British Bofors QF 40mm L60 ***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

When I first decided to participate in this GB I was thinking of entering perhaps 3 aircraft and maybe one AA gun. With 5 planes in the gallery and 4 more well on the way I have finally got round to this, my final entry!

And yes, I know there is one already in the gallery but this will be slightly different.

 

I don't remember exactly when Airfix advertised the release of their 1/76 Bofors Gun kit in Airfix Magazine though I guess I could look it up, but I do recall visiting my LMS quite a few times over the next year only to be told that it had not as yet been produced – Scalemates say it was released in 1976! In the end I gave up and this is one I bought about 15 years ago.

 

I have not been able to find very much info on the variant in question so please feel free to correct or add to the following brief history. According to Wiki, the Swedish company Bofors were asked by their navy to design a more reliable replacement for their Vickers 2pdr “pom-pom”guns in around 1928 and they started with a scaled down version of an old Nordenfelt 57mm gun dating back to an anti torpedo boat gun produced by Finspång. at the end of the 19th century. By 1931 they had produced what was known as the Bofors 40mm L60, although in fact the barrel was only 56.25 calibres long (for those unfamiliar with the nomenclature the length of gun barrels are often expressed in terms of multiples of the bore diameter (calibre) so in this case the barrel was actually 56.25 x 40mm ie 2,25 metres long). Various improvements and modifications were made and the gun was used by many armies and navies around the world, the naval version usually being water cooled to prolong barrel life and allow extended firing – Wiki say over 60000 were made and some are still in use today, though most have been replaced by the newer version with the longer L70 barrel, often on a self propelled mount.

 

In 1937 the British Army acquired a number of guns from Poland for testing, which were known as Ordnance QF (Quick Firing) Mk I, or Mk I/2 when changes were made to the muzzle flash hider and a licence was acquired to build them in the UK. That required a number of changes, not just from metric to imperial measurements but also to allow for mass production – the original ones were hand built with many parts labelled “file to fit”! They were mounted on a 4 wheel carriage which allowed all round traverse, and had jacks which could be lowered to stabilise it when firing. The gun was fitted with a feed system which took 4 round clips of 2lb shells and the vertical range was just over 20000ft, though engagements were normally at somewhat lower levels. Besides loaders and a gun commander, the crew initially consisted of a trainer and a layer who sat either side of the mount using “bicycle crank” type handles to move the gun horizontally and vertically. Initially they were provided with reflector sights but it was found that these were no good against fast moving planes.

Original version in a Finnish Museum with no shield and reflector sights courtesy of Balcer~commonswiki .

 

More to follow.

 

Pete

Edited January 29, 2021 by PeterB

[Col.]

A good subject to round off your collection within the GB Pete

[PeterB]

So, with 3 or my last 4 aircraft builds waiting for a finishing coat of varnish and the other coming along quite nicely I thought I would make a start.

I was expecting a nice easy build but it has a lot of small and rather fragile parts crammed onto the sprues, and getting them off and cleaning them is a bit of a pain! Anyway, I have started the  assembly of the chassis of the tractor - in this case a Morris CD/SW 30cwt 6x4, and also the travelling carriage for the gun. It's a bit like the one used on the German 88mm in that it can be fired whilst still on its wheels, usually with the jacks lowered, but also it can be raised up enough for the wheels/axles to be taken off and moved to one side. In the pic I have fitted the jacks at each end of the frame, but there are two more on pivoting arms which swing out to the left and right of the carriage, which will go on later. I will have to paint the sub assemblies before I go much further.

 

Anyway, to continue the story, I had mention the problems with fast low flying aircraft -

 

To get round the problem the Brits fitted the Mk III gun with a form of mechanical analogue computer known as the Kerrison Director. A crew of 3 men aimed the director at the target and dialled in information on estimated height, size, speed, weather conditions etc., and it hydraulically moved the gun to give the correct lead (a bit like the system used on warships to adjust the aim of their guns to hit a moving target before the use of radar) . It was pretty good by all accounts, but the director needed a generator with fuel supply to operate it, together with the extra crew and was more suited to guns in fixed emplacements so the mobile ones tended to rely on the back up sights, which were a variation on ring and bead, with large circular “pancakes” containing various deflection rings. According to Dan Taylor, from whom I purchased PE sights, there were two original types, the early one used up to the end of 1940 had 2 pancakes, one with rings and one with a grid, whilst the later one had the right hand circular sight replaced by a rectangular grid as shown on the Aifix box, even though they say it is one used in the Western Desert in 1940!

