40 Anos.

[Predatorpt]

Oops, I was looking at the pic in the third post. Great pics by the way.
Is the one with eight wheels a Panhard EBR ?

Yep. It's a Panhard EBR.

As for the other vehicle (second post, first pic - seen from the rear, right?) I think it may be a Ferret scout car. I'll check a book I have, with more pictures, when I get home

[Westfalia Chris]

Yep. It's a Panhard EBR.

As for the other vehicle (second post, first pic - seen from the rear, right?) I think it may be a Ferret scout car. I'll check a book I have, with more pictures, when I get home

The one in the foreground is definitely an AML. The wheel covers, distinctive bonnet and the exhaust assembly are easy to spot. I think it is a 90 due to the turret shape, but I could be mistaken.

[Ash]

Now I'm looking at the right picture, I'd also go AML-90.
AML, because it looks like one and 90 due to the fat turret...

[Arlequín]

Nothing beats an AFV Nerd discussion does it?  

It is an AML 60... as the 90 has separate commander and loader hatches, while the 60 has a single turret-wide and forward-swinging hatch, which you can just about see. As Chris says though, the engine compartment and mudguards give it away as an AML.

[Westfalia Chris]

Nothing beats an AFV Nerd discussion does it?  

Well, railway enthusiast silverbacks come close, IMHO. I dare say my father has forgotten more about railroads than I've ever known about tanks.  

It is an AML 60... as the 90 has separate commander and loader hatches, while the 60 has a single turret-wide and forward-swinging hatch, which you can just about see. As Chris says though, the engine compartment and mudguards give it away as an AML.

I dare say the turret sides had me stumped. I leaned towards the 60, since I couldn't quite make out the single hatch, and the side walls' angle looked "off" for a 90.

Dang, all that Cold War Frenchiness makes me want to assemble that Heller AMX-13 I've had lying around for some weeks now...

[Ash]

I don't think I'm very good at this game... Should do better considering I've made models of both types!
I'll give myself an 'also ran' for spotting the back end of an AML

[Predatorpt]

And I completely forgot that we only received the Ferret after the Revolution.

It's a AML-60, attached to the forces of Salgueiro Maia.

And here are some more photos of that day:

[Predatorpt]

And the Bravia Chaimite isn't a version of the Cadillac Gage Commando. It's an illegal copy - there was a newspaper investigation last week that revealed what really happened. 

I'll track down the article and post it later. But I know it all started when the US refused to sell us 50 V-100 in 1965.

[carlos marighela]

Wow! I must have looked at dozens, if not hundreds of photos of this event over the years but I have never seen those pictures of the Humbers before. Thanks for sharing.

The Chaimite was indeed what in gaming circles an 'unlicensed copy'. Fair to say that Bravia got the idea of making minor alterations and then 're-casting' them long before Kerr & King or anyone on Ebay did. Alas they couldn't use the old gamer's excuse of personal use only as they exported quite a few.

[Predatorpt]

Wow! I must have looked at dozens, if not hundreds of photos of this event over the years but I have never seen those pictures of the Humbers before. Thanks for sharing.

Glad I could surprise you, hehe. All credits go to a fellow member from this forum:

http://forum.modelismo-na.net/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19072

Some of those guys are doing a great work, compiling all the vehicles used by the Portuguese Army:

http://forum.modelismo-na.net/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=18908

All the posts are in Portuguese 

The Chaimite was indeed what in gaming circles an 'unlicensed copy'. Fair to say that Bravia got the idea of making minor alterations and then 're-casting' them long before Kerr & King or anyone on Ebay did. Alas they couldn't use the old gamer's excuse of personal use only as they exported quite a few.

There's an ex-Army officer who's writing the history of Chaimite since 2009 at least, but he never published the book. But some days ago, they published a newspaper article about his investigation:

http://www.publico.pt/portugal/noticia/pensada-para-a-guerra-testada-na-revolucao-esmifrada-na-paz-1632869?page=-1#/0  (article in Portuguese)

A quick version of the article - the US didn't want to sell the V100 Commando to the Portuguese Government , so a private Portuguese company imported one in 1967. The same company also made arrangements for an engineer (Gerald Larson) and specialized workers from the Cadillac Gage factory, to come to Portugal with the blueprints for the Commando. So the new factory - Bravia - starts churning out the V200 Chaimites and the Americans start to suspect that we are copying their vehicle  Specially after the engineer and the workers go to the American Embassy in Lisbon, complaining that the creator of Bravia wasn't paying them for their work 

In the following years, the owner of Bravia (Donna Boto, the guy who had imported the Commando in 1967) is found guilty of the counts of industrial espionage by an American court and forbidden to ever return to US soil; the engineer Gerald Larson, when returning to the US, is charged with illegal transfer of technical material and a Detroit businessman is also accused of selling forbidden military equipment to Portugal (the engines and vision blocks for the Chaimites).

