Blueprint For Victory

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Does anyione know if any shop still sells these, or does anyone have one to sell please? I have been asked..I only have one copy now.

[Jordan Baker]

Get in touch with Vanwell Publishing in Ontario. I think they had a bunch that were found about a year ago.

sales@vanwell.com

1-800-661-6136 ext.849

Hopefully that email still works as they are in the process of shutting down as the owners are retiering soon.

[rob love]

They are still evailable at the same place I have been getting them for the last 20 years, and best of all, the price has even gone down. Now only $10, from the Shilo RCA museum.

http://www.rcakitshop.net/catalog/pr...91ec7c10b10ad1

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all

A well known military dealer here in Oz has one on Ebay for $150 or Buy It Now for $180. I think he may have to revise his price if they are still available for $10. I notice the advert from the Shilo RCA Museum mentions this is one of a three volume series. What are the other two? I thought Gregg's three volume series was the Canada's Fighting Vehicles series.

Bob

[rob love]

There were 2 versions of the Vehicle Data Book titled "Europe WW2". While the content was identical, the photos for each entry differs in either their degree of airbrushing of the background or their source altogether.

The other book was the Profiles one with data and writeup on selected CMP vehicles and armor. It has been out of stock from Shilo for almost 15 years, and was quite expensive back in it's day at around $70. Even the Blueprint for Victory ran about $22, so in some cases procrastination pays off, and in other cases it does not.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

The Vanwell people have sold out...I had forgotten about the RCA museum!

Abebooks have several books for sale, and they do vary from C$30 up. My signed copy of BforV fell apart from too much usage and a house move. However I still have the second book signed, in fairly good nick, and the profile book signed. That's the one I would have no use for ordinarily.

My boss wrote a book on David Brown, as in Aston Martin fame, tractors. They sell for around £10 direct. On E-pay a US dealer was advertising one at £90 a couple of years back!

[maverick]

Just ordered a copy for myself thanks for the link at that price they might sell out fast, if they havn't allready !

[aj.lec]

Would any of you nice canadians consider purchasing some and sending to Australia ???
Re-embersed for them of course
pm if interested

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by aj.lec

Would any of you nice canadians consider purchasing some and sending to Australia ???
Re-embersed for them of course
pm if interested

"Nice Canadians"?? There's nobody like that here, you must be mistaken...

How many copies do you want, AJ?

[aj.lec]

one for me for starters
I am sure there would be a few more interested people in oz
postage is probably the killer though
Any idea roughly what it would be ?

Who says there isnt any nice canadians
You guys must be all right -came up with the blitz (amongst other things )-all be it your forefathers must have been short-arses with small feet especially in the 11 and 12 cab variants

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I would love to do a reprint/update, and have the resources to do so. However, I doubt it could be done now as the original plates would have been lost/destroyed, and is there a demand that would justify? I suppose a facsimile version could be done, though who knows what result there would be? Mrs Gregg would obviously have to agree.

In the meantime, does that mean that the RCA shop has the last new copies?

[chris vickery]

David, the RCA kitshop has the last of the last. When Greggs collection wnet to CFB Shilo all the books, parts etc all went with it.

As far as doing a reprint, I have looked into it. The plates are long gone, as is the publishing house. I contacted Mrs. Gregg on several occasions regarding an interest in re-doing the books, esp the Profiles one.

A lack of response from the Gregg family or their lawyer indicates to me that they do not wish to grant the rights to anyone else to re-do the books.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Shame that Chris. However, I have heard much the same about re-pubs/re-prints before. It's a shame, but there you are. The photos are all out of copyright, being pre-1949 of course. A large proprtion would appear (from the book acknowledgements) were leant to Dr Gregg. The ones of most interest to me were lent by the late Sid Swallow who was the Service Manager at Fords in Windsor at the time.

