What is the proper finish on a 1944 Inglis?

[peregrinvs]

Just for the hell of it, here are the last of the post-cleaning pictures I took last year:






Another difference since taking these pictures is changing the cocking handle slide cover: I found it had a British Corfield & Buckle made one, whereas my 1940 MkI Enfield had an Inglis marked one, so there was an obvious swap to make. (Yes I know it's nerdy, but it's the little details that count...)

Interesting to see a Mk2 magazine opening cover on your 1944 MkII. Is it Inglis marked?

Cheers,

Mark

[c310pilot]

Not nerdy at all. I have seven kits and I have been going through them all to try and make sure the MKII I am finishing up has as much orginal "OEM" parts as possible. That is why I would like the finish as close as possible. The early DD bren will be blued and the L4A3 will be, cough, guncoated. The only thing avail here in the states that could resemble a sprayed on Suncrite type finish. I am going to see if Brian Dick has any more Suncrite first, and if so, I will pay him to spray it.

[Brian Dick]

The original finish was manganese phosphate. I still have a small supply of Suncorite 259 and can offer the service but I'm not sure if I can replenish my supply for reasons stated here already. However, my paint booth is outdoors and the cold weather doesn't coincide with painting chores right now so these type projects might best be left until Spring.

[stencollector]

I have had many many Inglis bren parts kits which retired from Cdn service, and have never seen paint or suncorite on one. I have seen that greenish tinge that develops on the phosphate on Mk2 guns.

[tankhunter]

I have had many many Inglis bren parts kits which retired from Cdn service, and have never seen paint or suncorite on one. I have seen that greenish tinge that develops on the phosphate on Mk2 guns.

The 'Enfield Finnish', or black Suncorite coating is a British Service standard (Defstan) What Canada does, we are not too sure of over here!.............

[Brian Dick]

The Suncorite paint finish was used on Canadian guns that went through the British system at some point. The Canadians didn't paint them during FTR.

[Peter Laidler]

That's right Brian. Canadian guns that went through the big combined REME/RCEME workshops at Verl and Wetter were all treated in the UK spec finish

[tankhunter]

That's right Brian. Canadian guns that went through the big combined REME/RCEME workshops at Verl and Wetter were all treated in the UK spec finish

Peter, did you ever get over to Wetter? I did a few times, what a HUGE place that was! A Major Wksp that was put together after the end of the War & continued right uptil it sadly was disbanded in the late ninties.
An anomanly here was that the lowest Rank was SGT & staffed by a couple of thousand civvies. Some Ex Service, but mainly german civillians & Trade apprentices were tought here also. Happy days!
I also used to go to 12 Armd Wksps when I was Stationed at Osnabruck. The small arms shop was mainly field repairs & I never saw any rustproofing facilities. But that didnt mean they didnt exist as I never asked!
The MAIN guy who did almost all the work there was a civvy caled Karl. Highly skilled & knew his stuff! I ended up befriending Karl & spent many a happy evening at his place having the universal language game (Alcohol!)
I ended up getting an SMG from him that he had made himself. Only the reciever was made, (You could barely tell the difference between that & a real one!) all the rest was assembled from spares. it shot well also! I swapped it for a Deact (German Spec) Mauser K98k Rifle! I Deactivated the SMG before comming home from B.A.O.R Many years later. I let it go to collector over in Germany for a swap for a LOT of genuine WWII German Medals! I did this because we never had Sec8 for Deacts in force in the UK in the eighties! Wheras Germany has had Deacts & Blankfirers a LONG time before we got around to accepting them! The German Deact stamp is a BKA in a diamond with a number. The number relates to an approved spec for THAT particular type of arm. It is NOT recognised in the UK & If you had one, you would have to get the work done to bring it upto UK spec & submit it to the proof house for certification. I hear tell, that the London Proofhouse Proofmaster is in Talks with overseas/EU countries to get specs overseas tightened up to more stringent levels similar to over here! This is obviously not a good thing at face value. because SOME of the european deacts insist on Welding solid nearly all of the actions on MG's!! Uninformity being the ultimate aim! Ultimate aim does NOT care about what collectors want!..................

[ZB26]

Just to see if I got it right, the original Inglis finish was just parkerized, but then it's painted later on?

[tankhunter]

Just to see if I got it right, the original Inglis finish was just parkerized, but then it's painted later on?

Parkerised first, THEN, SPRAYED with Suncorite 259 & Baked for 30 Mins till done!.......