Tamiya made a decent kit and there are good aftermarket wheels from Accurate Armour. But I never have been able to find out where the vehicle was actually used, So far I have only found museum versions of this vehicle.
In Oman I think.
From an old forum thread :
On a side note some of the pics above show the initial workshop-converted Pinkies rather than the formal Marshallsâ factory version kitted by Tamiya and Italeri.
H.P.
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Certainly in Oman and Aden, in addtion to mention of Kenya (above); they were also in Belize in 82/83 when I was there, albeit not pink.
Like this one maybe ?
H.P.
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Quite possibly! These were the ones that because I did their typing and generally helped them with some of their staff work my reward was to blast away on the rnages with the double GPMGs on the rear of the vehicle one day (actually my last day in theatre). I had whinged to one of their blokes in the Mess one evening that Iâd never fired a GPMG before so they decided to put that right.
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Thanks. Unfortunately I cannot get to the old forums anymore.
And 1970/71
Used during the Dhofar campaign in Oman during the 1970s and also initially in Northern Ireland. Obviously when used in NI they didnât have sand tyres though - I assume the usual bar treads were fitted.
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This is a series of photos taken from a video collage posted by someone actually in Dhofar, Oman back then:
My favourite pic, reminiscent of the famous WW2 shot. This is the colour version of the B&W above:
and not all were pink - same photo as above:
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Always thought that was a cool looking vehicle !
And I love those figures; may have to embark on a project with a Land Rover!
Anyone know what replacement tires from accurate armor would be correct? And which kit is the better starting point, Tamiya or Italeri?
Very useful information. I have one of these in the stash.
For more on the the Dhofar War, I can thoroughly recommend Storm Front by Rowland White.
A brilliant read!
I originally read it hoping to get more information about the Strikemaster operations, but learned a heck of a lot more. The story of Shorts Skyvans dropping home made napalm was one I wonât forget!
Can probably be found for cheaper than Amazonâs price.
Hope it helps.
If youâre looking at the standard Landy tyres offered by AA, then none of them are suitable for a âEuropeanâ SAS vehicle. They used larger tyres as standard (canât remember the tyre size) but they look visibly larger in the wheel arches compared to normal Landy tyres - not sure anyone offers them in kit form.
For a desert Pinkie, Hussar Productions do a really good set of sand tyres to replace the kit items - they make a huge difference to the look of the vehicle. (I got mine from Air Connection in Canada.)
Thanks Iâll check those out. Is there an article I can reference to correct the faults on either kit ?
Very interested in this vehicle.
Building an accurate Pinkie is something of a nightmare. Thereâs very little verified photographic material available of them in service (most of them are provided in this thread) and you have to be wary of some of the vehicles in private ownership as they are replicas rather than genuine vehicles - I read somewhere that there are more âPinkiesâ in private ownership than were actually manufactured. The limited number of vehicles converted (20-30?) were in service for a long time (1960s-1980s) and the configurations changed during their service life. In the photos posted earlier in this thread youâll note some of the vehicles fitted with rounded (rather than square-section) rifle âholstersâ on the fender sides - these were unit-converted Pinkies and pre-date the official ânew-buildâ factory conversions carried out by Marshalls.
The Tamiya and Italeri kits provide you with the older Larkspur radios which date the vehicles to the 1960/early 70s. They were refitted with Clansman sets later on. I would also be wary of the various aftermarket sets available - all of them provide useful bits and pieces but none of them are particularly representative of actual vehicles.
Even the pink paint was non-standard - it was mixed at unit level from white paint and red primer.
I built a very late Pinkie (1980s) a few years ago and spent a lot of time trying to track down details - not convinced I got it ârightâ but it was better than what the kit provided. I will go through my stuff and dig out some in-progress images.
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Thanks for the info John, I was particularly interested in the ones used in Dhofar as pictured in this thread. I have the Tamiya kit and sand tires from Hussar but still need to cobble together some other items. Which update sets/ PE can you recommend?
Also itâs interesting in the one photo where some of the men are wearing traditional headdress and some floppy brim hats. Interesting mix; and mostly with shirts off due to the heat Iâm sure lol !
I didnât use a specific Pink Panther aftermarket set for my project. I relied on the spares box, other vehicle sets and scratchbuilding for what I needed. The Legends set looks OK but I havenât seen it in the flesh and it really depends on how specific you want your vehicle to be.
The sun compass was from Inside the Armour (I think itâs out of production now). The wheels are from Hussar (as previously noted). The Carl Gustav came from a figure sprue in the Trumpeter JGSDF Type 89 reconnaissance vehicle. Personally, Iâd get hold of some FN Mags from Live resin to replace the kit weapons. The SLR is from an old Italeri modern weapons set but there may be better ones out there now. I think Accurate armour offer a Clansman radio set now (they didnât when I built this kit)
I built a very late iteration of the vehicle, with wider âtraysâ on the front fenders and Clansman radios. That meant relocating the tripod to the centre of the bonnet/hood. I added the rear cargo tray and modified the kit-supplied cargo âloadâ that fits on top of it. The cargo bed stowage racks were based on images of a genuine vehicle but I donât know whether they were standard throughout its life or were added at a later date. There are three radios fitted to this vehicle - the Clansman on the front fender, the manpack between the fuel tanks and the anonymous white box with a handle,beside the aerial base.
Finally, I added personal âbail-outâ bags hanging off convenient points around the vehicle. These contained critical stuff such as food, water and ammunition in case the crew needed to abandon the vehicle quickly.
A note on personal weapons - traditionally the SAS (like any SF unit) has greater choice and availability of personal weapons than normal military units. However, that doesnât mean the individual trooper goes exotic just because they can. SLRs and M16 derivatives would have been the most common options used. A sniper rifle might be carried on the vehicle if one of the crew was qualified, but given the era of the Pinkie, it would most likely be an L42A1, the standard British Army sniper rifle of the time (a much-modified version of the Lee Enfield No.4). The Carl Gustav would be an unusual addition for typical desert operations.
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