Takom Skoda 305mm Siege Howitzer. 1:35

[Shar2]

Skoda 305mm Siege Howitzer

Takom 1:35

History
Development began in 1906, when a development contract was placed by the Austro-Hungarian high command with Skoda-Werke in Pilsen to develop a weapon capable of penetrating the concrete fortresses being built in Belgium and Italy. Development work continued until 1909, when the first prototype was finished and, in 1910, fired secretly in Hungary. The weapon was able to penetrate 2 m (6 ft 7 in) of reinforced concrete with its special armour piercing shell, which weighed 384 kg (847 lb). There were a few technical problems with the first piece, but, after few reconstructions in 1911, the upgraded piece made another round of testing in Felixdorf and in the mountains of Tyrol. After that, Moritz von Auffenberg, the Minister of War, placed an order for 24 of the new weapons.

The mortar could fire two types of shell, a heavy armour-piercing shell with a delayed action fuse weighing 384 kg, and a lighter 287 kg shell fitted with an impact fuse. The light shell was capable of creating a crater 8 meters wide and 8 meters deep, as well as killing exposed infantry up to 400 m (440 yd) away. The mortar required a crew of 15 to 17, and could fire between 10 to 12 rounds an hour. After firing, it automatically returned to the horizontal loading position.

In 1916, the M. 11 design was upgraded and the new M. 11/16 was produced - the difference was mainly that the firing platform had been modified to allow for a traverse of 360 degrees. Also in 1916, a new model was released, the M. 16, which had longer barrel (L/12) and longer range 12,300 metres (13,500 yd).

Eight Mörsers were loaned to the German Army and they were first fired in action on the Western Front at the start of World War I. They were used in concert with the Krupp 42 cm howitzer ("Big Bertha") to destroy the rings of Belgian fortresses around Liege (Battle of Liège), Namur (Fortified Position of Namur) and Antwerp (Forts Koningshooikt, Kessel and Broechem). While the weapon was used on the Eastern, Italian and Serbian fronts until the end of the war, it was only used on the Western front at the beginning of the war. In 1915, ten howitzers were used in support of the Austro-Hungarian-German invasion of Serbia under the German General August von Mackensen. By the end of the war, 79 of the weapons of all three types were in service. Only 24 were destroyed.

Between the two world wars, large numbers of mortars were in service in Yugoslavia (4 M.11 and 6 M.16), Romania, Italy (23 M.11, 16 M.11/16 and 16 M.16), Czechoslovakia (17 M.16) and Hungary (3 M.11 and 2 M.16). There were only two in Austria; one in the Arsenal, Army Museum in Vienna, the second as a training weapon in Innsbruck.

In 1939, Germany seized all 17 pieces from Czechoslovakia and repaired the howitzer from the Arsenal Museum, designating them 30.5 cm Mörser (t). In 1941, they obtained five more weapons after the defeat of Yugoslavia and placed them into service as the 30.5 cm Mörser 638(j). They saw service against Poland, France and the Soviet Union in World War II, where they served with Heavy Artillery Battalions (schwere Artillerie-Abteilungen) 624, 641 and 815 as well as two Heavy Static Artillery Batteries (schwere Artillerie-Batterie bodenstandig) 230 and 779.

The barrel was either monobloc or built-up. Some sources indicate that a third type - with loose liner - also existed. To soften recoil, a large slotted muzzle brake was fitted. The breechblock was of interrupted screw type, with forced extraction of cartridge during opening. A safety lock prevented opening of the breechblock before the shot; if there was a need to remove a shell, the lock had to be disabled. To assist loading when the barrel was set to high elevation angle, the breach was equipped with cartridge holding mechanism. The gun was fired by pulling a trigger cord.

The Model
This kit depicts a Skoda 30.5cm M.1916 as it was used in the siege of Sevastapol in 1942, but since information is sketchy I wouldnt have thought there would have been many changes since they were built in 1916. Contained in the top opening box, with a stylised photograph of the weapon being inspected on the front, are three sprues of sandy coloured styrene. The parts contained on the sprues are free of flash, moulding pips or other imperfections, and the moulded detail appears to be very good indeed. What ejection pin marks there are seem to be kept to be on inside of parts so there isnt much in the way of cleaning up once off the sprues. Takom have used slide mould technology very effectively in the production of the barrel parts allowing for a seamless build.

Although there was a carriage designed for the guns, as seen on many of the museum exhibits, this unit is built as one with a fixed base, included in the kit. The build begins with the assembly of the breech block and the rear barrel block, which are then fitted to the trunnion block. The three parts to the barrel slide into each other like a telescope, with the completed unit slide into the trunnion block. The sliding breech is fitted with the release handle and pull handle before being slid into the breech block. The recupertor unit is assembled from upper and lower parts to which the front and rear parts are added, along with what looks like a valve at the front, the completed assembly is then fitted to the underside of the barrel assembly. The two ratchet arcs are also attached to the underside of the barrel and fitted with a spreader bar in between the two parts.

The base is made up of a box with individual sides and the top, onto which the traversing ring is fitted. The right hand trunnion mount is fitted with an elevation axle mount, with associated support bracket and an additional strengthening beam. The mount is then attached to the traversing table. Before the left side is fitted the elevation wheel is attached to its support, whilst the hydraulic section of the elevation mechanism is assembled from five parts and the mechanical elevation guide is assembled from four parts. The two elevation ratchet wheels now assembled from two wheels and an axle. The ratchet wheels are then fitted with poly caps to allow the modeller to elevate the gun to their desired position. Each of these assemblies are then fitted to the trunnion mount, which is then fitted to the traversing mount with the elevation wheels and barrel assembly sandwiched between the two trunnions. Protective plates are fitted with ancillary parts before being attached to the front and rear of the trunnion plates. Lastly, the loading chute is assembled from seven parts and fitted to the rear of the gun mount completing the main part of the build.

In addition to the gun and its mounting Takom have also included three shells, two long, (AP shells), and a shorter one which I presume is an HE shell, each assembled from two halves. One of the AP shells is fitted with a collar which is used to attach it to the shell handling trolley, also included and made up of eight parts. There is also a shell box to which a separate lid is affixed, allowing one of the three shells to be visible. All very useful if the model is to be built into a diorama.

Conclusion
This is a very unusual and quite obscure subject, yet still very welcome.I do have a fascination large calibre weapons, but have only seen ones the Germans designed in WW2, so its nice to have the chance to build something a little different and with the option of setting it into either a WW1 or WW2 scene. It would have been even nicer had Takom included a crew for it, so hopefully they will release a set in the future. Highly recommended

Review sample courtesy of

[Nigel Heath]

Dave, thanks for that lovely review.