Priest Kangaroos in Italy?

[Bob Potter]

Andrew and others who kindly helped,

My 'Roo models are stalled, for no real reason. Andrew, you did about what I did I think. I swopped the one-piece front drive covers (I am working on two) with ones from DML M4A4's I bought super-cheap. I filled in the main gun mount as did you. I used the trunks from the Italeri USMC Sherman, and suspension units from Tamiya's M3 Grants (with the CORRECT wheels). We both, I think made the same mistake and used the Priest kit floor unit complete. As I read the engineer document on Hanno's Kangaroo page, we should have left the center cover over the drive shaft in place. I think that it what caused me to get frustrated and quit, even though I intend to stuff both with figures, most of which are in fact modeled if not painted. Even though they are wrong, I used the Priest headlights and breush guards, although I did place them in the correct location. I will camouflage them with steel pots or other detritus.

If you check Dana Nield's Canadian decal sheets (and other sources, but Dana has done massive research and he shares it) you will observe that the big triangle on the superstructure sides is in fact the company marking. In the Italian theater, it seems that these were frequently filled in in black or very dark (slate?) grey. The Springboks did not use 'Roos, as previous posts on this threads will attest.

I did find Richard Doherty's "Clear the Way! The History of the 38th Irish Brigade in World War II." (Well, actually, I didn't. Two of my students listed it on a bibliography of a major research project they are doing. It was not pertinent to their work but they were amused when I went nuts to learn of its availability.) Anyway, "Clear the Way" has a very useful chapter called "The Kangaroo Army," which speaks of the tactical employment of these vehicles in Italy.

Thanks for tweaking me on this. I may get back to work on them. There is no smile that shows guilt, but how's this? :

Bob