I just wonder if they allowed either one to be painted the right colours because as I understand it 131 has the original paint on it. I think they are using the Sherman from the Museum as well. Will have to find out when we are down there next.
131 was most definately stripped and repainted. However, many moons ago at one of the very first times the UK tank club went to the tank museum, probably 2002 ish, I got chatting to one of the museum people about 131's paint. Apparently an expert from Germany came over and took paint chips to analyze and determine exactly what had been used and what the original colour was. The result is what is on it today, so in theroy it is a near as possible to the original paint, and reproduceable.
We were down at Bovington on Saturday and the sound unit from the film company turned up and wanted to record engine sounds from 131. We had to stay back out of the way so no close ups I'm afraid. Had a chat to one of the workshop guys that took 131 up to Hertfordshire for the filming and he said that 131 performed well. I asked about the colour and he said the effect guys mixed up mud and water and sprayed it all over the tank and he said it was very effective. Just as we were were loading the tanks up at the end of the day the sound unit guys turned up and were very impressed with the models and the authentic sounds, he said that the recording session had gone well. Watch the video and turn the sound up.
They had mikes around the side of the building as well and were recording 131 on it's way back to the hall. They asked the driver to go through gear changes and rev the engine up as often as he could. Apparently he got it in to 5th gear at one point with still another 2 to go. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours Adrian.
Do you have any idea who them film crew was? I'm looking to get some high quality recordings for a project I'm working on. Hopefully they would be willing to license them.