level. These trucks often had a canvas lean-to type of extension at the sides and these were usually deployed to provide more working space – often for Clerks. Some vehicles had a letter-box type aperture and chute in the side so that handwritten drafts could be passed down to the Clerk set up in these small lean-to tents and be typed into hard copy; remember that these were the days when the written word was produced mechanically using typewriters and duplicators. Staff Clerks were required to be able typists; producing operation orders
So now you know!
Should you wish to know more of life in a Corps HQ in BAOR in the Cold War, just ask(!)
Bet most of the parts, are from the militant. Like the Saxon and TM trucks.
I’m sure it was; it would have been lunacy not to have - mind you - that’s never stopped the British Army before(!)
