Scout T5329

[Ben]

With W&P fast approaching the list of things to do seems to be growing but progress is being made.

I finally got the V5 from the DVLA that allows me to officially register and use its civil registration RMY 683 from 1939. Very pleased as the rules have tightened massively in recent years

Shaun stopped off here today after his trip up North to see Richie, we had some playing around to do with the ignition but after that we went for a little drive down the road and around a field next to the house. The track is bedding in nicely but theres still some work to do, miles on the clock should help.

Shaun has the photos from the road trip on his phone, perhaps more of those later.

looking forward to taking it to the show and meeting up with all the other folk from here. Fingers crossed for good weather.

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Ben,
Looking really great, well done. Will catch up at the show.

regards, Richard

[ajmac]

Looks fantastic Ben.
Has the front OS track guard got some original damage, or am I seeing things?

[Ben]

Yeah. There's two bullet holes in the front track guard, they're in the original period shots from the AWM archives so I know they're not a post war addition. Seemed only right that they stayed. Italian bullets from Capuzzo?? Who knows? All part of its story.

[RichardT10829]

Simply amazing ! A prize winner if ever I saw one

[Lynn Eades]

Definitely a prize winner from several angles. You should be pretty pleased with yourself for what you have achieved, both from the point of view of the quality of the work you have done, and the saving of an all important piece of history.
Congrats., from me!

[eddy8men]

should be a good show this year

well done mate

[Jordan Baker]

Fantastic job. You should be proud.

[Ben]

The Scout had its first trip out at the W&P show, it celebrated it's 75th birthday whilst there. It was great to catch up with so many of the folk from on here and share carrier tales. We stayed with Shaun and Steve (two MK2's and a MK1) on their pitch and had a garage for 6 carriers, perfect shade for the first few days and from the rain on the last couple. Over the course of the week I meet or bumped into Ron Pier, John Rippingham, Nigel Ward (came with a carrier project), Andy Mitchell (plus fudge), Nigel Watson (had his carrier there), carrier Barry, Richard Farrant, Rick (Only managed to bring the Cromwell, perhaps the carrier next year?), Marc (MK2), Kevin (MK1), Tobin (T16), Richie was camping with us (MK1) so were the three Kiwis, Lynn, Robin and Shaun. Manfred drove from Austria with his son and a Friendly chap from Canada popped over too! There were a couple more carriers there but we didn't see much of the owners

It was a good run out and the chance to sort a few teething issues, the engine runs very well and the cooling was perfect. The track is still bedding in but I'm about ready to remove two links from each side. The starter motor broke on the Saturday which was a pity but it's an easy fix and a new one is on the way. Having so many folk who know carriers was a huge benefit when it came to any issues.

It's all home safe and sound after much cleaning and tidying. More photos of the details in a few days time.

John Blackman took a series of photos of the carriers one evening. Some of the Scout I've included below. I know Shaun and Richie have some of theirs too.

Thank you to everyone who said hello or helped out over the week, Looking forward to next year..............fingers crossed for no mud!

Ben

[eddy8men]

war and peace is always good for catching up with old friends and meeting a few new ones. infact I didn't even get chance to have a look around the site I was so busy chatting to so many people. maybe next year I will make the effort and have a look at whats on display
anyway ben the carrier looked great and was a real credit to you. hopefully next year I will bring mine too.

all the best

rick

[Ron Pier]

Nice to meet up again Ben. Also good to meet Kevin and chat about WS11 sets. And some of those other guys who came a long way, who I've spoken to but never met before. Shame I missed Ross. He was here in Dorset the Day I came up to W&P. But lots of very helpful emails since. Ron

[Ben]

Ron, thanks for letting me measure your WS11 frame. A friend of mine did a fantastic job copying it and looked at the signals museum example too. He made half of a second frame whilst he was at it, perhaps something for a rainy day! There's an awful lot of work getting it right. But it's nice to have the extra details in the vehicle.

[Philliphastings]

Ben the job you have done with the little Scout is nothing short of stunning. I could only ever imagine what it might look like if I had been capable of restoring it but the way it has turned out is incredible.

I could never have done it justice.

I am absolutely over the moon about the end result. Congratulations !

Kind regards

Phill

[Ben]

It's been a little while since I made a post on the Scout thread but I thought I'd share an interesting find.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine sent me some photos of a few parts that a chap was trying to identify, they'd been removed by the chap's father as souvenirs off some vehicles in Belgium during May 1940. He initially thought they were from an 18 pdr.

A couple of the parts were easy to identify, Bren pintles, Brass aerial bases, but there were two parts I'd never seen before. As I scrolled through the photos and noticed the hole pattern it occurred to me that they must be the gun mount for the Scout.