But after the Revolution and the end of the Colonial Wars, the relations between Portugal and the US go back to normal and we get some treats - 20 V150 in the 80's; some 90mm turrets for our Chaimites and the complete overhaul of almost all existing vehicles in the Cadillac-Gage factory (new diesel engines, new suspensions, etc.)

More details can be found in this article, written by the author of the investigation (in Portuguese):

http://www.operacional.pt/chaimite-v-200-parte-i/
http://www.operacional.pt/chaimite-v-200-parte-ii-conclusao/

In this last article, there's the original picture of the AML-60 mentioned before:

[carlos marighela]

Interesting articles, thank you Rodrigo.

Alas for the would be modeller, the differences are a little more than a question of the construction being soldered or not. The rear of the Chaimite is basically a flat inclined plane than angles outward from bottom to top of the hull. The V-100 has a more complex rear hull. There are no appropriately scaled models of the Chaimite that I am aware of.

For the modeller that means some serious work, either cutting off the rear and rebuilding with plastic card or lots of filing and filling of the V-100 hull and then adding a plasticard rear. Probably simpler using the FoA or Verlinden resin models than the cheap Solido versions. I have a fair selection of Portuguese vehicles and aircraft for the period but the work involved has put me off fielding a Chaimite so far.

[Predatorpt]

For the scale modelling crowd there's a 1/35 version of the Chaimite - but it's really expensive, since it's a garage model (NP Models stands for Nogueira Pinto..the guy who did the vehicle in resin):



And here's a conversion of a Hobby Boss vehicle:



into this:



http://www.network54.com/Forum/110741/thread/1308867258/Portuguese+Army+-+Chaimite

[carlos marighela]

Nice work but I was thinking more of wargaming items. For 28mm the choice of available V-100 models comes down to a choice of Solido (1/50), Verlinden (1/48) or Force of Arms (1/56). Solido is the cheapest but it's a diecast so probably a harder conversion prospect.

V-100 models also exist in 1/72, 15mm and 6mm but no Chaimite that I know of.

Rodrigo, if you wanted to make a model of that Panhard EBR for your dad, there's a beautiful model by Hobby Boss available that won't break the bank.

[Predatorpt]

Nice work but I was thinking more of wargaming items. For 28mm the choice of available V-100 models comes down to a choice of Solido (1/50), Verlinden (1/48) or Force of Arms (1/56). Solido is the cheapest but it's a diecast so probably a harder conversion prospect.

V-100 models also exist in 1/72, 15mm and 6mm but no Chaimite that I know of.

Rodrigo, if you wanted to make a model of that Panhard EBR for your dad, there's a beautiful model by Hobby Boss available that won't break the bank.

I already have that EBR, it's a beautiful kit, but I'm still waiting for my vacations. I'm only used to work with wargaming models and scale models aren't so forgiving when it comes to assembling/painting so I'll need to take my time with it.

As for the vehicles in 28mm, I'm always on the lookout in the old toys shows here in Porto (we have one every month). But the problem is that its more of collector's show and the Solido vehicles get ridiculous prices 

Last time I was there, a guy had like 3 Solido Panhard AML-90 for sale at €80 each  Of course he didn't sell a single one but we got pretty offended when I asked if he wasn't interested in lowering the price a bit... And I won't mention how much they usually ask when it comes to Dinky diecasts 

[carlos marighela]

'Collectors' are a strange and oft exceedingly mercenary bunch. There's an antique toy store near here, that I very occasionally pop into as they have some discount items from time to time. I've seen the same Dinky and Corgi models  with absurd price tags sitting in their display cases for years. Doubly absurd as you can buy them on ebay for a lot less even counting the postage from the UK or France.

I've been lucky with my Solido purchases I don't think I've ever paid over $30 for an item. Dinky, I've just scoured Ebay until I've found chipped and battered ones and then restored them myself. It really must do awful things to the minds of toy collectorscto think that people would glue bits on, repaint and then, horror of horrors, actually play with them. 

I really wish someone would do a 1/35 model of Salgueiro Maia. I'd love to make a vignette with that EBR.