Carrier stencilling

[David Dunlop]

Again, it is hard to nail the detail, and Ford was clearly playing with all of their toys with these shots, but there are six decals in total on the top of the engine cover.

In the first photo there are four decals that can be read from the left side of the vehicle. The first three, from the bottom up, are under the two Enfields. They are equally spaced apart and read as follows:

"SERVICE RIFLE"
"SERVICE RIFLE"
"FIRE EXTINGUISHER"

Underneath the Sten Mag is:

"BOYS RIFLE"

On top of the fan shroud, just aft of the partition plate and read front the back of the vehicle is:

"AERIAL ROD CASES & FLAGS SIGNALLING"

Centered on the Rad Cap Cover, and read from the front of the vehicle for some reason is"

"BOYS RIFLE BIPOD"

The second photo shows parts of these decals from rear angle.

David

[David Dunlop]

The forward end of the track sponson in this compartment has two decals, both read from the rear of the vehicle. The first one, by the trailing edge of the fan shroud, reads:

"SIGNAL SATCHEL"

The second decal, roughly at the midpoint of the folding seat assembly reads:

"W/T SET Nos 11, 18, 19 OR 22"

The first photo is an overhead shot and the second taken at an angle from the rear of the vehicle.

That covers all of the visible decals I have from the Ford of Canada photos.

Best regards,

David

[David Dunlop]

Yes, that is the prototype. Ford's File # Reference on the Photo is E23-2.


David

[rob love]

If those are decals, they seem to have been cut off the master sheet freehand with a pocket knife. The edges are very non-square nor strait.

[Michael R.]

Is there any chance the original lettering may have been stenciled using white paint, with a clear coat of varnish or shellac type of material over the lettered area?

[Ben]

Decals, similar to those found in toys were reasonably common at the time.

When the flying tigers AVG flew in China they have the famous shark mouth on the front of their P40's but Disney designed them a flying tiger emblem. These emblems were sent as decals to the group in China but they found they tore off during flight, to keep them on the sides of the planes they were varnished over to give them a protective sealer coat. This leaves an irregular darker area around the emblem. This could explain the darker shadows around the lettering. If they were supplied as decals but given the protection of a layer of varnish.

Ben

[David Dunlop]

When I first looked at the photos, I noticed the same thing Rob did, that a number of the edges looked a bit sloppy. Then I eventually remembered in my model building days that from time to time I would run across a kit in which all the decals were assembled on one solid, clear backing sheet and they were a pain in the ass to try and cut out the ones you needed. The individually made decals were so much neater to work with but maybe there is a cost factor in producing them that way. The more I think of the use of them to ID storage items on the carrier and other AFV's, the more I see them as a temporary item, that was not expected to have a long life expectancy. They were probably used to support the printed Stowage Sheets issued with the manuals for the vehicle. The crew would quickly get used to where things went, changed things around as they saw fit and if and when the decals wore away, it didn't matter.

Michael R. : I don't know off the top of my head, of any stencils that are capable of producing solid lined closed letters like B, P, D, O, R or Q, without the centre parts of the letters falling out. That it the give away ID for a true stencil. They always have closed letters formed in segments, with small webs of the stencil material needed to keep the letters together. A silk screening stencil will produce a solid lined, closed letter, but silk screening only works well in unobstructed locations, as the screens are quite bulky. You can also often see the screening pattern on the surface of the letters when completed.

Ben. A varnish overlay would make sense. Several of the rub-on lettering kits one can buy today (Letterset???) provide spray cans of coating to protect the lettering after application. Also, the panels on the 19-Sets used decals. These were applied over silk screened radium paint blocks located by each control on the panel and then the panel was given a coat of varnish to lock everything all down.

David

[David Dunlop]

Your last guess is the winner. It is a PIAT. I have never heard of the PIAT being part of the kit for a carrier either, but clearly Ford was using them to see where they might be stored. If you factor in all the vehicles Ford built during the war, they must have had quite an Ordnance Room to play with!

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Again, it is hard to nail the detail, and Ford was clearly playing with all of their toys with these shots, but there are six decals in total on the top of the engine cover.

In the first photo there are four decals that can be read from the left side of the vehicle. The first three, from the bottom up, are under the two Enfields. They are equally spaced apart and read as follows:

"SERVICE RIFLE"
"SERVICE RIFLE"
"FIRE EXTINGUISHER"

Underneath the Sten Mag is:

"BOYS RIFLE"

On top of the fan shroud, just aft of the partition plate and read front the back of the vehicle is:

"AERIAL ROD CASES & FLAGS SIGNALLING"

Centered on the Rad Cap Cover, and read from the front of the vehicle for some reason is"

"BOYS RIFLE BIPOD"

The second photo shows parts of these decals from rear angle.

David

I thought I knew my way around WW2 kit when it came to Bren carriers but this item has me stumped. What the heck is it? A very poor mock-up of a Boys rifle? Mocked up PIAT?