About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Monday, October 10, 2016

M is for Men in Black

Returning to the conflict zone that is modern Ukraine, we're taking a look at Special Forces troops of the Ukrainian Border Guard.

Equipped with Land Rover Defenders, and a boarder marker/post, we've known since the Iranian Embassy seige back-here in London that you mess with the Men in Black at your peril!

The Land Rover has a rather snazzy paint-job which reminds me of some of the old West German vehicles, although they went with a more apple-green and white.

When we (the Glosters) were in Berlin we took delivery of some of the first Defenders used by the British army (paid for by the Berlin Senate; they were purchased outside MOD's procurement channels) and managed - within weeks - to identify several faults which were subsequently fixed before UKLF and BAOR started getting theirs. Not being particularly auto-minded, I can't recall the specifics but seem to remember split engine-cases and broken/overheating drive shafts as the main problems?

Bagged set had five figures, the vehicle and a marker-post. The header-card's artwork suggests they also used something equally big, but Japanese (?) as well.

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