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My Regiment has two Skink turrets in its collection . Both were saved from a rifle range .One was used as a target and then the holes were filled in . The other with no holes. Both have cast numbers one with 80 the other with 81 on the back of the turrets . They used to mark the left and right marks of a rifle range. One will be sent to the Canadian War Museum for some Sherman parts in return . The other one , which the unit plans to put together a Skink prototype.

Too cool! Would it be possible for you to post a photo of one of the turrets showing the rear quarter (or about 45 degrees off the back end)? I have an old Commanders Series conversion kit, but I don't think that the rear of the turret is correct. The kit turret shape looks more like a Sherman high bustle turret rear. If I had a good photo - I might try and grind it down to a correct shape.

Would be great if the CWM could put together a complete Skink. Was the hull chassis a completely different casting from an early cast Sherman hull shape? Are there any known surviving Skink hulls?

Thanks

Chris Neel

Here are some other photos , sorry for the size ......I gota new camera. Will be able to get more photos after the long weekend.

Perfect! Thank you very much - looks like I'll only need to round off the back end of the kit turret just a little bit, if at all.

Thanks again - this might have to be the next kit I work on, now that I'm not so concerned with the turret being off as much as I thought it might be.

Please keep us posted on how any projects go involving these!

cn

The Skink turret was inserted on a standard Grizzly chassis (Canadian made M4A1), three were completed, one went to the UK, the other two remained in Canada. Their ultimate fate is unknown, as is that of the eight completed turrets. Surviving turrets seem to be unfinished castings, so putting together a complete Skink from one would be a major challenge. For a history of the Skink and lots of photos, see my recent monograph "The Skink in Canadian Service" available from www.Servicepub.com.
Roger Lucy

Recceboy,

Great pics. If you would, in the future, please use either a photo hosting service or the Com-Central photo gallery you have access to (menu, upper left), OR resize you photo's to no greater than 800 pixels wide. With wide format pics, it leads to a lot of scrolling the screen back-and-forth to then read the texts of any posts in the thread. The detail is nice, but some of our finger joints can't take it.

Thanks!....and Cheers!
D.

Thanks for posting the great pics!

If anyone is interested in some other photos of the Blue ones , send me an address and will send a few................cheers

Hi Guys-
About a hundred years ago, I remember a posting on this very board showing a dump somewhere in Mexico that was full of rather ancient derelict Sherman hulls. All were awaiting the cutter's torch. One of these hulls once sat beneath a Skink turret. As stated in an earlier part of this thread (I mean the current "Blue Turret" thread), the Skink hull was just the standard Grizzly. So, with the turret removed, how was it possible to know that this hull once supported a Skink turret? I have no idea as the thread all this appeared in occurred several years ago. Not much help in all this I'm afraid, just thought I'd pass it along for information sake.
Bye for now-
Geoff Steer [;-{/)

Did these come for Meaford?

- Doug_Kibbey

Recceboy,

Great pics. If you would, in the future, please use either a photo hosting service or the Com-Central photo gallery you have access to (menu, upper left), OR resize you photo's to no greater than 800 pixels wide. With wide format pics, it leads to a lot of scrolling the screen back-and-forth to then read the texts of any posts in the thread. The detail is nice, but some of our finger joints can't take it.

Thanks!....and Cheers!
D.

Dont forget photobucket.com is a good (free) solution as well.

Neil

Both turrets were saved from a range in Vernon , B.C. They were first spotted when we were fighting the forest fires out there in 2003.

Just posted all 15 Skink turret photos on photobucket.com , look for them under ldshrecceboy.

I am told by an ex Range Control patroller in Meaford, that there are "Sherman turrets behind and to the side of one of the firing points. Whether these are Shermans or Rams is as yet unknown.

There are still hidden surprises on the training areas.

Recceboy, first of all thanks for sharing those pics with us! Here's hoping someone in Canada is able to cobble up a Skink.

- geoffsteer

About a hundred years ago, I remember a posting on this very board showing a dump somewhere in Mexico that was full of rather ancient derelict Sherman hulls. All were awaiting the cutter's torch. One of these hulls once sat beneath a Skink turret. As stated in an earlier part of this thread (I mean the current "Blue Turret" thread), the Skink hull was just the standard Grizzly. So, with the turret removed, how was it possible to know that this hull once supported a Skink turret? I have no idea as the thread all this appeared in occurred several years ago.

Geoff, those must have been the Grizzly APCs in Portugal - see my web page at web.inter.nl.net/users...pcgriz.htm

One Grizzly present in that yard had the typical rungs (for lack of a better word) welded on the hull between the hatches - see pic below - unique to the Skink

Regards,
Hanno