A Piece of History

Hey All!



 Look what ma-gotts!!

This bad-boy arrived in the mail despite a Canada post strike (sure didn't wanna leave it there!) A vintage WWII 1943 Lee Enfield No.4 Mark I British .303 Serial #AE3098 from the BSA factory in Shirley. Picked it up at a postal kiosk in a drugstore...something sureal about walking through a store with a gun under your arm...!

It's in incredible shape for its 68 years with only a single missing screw in the end of the cocking piece. The bore is pretty good shape too and I plan on firing it soon. Anyone know where I can get a replacement screw?

I dissasembled it immediately on arrival and discovered 68 years of dirt and grime was held in check by the cosmoline packing grease. There is virtually no rust or damage to any iron although the bluing is wearing on the wooden grip steel oval clamps. As well, some donut-head had installed the front clamp upside down (see ad photo below) and over the guide lugs, slightly denting it. I peened the dents out and have been considering picking up a replacement.

If your looking for one and have a spare 350-400 bucks (they still have 22 left), check out Frontier Firearms in Saskachewan Canada @ http://www.frontierfirearms.ca/

I stripped the stock and re-oiled it with doubled-boiled linseed oil. It has a slightly blonder colored stock vs the front grips but it really looks great! I have ordered a strap via ebay and sadly, an oiler and pull-through as these where missing.

Cheers!

Troy

EDIT Postscript: Above is the video of me shooting the Lee Enfield today - "Dasani had it coming!"

Replaced the missing screw and went to the local range. I test fired it from the hip first (in case it went boom). What a KICK!! And LOUD!!! Even with hearing protection. Man, to have to rapid fire this gun in combat must have been deafening and hard on the shoulder!

The target was 75 yards away through the open sights. As this .303 has battlesights (300 and 600 yard flip peep type), my first 2 shots were high but pretty much on so I dropped a few inches each time until round number 3. I cannot imagine hitting anything at 300 let alone 600 yards!!!

Too cool!

Troy

D-Day Anniversary

Hello All.

It was on this day, 67 years ago, that this young man like thousands of others, laid down his life for his family, comrades and countrymen...

Lest we forget...

Troy

Plane Tree Base Color

Hey All!



As promised, some progress pictures. For the base color, I settled on 1 x drop each of Vallejo 875 Beige Brown and 825 German Pale Cam Brown. I thinned this with 2 x drops of plain water and painted all of the smock areas and any spots that would be in shadow or contact with equipment. Try not to get on the flesh and other areas but, shit happens. If thinned properly, your paint will flow to all the recesses and give a natural shadow/highlight with the white undercoat.

I then added a *smidge of 822 German Cam Black Brown (or any dark color, hell even black) and wet out the mixture again. Paint this onto all heavy crease areas and edges of the smock. Try not to get this on the highlights.


*smidge...like a dip in the tip of the bottle with a small brush.
 
An interesting note on the right NCO: He was modelled with rolled up sleeves but his left arm was enormous! Must have been an arm wrestler or real  lonely! I pared this down to a more normal-sized shape but as I looked the figure over I realized that the sculptor had made a bit of an error. The figure is supposed to be wearing a smock over tunic (as are all the other figures in the blister confirmed by the tunic collar showing through) but I cannot imaging rolling up the sleeves of the tunic as well as the smock in that fashion. As well it appears as if the back of the figure shows the split in the tunic - not the straight edge of the bottom of the smock. It could be the tunic showing out the bottom but that looks unlikely. If the tunic was to be sculpted instead of the smock, then there should be pockets of which there are none. Hmmm...


Cheers,


Troy