I explained what I thought they were and that this bracket was missing on my Scout (it's even missing in the period AWM pictures of it on the streets of Perth) I agreed to buy all the parts and a few days later they arrived.

It fitted the holes in the front armour perfectly, they're made of gun metal by MCC (Morris commercial cars) dated 1939. They pivot horizontally and the springs allow for the recoil of the Boys rifle, the wing nuts are for clamping the gun into the mount and the rotation allows for vertical elevation. After a light sand blast I painted one and fitted it into place, pictures below.

There must be a fitting thats clamped to the Boys rifle that allows it to fit the mount, this would mean it could be dropped into the mount and locked into place by the wing nut clamps. Any pictures or suggestions are very welcome!! I've got lots of pictures from the period but no clues......... I think this fitting could be as unique as the mount as there can't me very many vehicles that had the Boys rifle solidly mounted.

Ben

[shaun]

Perhaps if you removed the monopod and rails it mounted on the barrel support "nut" as it has lugs .

[Ben]

The gun appears to stay complete. I've never seen a better picture of the mount or gun in the mount until I got these parts.
The monopod is always folded forward and at the same fixed height from the pictures I've seen.

Ben

[charlie fitton]

Can't wait to see more on this..

[Lynn Eades]

Ben, great to see the mount fitted. I did wonder if we would ever know what they looked like. Quite different from what I expected.

[ajmac]

Very nice Ben. With that square hole of the right there must be an adaptor that is missing. It must be shown in a boys manual or a scout manual one would hope. If you can borrow a Boys you could replicate your photo and see if anything lines up as a clue.
If there were such a thing, I would nominate your Scout for 'listing' just like a building of significance

[tankbarrell]

It's fantastic when these very specific parts go to the right home. Many people, aware of the rarity, assign them some huge 'value' and hang on to them.
Well done to all involved!

[The Bedford Boys]

What a fantastic find, Ben!

Would you be able to provide the measurements for the mounting hole centres for this mount to the hull?

[Ben]

Very pleased and amazed that it turned up. They could have sat in a Belgium shed for another 70 years, it was only the hole pattern that made me guess what they were, I'd never have guessed they'd have looked like they do.

The stuff is still out there, just not so much of it. I drove to Belgium to collect an ex BEF, first contract Royal Enfield last month. All the original paint is under the post war civilian black paint including the census number on the rear number plate.

I'll forward the hole pattern. I'd be amazed if they fitted another vehicle but you never know.

There's nothing in the early parts books that give any clues to gun installation, no surprise really as British manuals are never the best. I suspect the part will be some kind of collar or clamp, one might turn up or perhaps a drawing. The mount isn't TL marked or listed in the parts book, less than 1000 Scouts were made so I assume less than 1000 adaptors.........

Ben

[ajmac]

Thinking about it again, it's obvious that an adaptor is required as you have a requirement to be able to have some arc of fire from the firing point as well as elevation. It's very surprising that it doesn't have a part number.

[Lynn Eades]

Al, there is rotation in the mount.

[kevin powles]

Nice find, It must mount to the frame of boys between the trunnion and the rear sight, not the barrel or receiver as this all recoils back when the gun is fired, unless the mount frame is for something else ?

Kevin.

[The Bedford Boys]

Was the Scout ever armed with the Hotchkiss Machine Gun? As the Hotchkiss has a stub out each side of the gun which with the use of a boss for the square side, may fit this mount?

[kevin powles]

Alex, the mount must be for a single shot weapon, as an automatic gun would recoil on the springs with next shot being fired before the spring returns, so putting it off target etc.

Kevin.

[Lynn Eades]

Alex, I don't think the Scout was ever set up for anything else, other than the Boys (in the front)
Your Hotchkiss mount would be quite narrow compared to the Scout mount.
Also we (N.Z.) took on the Hotchkiss because we were short of LMGs.
They were as I recall surplus WWI guns.

The British carriers were built around specific guns, First the M.G. Carrier was built around the Vickers water cooled MMG.
This carrier was superseded by 3 carrier models;
The Bren, equipped in the front with, funnily enough a Bren gun. (about 1937- 1938) Originally built around the idea of the gun crew being dropped off and the driver retiring with his carrier.
The Scout was a fighting carrier equiped and built specifically for the Boys anti tank rifle, in the front and carried a Bren in the rear. (1939ish)
The third one being the AOP (an adaption of the Scout) No Boys, no Bren LMG, just personal arms.

The point being that the British built the carriers around current arms designs.

[Lynn Eades]

Today Alex sent me a photo of his LP2 front armour. It has been drilled to take the Scout, Boys mount. He is excited!

[Ben]

Does that mean there's a stash of them in NZ?