Put another prawn on the barby....
 

I was lucky that one of the covers for the mortar rounds survived from being turned into a BBQ plate and provided a reference for the missing cover. Darrin Wright kindly supplied a laser cut ‘kit’ the same as he used in his restoration.

It was good that Darrin had the original drivers side cover, whilst mine still had the opposite side cover. Between the two covers, this has formed some excellent reference points as they are not mirror copies of each other and there are varying construction techniques between Darrins cover and mine.

Not quite finished, but almost there...

Hi Phillip,
You say this lid is the cover for the mortar rounds, I always understood this cover was for the radio set? cheers Andrew.

Andrew,

When I first saw this carrier, I also thought that the brackets were for a radio cover and that the other odd brackets were a few civvy mods. It was Wayne Henderson who pointed out to me that it was one of small number of converted carrier given the nomenclature ‘Carrier, M.G. (Aust) Mortar Carrying’.

Darrin Wright documented his outstanding restoration of other Aust Mortar carrier on this site and also did a lot of research into these vehicles at the AWM.

The covers themselves are very much simpler than the radio covers, being simple flat plate with no return around the lip.

I’m trying to work out where the bipod was stored?

Isn't the bi-pod stored in the left rear up the front? Does it go into a ring welded to the floor?.... or is that for something else?
Andrew will know.

Yes, sooo many questions...
 

Good question Lyn.

Vickers tripod stored left front of engine bay - I did wonder if the tripod was thrown away and the bipod placed there, but there is no change to the fittings here. Ring on the floor is usually for the spare Bren barrel cover - not present on this carrier, nor any of the SA carriers I’ve had/ seen up close.

Hmm, who does know the answers?

This should answer your question
 

Hi Phil,
I have watched with interest as the restoration continues and enjoy your pics.
I spent some time this afternoon and photographed my fixtures to show you how it is all set up.
I still do not know what the 2 threaded blocks on the left inside of hull are for...maybe you do?

In the Vickers tripod mounting brackets I store the cleaning rod for the mortar, there is no fixed bracket or position for it, I just figured after reading the 3" Mortar pamphlet that that was the most logical spot for the crew to place it and I also doubt that they would have ground mounted the Vickers MG as mortars usually fire from the rear.

Can we see a pic of your left cover?

Regards

couple more pics that failed to upload in the last post

Down 200, Left 50.
 

Thanks Darrin,

It’s interesting that the hinge construction on our covers is significantly different, but then again this hull never had the side rails either, so one of the many variances in construction across carriers.

I had another hull that had those two round pads in the left sponson, it was an earlier SA hull but not a mortar carrier. Someone will know what goes there.

In its stowed position, what is the bipod resting on?

The bipod sits on top of the timber blocks, there is a strap the retains it down onto the engine cover.

I tried variations to mount it like the mortar tube, but it did not work; so best educated guess is it sits on top. That is also confirmed by a pic that shows no detail in the timber blocks.

The end is nigh......
 

I finally got the engine cover and tool plate off to the sandblasted the other week and returned nicely cleaned and primed. A cote of KG No.3 and the engine cover was shoehorned into place - This where that gantry is worth its weight in gold.

The lower engine covers were fitted. These are a set of Colin Jones that I bought a few years ago. The back covers needed some very slight mods - to clear the oil pipes and the holes needed slotting. They fit perfectly and look a million dollars - a tribute to Colin’s excellent craftsmanship.

Next - sewing, camo, leather and road testing!!!

Slip, slop, slap........
 

When I looked at the kit that Darrin had made, I discovered that the latch mechanism on Darrins cover is quite different from mine (as were the hinges) So using the original cover as a template, I finished the bracket for the ammunition cover that holds it open in the vertical position.

Three different thickness materials were used in this mechanism, so after rummaging around my pile of scrap steel I found the right imperial thicknesses and am quite pleased with the results.

One of the quandaries with these hulls are the few extra brackets, I think this little latch should have a clip on the ammunition cover to hold it in place when in the open position.

Illumination...
 

Progress on the small jobs is being made.

The flare box had been painted but the webbing strap had rotted and broke off after a few uses. Finding rivets in the current environment was going to be tricky and slow, so I modified some copper ones by turning them on the lathe.

I gave up long ago on trying to find enough flares in good condition so decided to make my own out of resin and using an original base to make the mould.

