Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith
What do you think of the weird looking 7 at the beginning, it is really thick paint?
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If you rub back to the right of it Ken I believe you'll find another complete ARN stencil. Judging by the colours there were two complete repaints in Australian service, so I'd expect to find 3 separate ARN stencils. The two most recent ones are visible already, which means this 7 belongs to the original one.
I think you need to work on the lower serial, ie. the one you've just spotted. It appears to be the most recently painted IARN. The one you've already revealed is less than conclusive, mainly because the first digit is unclear (although I agree it's most likely a "4") but also because it looks to be from a different repaint, in a much larger digit size. The vertical looks way too fat to be part of the same stencil set, and as a "4" it's out of alignment with the 004. Maybe the correct "4" has already flaked off...? That's the problem with using a scraper, the flakes usually comprise several layers of paint, and you can wind up chasing the wrong digit. Based on my own experience I'd strongly recommend avoiding the scraper and sticking to wet rubbing only, working gently through each layer of paint, and taking lots of photos as you progress. For precision work on digits I use a folded corner of wet and dry, wearing magnifying spectacles. It's slow painstaking work but it's the only option when you have so many serial numbers superimposed. This is the trickiest one I've seen, you rarely if ever get so many serial number repaints, and they're usually above and below each other.
Fortunately the bottom serial is almost clear of the others, and with very little paint on top it should rub back quite easily. Also, since we already have 004 we only need to confirm the first digit, and check for anything to the left of it, which is hopefully the 2 smaller IARN digits. These appear to be in evidence already on earlier repaints, in particular what looks to be a small "4" jammed in at the left, possibly associated with the larger "4" stencil mentioned above. I'd expect the broad arrow to absent on the front shell, just like the pic below, as there's obviously no room.
I agree with you about the doors Ken, there's no guarantee the IARN is present anyway, as it was far from universal practice on these C6OL doors, judging by BCOF photos. Hopefully the front shell will yield a full IARN, without resorting the driver's side! Apologies for the bum steer on the bumper, I should have known it wouldn't be there on these vehicles.
Nice work on the bonnet, quite a bit of info there. I'm curious to know what "CLASS" refers to in this context. Interesting to see two stencils, which seems to indicate both repaints were Northern Command.
Anyway thanks for your all efforts Ken, it's priceless info you're providing here. I believe yours is the only IARN ever reported anywhere, and I'm pretty sure we'll never see another one!
