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Avenger Turret Glass

I bought an Avenger turret armoured windscreen lately. Definitely Avenger but no history except it came from UK.

Just been inspecting it and it has several marks on the inside surface that look like shellfish marks.

A bit of digging shows a similar piece recovered in Orkney – the position of the shellfish on the glass look similar.

http://www.crashsiteorkney.com/page20.htm

Does anyone know what happened to FN899’s glass OR the recovery of any other Avenger/Tarpon turret glass from the sea in the UK ?

Thanks.

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By: FarlamAirframes - 8th January 2013 at 08:29

Thanks Versuch – I will talk to the local glass people this week.

Did a bit of digging on Limpets and they have a home site that they graze and return to – as they grow their shells also grow and abrade the surface as they are likely to be in contact with it daily – which is why there are the concentric rings and the foot mark in the middle.

The orange stuff around the edge of the glass seems to be degraded paint as it came away with a wipe of solvent.

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By: Versuch - 8th January 2013 at 05:05

Brian if you get in touch with local glass supplier,they should be able to
put you in contact with people who polish glass for insurance claims etc.
Shop front glass scratched etc, they usually have a machine that uses a fine
paste to bring it up like new……might NOT be cheap.
Cheers Mike

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By: FarlamAirframes - 5th January 2013 at 22:17

Thanks Mike, I hope it is a good vintage.

The surface is cleanable with solvents and polishes – but as you confirm the limpet circles are etched into the glass. Reminds me a little of HF – hydrofluoric acid – nasty stuff that etches glass ( and bones)…

the new frame is coming together nicely. I also have a mk 11 turret projector gunsight to project onto it as well.

Keeps me busy in the winter.

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By: Arabella-Cox - 5th January 2013 at 18:41

Limpets

I believe limpets exude some sort of etching compound to help secure themselves to tricky surfaces. It seems to be the case here that the aforesaid limpets have exuded their special substance and etched the glass with an indelible print of their former position. I think that is what has happened here.

Now, slightly the worse for wear after several glasses of wine, I’m off for another one:D

Anon.

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By: FarlamAirframes - 5th January 2013 at 15:56

Was this the one on ebay?

Yes – why is that relevant ?

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By: hindenburg - 5th January 2013 at 14:24

Was this the one on ebay?

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By: Wyvernfan - 5th January 2013 at 11:32

Interesting find and comparison Brian, and they certainly do look to be the same sections even after cleaning. I know glass is pretty resilient to cleaning (certainly alot more than perspex is) but i’d be interested to know what was used to remove hardened deposits from it without damaging it, such as the limpets etc.

Rob

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By: FarlamAirframes - 5th January 2013 at 11:08

playing around with the images on photoshop.

Anyone fancy a game of spot the Limpet.

I will start making a new frame for it this afternoon.

I think this proves at least that it is from a sea recovery.

Edit – when overlaid the large limpet at the top is in exactly the same shape/place on both.

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