Hi all,
I've recently purchased the Tamiya SAS Land Rover Pink Panther which is a little out of my comfort zone as I really only specialize in 'Nam armour & softskins but I really like the look of this model so I thought I might branch out & have a little go at it!

Qustions:

1) Are there any issues with the kit & is there anything that will need changing? (I have invested in the Eduard PE set aswell).

2) I understand the vehicle was overpainted in theatre by fitters so what sort of pink should I use as the box art depicts a vehicle that looks almost like a baby pink in colour?

3) What colours should I use for the base coat of British military vehicle green & black camouflage? (I prefer to work with acrylics).

4) Would the interior of the vehicle (dashboard, seats, floor pan, rear area, etc, etc) be painted pink also?

5) Are there any figures on the market that would depict SAS in this theatre that would go nicely with this vehicle? (Preferably resin).
Generic figures would work well as SAS personnel generally wear garments that are not strictly uniform! Any ideas as to what to use?

6) What about stowage (crew kit, weapons & ammo, etc, etc)? Any stowage, weapons sets available for this period?

I think that about covers everything but if there is any more info on this vehicle/theatre that I might have missed through the questions above please let me know.

Thanks for all your help!

Joe.

A few builds & WIP's here
enjoy

You will get 100's more results by googling Tamiya pink panther and Italeri pink panther

As for weapons, SLR rifles, early M16's , SMG's as well
the GPMG.

Regards

Dan

Some restored SAS Landies on WarWheels.net :

http://www.warwheels.net/LandySeries2PinkieYOUNG.html

and Military Modelling :

http://www.militarymodelling.com/albums/member_album.asp?a=3096

HTH

H.P.

The Tamiya kit is pretty good for its age - I prefer it to the more recent Italeri example.

I would thoroughly recommend the Hussar Productions resin wheels to replace the kit items (or some suitable 'European' tyres - eg from Accurate armour - if yours isn't going to be a desert example.

I'm working on one at the moment.

The Tamiya box art colour isn't actually all that far off real examples (as oppposed to the dodgy colours used on some restored vehicles).

The vehicles were retired in the mid-80s - the Regiment apparently went straight to 110 DPVs from the older Series II Pinkies as portrayed in the kit.

The main difficulty is deciding what an accurate load-out would be as photos of in-service vehicles are as rare as hens' teeth.

Some sources suggest everything including the seats was pink but other sources suggest that things like seats, jerrycans and other stuff wasn't pink at all.

You can also do your Pinkie in Bronze Green (early ones in UK/Europe) or green/black disruptive (UK/Europe) or plain NATO green (Belize).

Regards,
John

My project is a very late example with addition 'trays' on the front wings and upgraded comms gear.

Hi Joe,

Frenchy has already posted a link to my album on Military Modelling, the Pinkie is a veteran and I've seen the documentation that does confirm who owned it.

The 'Desert Pink' was mixed using red primer, white and apprently a drop of black paint. It was mixed and applied in theatre. Weapons were always a mixed bag, it is always date dependant. Alan's Pinkie has a pink interior and the exterior additions are authentic. Alan had a bit of help as he used to work in Hereford and a number of veterans have confirmed that vehicle looks the part.

I hope this helps

Brian

Here are a few



















From this build log

Belize :


HTH

H.P.

Hi Frenchy,

Those are interesting images - some of them show the initial workshop-converted Pinkies rather than the formal Marshalls' factory version kitted by Tamiya and Italeri.

Note the rifle holsters along the front wings - they are horizontal half-pipes rather than the boxy type seen on the factory conversions.

Good photos.

Regards,
John

Would definitely check out Accurate Armour's site for accessories, figures and tyres; the latter are made specifically to fit the Tamiya kit (both sand and regular tyres). Many of the figures in the range could be of use as well. SB Scotia has a modern British head set that has heads with 'boonie' hats with sunglasses and completely wrapped in an Arab headdress. The only item hard to source are SLRs; the only ones I know of are some resin ones from Firestorm products of Australia and some injected plastic ones from a hard to find Dragon kit of Viet Nam weapons or from an old(mid 80s)Italeri kit of "modern" small arms. I believe there is also a Hobby Fan kit of Australian figures from the Viet Nam era in Olive jungle utilities of the British type that also have SLRs; they also have jungle hats and may also be of some use in settings using the Pink Panther, especially Kenya and Belize. As far as paint, I have used Humbrol 86 Lt. Olive and 33 Flat Black for 70s camo scheme; since you like acrylic, these colours are available in their acrylic range. For the pink scheme, you'll probably have to mix your own colour to match photos. I built one of these 20+ years ago when colour photos were difficult to find, so my colour is on the pale side. White Ensign Models has several Desert Pink colours in their range, including Mountbatten Pink for ships, which is what the original desert pink was based on, though I do not know how accurate it is for vehicles. Amazing how much research is needed for such a "simple" vehicle! Almost every vehicle was unique and hard to find a "typical" one. Best of luck and keep us posted of your progress.

Watch the tyres...the ppanther runs on larger tyres than the 750/16 sold by AA..

This is were i am..
and

one of the figures

i'd look at some of the WW2 SAS and LRDG figures, looks like they pretty much wore the same clothing!

and Frenchy, YOU THE MAN! Great pics!

Thanks for posting photos of your modifications John, I really like what you've done with this model. And as always, Frenchy has provided us with a goldmine of info. Thanks guys. I have always loved these vehicles and have wanted to do a conversion for Italeri's old kit (1/24 scale one of course). Seeing John's makes me want to gather up all the pieces and see how far off I am from making one. Really cool build!

Jim
Large Scale Armory

Where was used this vehicle when it was painted in green and black ?

There is a book titled "Who Dares Wins" by Tony Geraghty (published 1979/80), which features some photos of these vehicles deployed in 1969/70ish in Northern Ireland & they are in green/black camo. Same scheme would have been used on vehicles in BAOR too.

HTH,
Chris

Hi Stephen,

Really good work.

Al

John, Your build is looking good, very nice work.

Al

Thankyou for all your replies.
The photo references have been a great help & the model work has been superb. The benchmark has been set very high!
I have sourced the Hussar wheel set, various jerry can, water can, extra stowage, SLR's, GPMG's, ammo boxes, heads, etc, etc.
I'm still looking for figures that I can feel happy with but I;ll get there.
Now I just to wait fo it to & I can then get down to business.
Thanks once again fo all your help.

Joe.

Great blog so far
really interesting stuff and I like the model!

Joe,

If you are mainly focused on Vietnam armour and softskins, Australia used the Landrover 2A in Vietnam. Mouse House Armour does a conversion for the pink panther to the 2A.

Some good reference pics are here:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/remlr-general/149464-land-rovers-vietnam.html

Thanks Steve, for the reference photos. The Aussie Landie is definitely a future project for me...

However, I do have another question.
The kit comes with no decals so I was wondering about the gauges in the cab.
Do I painstakingly paint them or can I use a transfer from Archer, for instance?
If so, which ones should I get?
A bit of an obscure question, I know, but help in this direction would be very much appreciated.

Joe.