Chafee

[jonb]

Hello, I normaly build wingy things so forgive the daft questions, but am I correct in thinking that the Chafee was used by some British units before the end of the war in europe , and if so does anyone know which unit(s)?
Secondly can anyone recomend a good one source book on British WW2 armour (ie if you only could have one book as a referance what would it be) ? Thanks in advance

[fatfingers]

How do,

According to the Osprey book on the Chaffee it was used by the following British units-

Recon sqdn 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.
Recon Troop 8th Hussars with the 7th Armoured Div.

The tanks were recieved 1944 & 1945 and deployed in small numbers from April 45. Two were lost to enemy action!

A colour plate in the book shows a Chaffee of C sqdn, Reconnaissance Regt, 5th Infantry Div 1946.

As regards the book on British armour there are two I have and would recommend.

British & American Armour of WW2 by Chaimberlain & Ellis. Last reprint in 2000, should still be around.

British Tanks in Normandy by Ludovic Fortin (Histoire & Collections) Not cheap at £30 but worth every penny. As the title suggests it deals with the Normandy campaign, but gives a good idea of British armour markings and regiments of WW2. Also shows the make up and units of an Armoured Division.

Hope this is of some help ;D

Cheers,
Steve

[jonb]

ohhhhh recon ........ thanks for the response Steve, I may have to issue myself with the Opsrey book if there is a colour plate ...will look for the C&E tome as well

[fatfingers]

Glad to be of some help ;D

Cheers,
Steve

[jonb]

Now you've helped me with that here is another for you - what is the best paint colour for 'late war British AFV green' ? In my youth everything tended to get covered in Humbrol 30, but methinks that may not be sufficient now - what would you use / recomend ?

[fatfingers]

Hmmm, thats a good one

Will you be Airbushing?

I tend to use Tamiya XF13 Jap Army Green for British Armour, it weathers down quite nicely, & according to the colour covert chart I have, its the Tamiya equivalent to Humbrol 75 Matt Bronze green. I also use Tamiya XF61 Dark Green from time to time.

Hannants Xtracrylic XA1814 Deep British Bronze Green or XA1814 British Mid Bronze Green may also be appropriate for a late war vehicle. These airbrush ok, but you have to play about with the mix and pressure a bit first to get whats right for you ;D

I hope that this helps and its always nice to get another convert to the 'right side of the model fence'

Cheers,
Steve

[jonb]

ta muchly, I hand paint and aerosle (careful) spray so the colours are a help. Apologies for going all Hyperscale, but would a US produced tank such as the Chafee (or Sherman) be in US colours, or would they be repainted once they got to GB ? I'm still building winged things, this tankie stuff is a sideline and a pleasant change.

[fatfingers]

Some were re-painted in British colours and some were left in American OD, sorry I can't be a bit more more specific

The colour plate commentry in the Osprey book states:

'It is finished in either its original olive drab or in the essentially identical British shade No.15 olive drab, which was adopted in April 1944 as an alternative to re-painting Lend-Lease equipment'

Hope this helps,

Cheers,
Steve

[Paul Senter]

Jon

Seen this link?

tankfreak.tripod.com/id7.html

Paul