I'm looking for some decals (transfers)for a WWII British Bantam BRC 40. I would like them to be for vehicles in the Western European theater. I have kit 35014 with the US GIs (I'm going to use them with the Tamiya jeep) and I want to use the Bantam as a 4X4 attached to an armored unit.

Anyone have any idea where to obtain these decals? Not much luck from the normal suppliers. I looked for reference photos and all I could find were desert vehicles and others from unknown units.

Your assistance is appreciated.

Jeff

Do you have a photo showing the Bantam in service in NW Europe? Relatively few were provided to the Brits and that was very early in the war. By 1944 most units had completely re-equipped several times. Certainly the Bantam would not have been on the normal war establishment in NW Europe by 1944-45. Unlike today when a car or jeep can be expected to last 3-5 years without any problem, in 1941, when the Bantams were built, a jeep used operationally probably had a lifespan of only 6-8 months. I know that when I was working in an open pit mine in the 70's, that their Ford 150 pick-ups were replaced every 6 months. Completely replaced.

Should you find a photo of a Bantam in a unit in 1944-45 then the markings would be for that specific vehicle in that unit at that time. There are decals available for most Commonwealth units, you just may have to kludge together bits & pieces from several sets to get them right. One of the beauties (and consternations) of the commonwealth marking system is that if you find markings for a unit from one division then many of the markings for a similar unit in another division will be very, very similar.

If you can decide upon the unit that you want the Bantam to be part of, let us know and we can help with exactly what markings you need to put together.

Paul

Thanks for the reply Paul. I don't have any photos of the Bantam in service in NW Europe in 1944-1945. I'll probably have to use a Jeep instead. I know the Commonwealth forces used Jeeps. I'll probably get another Tamiya kit. I'm primarily a German vehicle builder and the decal options seem to be endless!? Not so with British / Commonwealth subject matter. Thanks again.

Jeff

Well, there certainly have been fewer decal sheets aimed at specific Commonwealth vehicles than German vehicles, to be sure, but since there was a relatively limited number of combinations, most of us Commonwealth modellers have long since learned to cobble together correct decals from various sources. It doesn't hurt that, apart from teh formation signs, Commonwealth markings are vey simple and can usually be created with a bit of masking tape, paint & some lettraset white numbers.

More recently it has become possible to model almost any vehicle in NW Europe, the Med and Italy through the production of various decal sheets although the CBI thearre is still sadly under-represented.

As to the Jeep-type vehicles in service in the Commonwealth, the Willys MB Jeep far outstripped any other variant in availablility. There were only ever a few Bantams supplied under lend lease (only 3000 Bantams were ever made, 1500 went to the USSR and not all of the rest went to Britain) so after 1941, the vast majority of the Jeep-type vehicles were, in fact MBs or GPWs.

Paul