Once the bases were painted, I wrapped and glued printed paper around them and applied a coat of shellac before stamping them. Not perfect or 100% accurate but they look the part. :cheers:

That's nothing Phillip! My smoke grenade is Ford Transit oil filter. :) Ron

In the same vein, I know of several Chevrolet CMPs that have a paint can masquerading as the coolant recovery can... Since real replacements for a lot of these parts are impossible to find and we may have other uses for time and money than setting up to reproduce "non-essential" parts these substitutions make total sense to me as long as we don't try to pass our imitations off as the real thing.

No I Mk III*?
 

Hi Phillip,

Your flare pistol - what make is it please?

Also, I seem to remember the flare cartridges had a dob or mark of paint on the base the same colour as the flare? Long time ago now, but I looked into making dummy flare cartridges when I was working on the Dingo, and had an un-fired original to work from. Don't know if that was common, but it made sense to me. Worth thinking about.

Very nice job with the carrier.

Mike

Frustrating flares
 

Hi Mike,

How are things in the US?

I was thinking the same thing as it would make sense and certainly some flare cartridges do have a marking on the base.

I acquired two fired 1943 dated flares that were in pretty good condition and one of these was used to make the mould. In nearly added a coloured ring around the primer on these, but on close examination of the originals, neither showed any sign of a coloured marking on the base.

Does anyone have an fired/ unfired WW2 dated flare that shows a coloured mark on the base?

Hi Phillip,

Life in the US of A is good, despite the current madness and that on top of an election year (which are always pretty mad on their own, without COVID-19 chucked into the mix!!)

I regret to say I did not photograph the flare before disposing of it, so am working from 11 year-old memories. I hope someone on MLU has an original or two to show if my memory is serving me correctly ... or not!

The flare pistol: what make, please? I assume the Mark is No.I Mk.III*.

Do you have the 'Case, Leather' for the pistol? They were very common as NOS at one stage many years ago, but most had had the shoulder strap removed for some unknown reason.

Best regards

Mike

Where have all the manufacturers gone, gone to .......
 

Sorry Mike, forgot to answer your question.

It is a MkIII, 1941, made by CSR. (Colonial Sugar Refinery Company). I have a holster (with the strap) in a box somewhere.

It LIVES..........
 

Three years and six months after bringing the old girl home, she lives....

A few small details..
 

A few small detail bits to finish in there.

Excellent effort Phillip. She looks very smart. Well done!

I agree with Lynn, Phillip. Your Carrier looks amazing! Very nice work!

David

I have a couple of 1960-70 dated (alloy) spent cases, and there are no coloured markings on the base. One of them does have a green primer but that may be corrosion because the case is marked with a red star! Older cases may well have a coloured ring around the primer but that will be red or violet and is from a spirit varnish used to waterproof the primer (as on .303 and other cases). I think the only colour markings are on the side of the case and the wad or closure disc. The later all-metal cases had a stamped alloy disc closure which was anodised with the star colour for identification in daylight and had an embossed design (also applied to the lid of the 3-round canister) for identification by touch at night. (White (illuminating) was plain I think, green had a triangle, and red had a cross.)

Chris.

I agree with Chris on the colours. I also think the position of the flare cartridge box could have been problematic. The hinge is at the top such that when open all the flares would be on their sides with nothing but gravity holding them in place. One good pitch (as carriers are know to do from time to time) and all 12 flairs would be in your lap.

Magnificent job by the way, it looks amazing!!!

Fruit...
 

Steve is an incredibly talented saddle maker who made the steering gators, he has also made the Vickers spare barrel case, completely hand sewn and made from 4mm leather, there is an incredible amount of work involved and the result is awesome. :thup:

Tanks for the memories.......
 

Mr Henderson visited on the weekend and made me drag some of the gear for the carrier out of storage to dress it up. He had a point, if it was up to me this would not have happen for a while. At least my gear changes improved, sort of, maybe a little.......


I do have to find what sort of post mount these used for the Bren, this one was borrowed from a Hotchkiss mount and is not tall enough for the AA role.

I am also still looking for a good drawing of the trapezoidal 3” mortar base plate. Can anyone out there help with this?

I told you so...
 

Looks brilliant!

Have to agree: a very nice restoration. :salute:

Mike