Sid also supplied the late Herb Ronson who was also with Fords then, and Herb lent me negative copies of photos that Sid had sent him. These relate to the Southampton CMD, and additionally I have some other shots taken at the same time that were retained by GM Ltd and show alternative views. I have built up quite a collection of the CMD from various sources over the years: one photo turned up in the 1944 GM Overseas Operations wartime book! I also acquired three from Archives of Canada, including one of Mr Swallow in conference at the CMD! This suggested to me that these photos were widely spread around (the world). Dr Gregg clearly visited the Archives, judging by data that he published, and I wonder if he also used a few Archives photos as well? up to three CMD photos he published I have been able to get better copies direct from the Archives.

If there was a demand in due course, perhaps a new book could be written? A collaborative effort would be possible, but I have to say that at present the publishign industry here is reeling from a lack of sales (credit crunch and all that), and some houses are not taking on any new books as shops/dealers can't sell them and therefore pay for them!

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by chris vickery

David, the RCA kitshop has the last of the last. When Greggs collection wnet to CFB Shilo all the books, parts etc all went with it.

As far as doing a reprint, I have looked into it. The plates are long gone, as is the publishing house. I contacted Mrs. Gregg on several occasions regarding an interest in re-doing the books, esp the Profiles one.

A lack of response from the Gregg family or their lawyer indicates to me that they do not wish to grant the rights to anyone else to re-do the books.

A facsimile reprint will meet new demand. Perhaps the family does not understand that reprinting an old book isn't any work for them, except to cash the royalty cheques. The margin for publishers is small, so who ever takes the job isn't doing it to get rich. However, this forum is proof that people buy and enjoy books. The Gregg family might think that allowing a reprint will somehow reduce the value of books already in circulation or they will lose control. That is why licencing contracts are written. I'd say try again, explaining yourself again. Fifty-two cents postage is insignificant compared to what you are trying to achieve.

I had a chance to buy a book on target shooting once, everything from plates to copywrite for a few thousand dollars. That was what the owner had invested. I realized the cost was in the paper and funding the entreprise. Finding readers pre-internet would be a second major challenge.

PS I've got my copies, hardly smudged, spines gently cracked, in a safe place.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I shall ask my colleague whether his latest technology (and Clive will also have his 'take' on tech.) could offer a facsimile.

The other side of the sentiment coin is that regrettably Dr Gregg dies too young and the family may not wish to be reminded about the works, or there may well be perfectly understandable family reasons. If this is the case then their wishes are to be respected. I for one would not wish to make any approach as I think it clearly is up to others who have already done so.

However, it is of course just the text that is copyrighted in my humble opinion: my intellectual rights law is rusty but the Archives have confirmed that this is so with regard to Canadian photos and the Canadian Crown Copyright.

[chris vickery]

Considering the fact that the RCA kitshop stil has copies of Blueprint as well as the Militray Vehicles texts, one would wonder what the point of doing any reprints is?

The Gregg collection went to CFB Shilo in about 1983 and sat languishing outdoors for many years. Last time I was out there was about 6 years ago, the storeroom was full of cartons of Greggs books. All the vehicle parts were palletized and tucked away in a hangar.

It has taken the Kitshop almost 25 years to dispose of the books and they still have some.

About the only book I could see re-doing would be the Profiles Series, and I am sure there is a way to re-do it, if only to setup the styling similarly and reuse the non copyrighted Crown photos etc.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I have spoken to my colleague who does repro work. He says that that it is totally impossible (my words) to scan and then set up for publishing as a facsimile. That's that then!

As regards the Profile series, that is probably easier and more practical. Didn't Dr Gregg repro a manual ifor his data book?

On the subject of Crown Copyright, I would argue that the Swallow photos, all of them, were originally C.C., as they were taken for official purposes. The Ford of Canada ones that they had in their collection at Oakville I would not take issue over, but the GM of Canada ones I would take a stand over as being ex-C.C. That said my Boss holds a 'Get out of Jail free' card, sorry an authority, from years ago giving him authority to publish GM material, particularly ex-Vauxhall and ex-GM Ltd, which includes all of my GM Ltd album plus some more. GM incidentally take the attitude that they may not own the rights to photos even in their archives. The rights may subsist in a local newspaper or an independent photographer employed by GM.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by David_Hayward

Didn't Dr Gregg repro a manual for his data book?

