After taking a quick look at the Saladin last night I decided to remove the horrible kit wiper (clump of plastic) supplied for the gunners sight.
I then cut and sanded the thing down and added a slivver of brass to replicate the rubber blade and reattached it.

Much better looking now and more pleasing to the eye.

Keith.

Well I do believe I am done or as done as it is going to get methinks. I will give it a once over tomorrow and touch up anything that needs to be sorted, very little I hope.

Behind the wagon is a small copy of the front cover of the Life Guards journal the 'Acorn', printed in Seremban in 1966 and yes there are a few Engleesh spelling mistakes within the journal. Barely visible but a Red dot indicated our deployments to Borneo and Seremban as well as one of the original upper arm patches.

I have also added a tow rope.




Power cable added to the smoke grenade launchers and both antennas reattached (I broke them off 3 times).




Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but waay better than the Tamiya oldie! and it is what it is, a DML Black Label item, well known for being full of issues and problems...




My thank's to those who have followed this build and I hope it has provided you with a feel for what you will encounter when you open your box.

The real deal > Almost time for the Major Generals visit to C squadron in the vehicle park, Paroi camp Seremban, West Malaysia.


Looking back through the Twin V antennas from my gunners hatch at the troop tail end Charlie C/S. as we descended down the Kuala Pila pass heading for Paroi camp 1966.


My then troop CoH (Sgt.) Arthur Shergold takes a turn in the hot seat as we wait to refuel at the pumps in Sek Kong, New Territories (Hong Kong) mid 1967.


The regimental Cypher (Badge) was issued for parades and recruiting efforts and they came both as 'water slide decals' and Peel and Stick > this one on the door of an echelon Bedford RL. 3 Tonner was a 'peel and stick' item, and you can tell that by the White background...

PLEASE NOTE, they were ALL gloss....! (for the AMPS and IPMS judges among you)...


I still have an original full size decal from 1968.

Have a great day Y'all.

Keith.

Looking good there keith I like all the personal touches

I have decided to redo the tow rope as it is incorrectly stowed (hung)..

Keith.

A little better and closer to how they were actually hung.




That's it, DONE.

Keith.

Very nice project Keith. Nice to see modelling skills and attention to details winning over a kit that could have been so much more . . .

Brent

Here are my two entries for our next weekend AMPS competition.



Keith.

Very nicely done, Keith!

And those are two great looking entries, too. Please note on your documentation for the Research Bonus about the semi-gloss paint and the shiny stickers so the judging team will be aware of their unexpected characteristics.

See you Friday!

So how did all of this time and work pan out?

Not bad really and I am well pleased and satisfied (that's all that matters in the end isn't it!) At different points of this thread the build became a bit of a slog and some comments added by others left me a bit bewildered.

I am NOT going to rehash anything, suffice to say I hope that my input on this kit, its good points, bad points and the 'somewhere in betweens' will be found helpful to those thinking about buying one (from wherever) and building it.

As for myself, I am quite chuffed.>
A Gold standard build (Medal)


And the 'Best of show Theme Award' ..


Keith.

ENDEX.

Hi,

Loved this thread,nice to see a model from the point of someone that had served on the vehicle.

Well done on the medals.

Well done my man!! If there never was a gold standard for Saladin's, there is one now!!! Cheers!

well done, Keith, and well deserved!

Congratulations, for both the build and the awards.

I was looking forward to buing this kit when it was announced, then hesitated because of the price range.

Seeing it finished makes me rethink... Perhaps some aftermarket details like resin wheels and photoetch will improve the kit drastically.

Thank you for sharing this build

Cheers, Nikos