Casemate German Railway Gun Leopold 28cm K5(E)

[Mike]

German Railway Gun Leopold 28cm K5(E)
Model Centrum Progres via Casemate

This book is part of Model Centrum's Armour PhotoGallery series, and has been reissued due to renewed demand. It suits me just fine, as I have the 1:35 kit from Trumpeter, but there are also kits in 1:72 from Hasegawa and a more modern tooling from Hobby Boss, with Dragon catering for 1:144 and an older tooling in 1:35. The Leopold was one of the most successful rail guns, sporting a massive 28cm barrel, and capable of running on existing rail, unlike its even larger stablemate, the Dora. This made it more useful, and its 11" shell was enough to put the fear of their favourite deity in people.

The book is a photo gallery ("really?" I hear you cry) of both the surviving Ausf.C example in the US Ordnance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and the rather less well preserved Ausf.D gun at the Musee du Mur de L'Atlantique near the Pas de Calais. There is also a section devoted to photos of the weapon in service, as well as after capture, with the obligatory man in the breech and a brave soul that has shinned to the end of the barrel, showing just how large muzzle was.

The final item is a set of 1:35 and 1:72 plans packaged loosely inside the book's film cover. This is printed on sturdy satin finished paper, and although it is folded small enough to fit within the book's cover, it folds out to A0 at a guess, measuring out to be roughly double the size of my A1 cutting mat. Quite impressive on the whole!

Conclusion
A great book with literally hundreds of photos and copious captions to enlighten and inform the reader as to the function of the small parts of this behemoth. The depth to which the photos extend is admirable, and each section has its location marked out on the top of the page, which shows a portion of a line drawing of the Leopold marked out in colour.

Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[thomastmcc]

cool thanks mike.