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The Weald Foundation

Name: The Weald Foundation
Address: The Weald Foundation, Benover Road, Yalding, ME186AY, GB
Telephone: +441892730896
Price range: ££
Rating: 5

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The Weald Foundation

The Weald Foundation A charity established to preserve, restore and maintain rare historical military vehicles. As a non-profit organization, we receive no UK government funding.

Our unique lineup of rare and important military vehicles that we have rescued is considered to be one of the finest working collections in the world. At the Weald Foundation, schools, engineers, historians, modellers, enthusiasts, and collectors come together to discover and learn. We have carried out extensive work on many types of armoured fighting vehicles, including tank restoration. Our team

sources original components and, where necessary, create new parts from the original blueprints or examples. Our research into the history of every vehicle in our collection provides unique authenticity to our work. We strive to understand each vehicle’s story, where and when it was assembled, its role in combat, and the story of the people who operated them or fought against them. Our work in restoring vehicles and creating a centre of technical and historical excellence depends on your support. You can help by becoming a member or making a donation, ensuring that this important restoration work continues to flourish. By supporting the Weald Foundation, you can contribute to the preservation of these iconic vehicles and help educate the public about their history. Join us in our mission to preserve these pieces of history for future generations to appreciate and learn from. Join us in our mission to preserve history and promote its educational value. Visit our Membership section to learn more about the Weald Foundation Membership Program and become a member or make a donation today.

23/04/2025

The recent lack of updates doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy. Progress on our Australian LP1 continues, as the team has been focused on removing the damaged rubber from the wheels and sandblasting them.

For those interested in the finer details: if you want to distinguish LP1 wheels from LP2 wheels, the LP1 version doesn’t have the smaller holes in the spokes. These were introduced on the LP2 wheels to help with mud and debris.

We’ve also been working on a major component that was missing from our LP1 — the engine cover frame.

Make sure to follow us for more updates!

17/04/2025

More progress on our Australian LP1. We have started repairing the rear of the fender, and at the same time, we have started the frame for the engine compartment.

14/04/2025

The team is now taking a break from the Sd.Kfz.223, and we are back working on the Australian LP. We have now finished the exhaust brackets, and the rear plate is also finished. Make sure to follow us for more updates!

11/04/2025

Gr***de mesh completed and tested in place, just before sandblasting and priming.
The TWC Sd.Kfz.223 road wheels have also been painted in Dunkelgelb and are now back on the chassis!

The rest of the team has spent the week working on the intricate parts of the MG Sockel (machine gun pedestal), a unique and interesting feature used on these vehicles and also found on the Sd.Kfz.221. Have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend!

10/04/2025

This week, we’ve made great progress on the Wheatcroft Collection Sd.Kfz.223 Schutzschild gr***de mesh. After building one for our own vehicle, we gained valuable experience, making it much quicker and more efficient to manufacture these going forward. More updates coming soon.

27/03/2025

Today, Steve has been pressing out the remaining suspension pins using his new jig—a tough job, but a crucial step forward. With this done, we can finally begin tackling the suspension restoration.

26/03/2025

We apologise for the recent lack of updates, but rest assured, the team has been hard at work. Alex, our apprentice, has been honing his brazing skills, while Tom has been busy sandblasting and fitting the air filter housing onto LP1 Hull 76 following the successful repair of cracks in the plates.

24/03/2025

The development history of 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 (15 cm Nb.W. 41), that is part of the collection at the Weald Foundation, was described in Part I.

How the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 (15 cm Nb.W. 41) was fired is worth discussing. Given the six barrels, the back blast, and the dangerous trail of flame and smoke generated it was a hazardous activity.

How the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 was fired is worth discussing. Given the six barrels, the back blast, and the dangerous trail of flame and smoke generated it was a hazardous activity.

14/03/2025

Another busy day at the workshop!

Alex has been busy machining essential components for the driver's visor assembly, while Tom has meticulously stripped and prepared the air filter housing.

Next week, we'll be turning our attention to the TWC Sd.Kfz.223 - if you're a fan of German armoured cars, keep an eye out for our updates!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

12/03/2025

The restoration of the Australian LP1 continues to make steady progress, with the front plate now fully assembled. Several components had to be newly manufactured, using reference photos of original models alongside precise measurements and supporting drawings. This is no unfamiliar challenge for our skilled team, who continue to apply their expertise to ensure historical accuracy in every detail.

06/03/2025

Today, our team went out to collect a truly generous donation. We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to an enthusiast who, upon closing his workshop, chose to donate a workbench, several toolboxes, and a full set of tools to us.

This incredible contribution is a huge help, we can never have too many tools, and some of these we didn’t have at all! Your generosity will go a long way in supporting our work.

Thank you again for your kindness!

05/03/2025

Today, the team made great progress by trial-fitting the visor mechanism and securing the front plate by drilling and riveting the areas we had to add new steel.

04/03/2025

When original parts are unavailable, we don’t let that stop us, we replicate and manufacture them to ensure a perfect fit. Even the smallest components, like these box catches, are meticulously crafted to complete the restoration of our Australian LP1 Carrier down to the finest detail.

03/03/2025

The Australian LP1 Carrier looks much more complete today with the newly added missing armour pieces. Since we didn’t have the original parts, we manufactured these from spare original armour we had on hand. The team is also working on the visor mechanism and we’ll share more photos tomorrow.

28/02/2025

A challenging and time-consuming task began today as Alex and Steve worked on removing the suspension pins. These were firmly stuck in place, making the job extremely difficult. After much effort, they managed to extract one pin today. The rest will be tackled next week, hopefully, they’ll come out more easily than the first! But as always, challenges like these are just part of the process.

27/02/2025

Today's photos highlight one of the most distinctive features of the Australian LP1 carrier – the frontal plate.

While the British carrier has a less inclined frontal plate with a distinct "box" just below the driver’s visor, the Australian LP1 lacks this feature. As a result, its frontal plate has a steeper inclination and extends much closer to the driver’s visor.

25/02/2025

It’s been a busy day for the team! We’ve been hard at work removing bearings from the LP1 wheels, stripping down the suspension, and repairing the front armour, great progress all around! And that’s not all… we’ve got an announcement coming soon, so stay tuned!

20/02/2025

Today we tidied up our paints, labelling them while also checking the quantities to make sure we don’t run out before we need them again. Work on our large storage box for the LP1 continues, with the interior panel dividers needing to be replaced. Tom has a lot of experience restoring these boxes, having also worked on the Sd.Kfz.222 and Sd.Kfz.223. More updates tomorrow, make sure to follow us!

Address

The Weald Foundation, Benover Road
Yalding
ME186AY

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441892730896

Website

https://www.wealdfoundation.org/

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About Us

We are the charitable organisation set up to preserve, restore and maintain historic military vehicles from both World Wars, and to educate the public about their history. The unique line-up of rare and important military vehicles that we have rescued, including tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, is considered to be one of the finest working collections in the world.

The Weald Foundation is a working collection where schools, engineers, historians, modellers, enthusiasts and collectors come together to discover and learn.

We source original components and where necessary, create new parts from the original blueprints or examples. Our research into the history of every vehicle in our collection – where and when it was assembled, its role in combat and the story of the people who operated them or fought against them - provides unique authenticity to our work.

We receive no UK government funding so our work in restoring vehicles and creating a centre of technical and historical excellence depends on support from you.