The first 210 pages of volume one were a reprint of the DND manual "Vehicle Data Book". He replaced some of the airbrushed photos with the original non-airbrushed ones he found in the Archives.

Dr, Gregg credits all the photos in the book to the National Photography Collection, with the exception of a few by DR Cardy, 1 from Don Ross, 1 from Bill Venty, and 3 from Ford.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Praise where praise is due..a marvellous effort.

[Lynn Eades]

I'd like a copy please.
Cheers.

[maverick]

Ordered my copy on the 5th June Didn't realise in my haste to order it said surface mail, having not ordered anything by post from Canada before was just wondering how long this takes !

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by maverick

Ordered my copy on the 5th June Didn't realise in my haste to order it said surface mail, having not ordered anything by post from Canada before was just wondering how long this takes !

From Canada to Britain..surface...two months..
Good winter reading for you..

[rob love]

Sort of on the subject of Blue Print for Victory: For those of you with a copy, you'll notice on the top left of page 197 is a picture of the cover of the Danish translated CMP manual. I have the copy used by Dr Gregg for this photo. Inside is written:

To Bill Gregg
with thanks for
your interest.
Leif Gr Thomsen
Raderskey (hard to decipher this word, so I may have it wrong)
feb 1981


I got it from a book sale of the Shilo Librarie's duplicate publications a number of years back. I also picked up a set and a half of the AEDB Records 2 volume sets. The prices for their books were $5 for soft cover books, $10 for hard cover books, and they were cheaper by the pile.

[Tony Smith]

Should any other Australians be looking for a copy, there is one currently on Oz Ebay, item no 320301163352. No connection with Seller, etc.

[gjamo]

I just received mine from the Shilo Kit Shop. Took nearly 3 months to arrive down under but only $10 cdn.
Link http://www.rcakitshop.net/catalog/pr...5bb6592961df7d

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

One above in Tony's post sold for $157.50......
Rich

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I wonder how much my signed copy of the folder with the blueprints in it is worth then? I could perhaps do with selling it in due course to finance my daughter's car purchase. £8000 would be the going rate I reckon!

[peter simundson]

There were six books printed.

The first was done by Dennis Cardy and was almost a direct copy from an original manual borrowed from Peter Marshall. Dennis Cardy published it at a printers in Owen Sound. Bill G owned 1/2 the Quad operation at the time.
Subsequently Dennis went out west and the printer was never paid. This is volume one of the series.

The second volume was also labelled volume one and was also a manual copy with upgraded photos. New printer, Hayward Designs. Don Hayward. Still alive but not approachable.Small shop on Speers Rd. in Oakville. Long out of business. It was labelled Vol. 1 second edition.

Third Volume. CMV Profile Series. Designed and produced by Ms. McCurdy who worked for Hayward. This is the leatherette version. No leather covered version was done. At first a tough sell because of the price but after a while it took off.

Fourth Volume. Blueprint for Victory. Another feat by Ms. McCurdy.

Fifth volume. A spiral bound repackage of the leatherette covered one.

Sixth volume. (Didn't know about this one??) A hard cover version of Profiles sent to Libraries only with copies of the other tiles at a Library price.

How do I know?? I have them all. And knew a printer at Haywards. (No he didn't slip me any on the side. But I did get some preliminary profiles.)

Want more?

Peter Simundson

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

My leatherette folder has ISBN 0-9690943-1-0 and is # 0929 of 1000, copyright Hayward Designs Ltd.

My Dad was a printer..us Haywards are big in printing and publications!

I regret that it is not unknown for printers to not get paid.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by peter simundson

Want more?

Yes please!

Hanno