In 1943 the training establishment at a place called Stiffkey came up with an improved sighting system which added a “Trapeze” to the Pancakes, with a crew member dialling in the info as before, moving a sighting frame to show the gunner the lead and he manually aimed the gun. Dan also does the “Stiffkey” sight in his range at Dan Taylor Modelworks.

Above pics from Dan's site are from top to bottom, Early, mid and late with Stiffkey mod

 

After the start of WWII the Brits asked the Americans and Canadians to join in the production of the Bofors under the UK licence and when the US entered the war both their army and navy began to use unlicenced versions themselves. The USN went for power operated water cooled twin mountings with two to a gun “tub” and their late war ships were absolutely bristling with the ruddy things – for example the Iowa class battleships had no less than 20 quad mounts along with an awful lot lot of single 20mm cannon! The RN went for a more complicated arrangement with the Hazemeyer twin mount and later the so called STAAG (Stabilized Tachymetric AA Gun) mount – both fully power operated, but the latter version with a built in valve powered radar proved both heavy (17.5 tonnes) and not too reliable (valves were a bit vulnerable to the shock of the guns firing) so many ships just had basic manual or powered mounts, and the Mounting Mark IX actually lasted long enough to see service during the Falklands War.

 

So that's the story and next time I will say a little about colour schemes in the Desert.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited January 30, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

I bought my first 1/72-1/76 military vehicle kit in I think 1971 in Woolworths in Alloa whilst visiting relatives in Scotland - the Airfix Sherman. After that I built them as they became available from Airfix, Fujimi and Matchbox mainly but there were a few Esci and Hasegawa ones as well, and I used Humbrol Authentic paints for virtually all of them. As far as I knew British tanks were "8th Army Desert Yellow" in the desert and "Deep Bronze Green" everywhere else. After a while I ran out of kits I was interested in, but  about 10 years ago I stumbled across the Millicast range of resin tanks which filled a lot of gaps in my collection  and at the same time the old White Ensign site, and promptly bought a load of their Colourcoats paint and metal gun barrels, whilst at the same time digging into the British paint schemes, which were far more complex and varied that I had always thought. 

 

For example the base “sand” colour could be either Portland Stone, a light almost cream colour, or Light Stone in the early years, but as the campaign moved about the colour of the actual sand changed and after El Alamein the Tunisian sand required a colour known as “Desert Pink”.

The colours in the pic are somewhat off but these are my Colourcoats paints - from left to right Portland Stone, Light Stone  and Desert Pink. I think the Humbrol paint was meant to be the middle one.

 

Second echelon vehicles such as transports and artillery often had a single colour finish which would not be repainted until they went into the workshops for a major overhaul, even if camo patterns had changed, but first line vehicles such as tanks normally had a disruptive colour over the base – brown, green or blue/black being normal, though in some theatres slate and a sort of purple/brown was used, but for a while the so called “Caunter Scheme” was in use – a sort of variant of the WWI naval dazzle scheme with geometric shapes in any two of a number of disruptive colours when the full scheme was used, but sometimes only one in a partial scheme. Airfix provide decs for a Bofors and tractor used by 15th Light AA Regiment of 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) at the end of 1940 so I have gone for a simple Light Stone finish, though Portland Stone might also have been valid. The canvas tilt on the tractor unit would originally have been dyed to match but would generally look browner until it faded in the strong sunlight.

And for the record, AFAIK this is just about the full range of the main "official" colours used on vehicles operated by the Brits in WWII - inc;luding the US version of OD, though I believe tanks in the far east towards the end of the war used another version of OD which I never bought and there might be yet another green I am missing! There were quite a few others used infrequently like Middle Stone and Dark Stone, not to mention the light blue/grey some units "borrowed" from RN stocks to use instead of the correct "slver grey" causing even the Tank Museum to get confused..

And you thought plane paint schemes were complicated! Actually only 6 are "base" colours - of the remainder 9 are distruptive camo colours, whilst the US OD and British Khaki Green G3 can be either. Add in a lot of detailed instructions and leaflets setting out how the paint was applied and it can get really complicated - I will go into that when I build my tanks in the "Anything but Injection" GB later this year.

 

 Incidentally, I mentioned elsewhere that kitbuilding was keeping me from getting bored during lockdown, and that my wife was doing the same with her jigsaws - unfortunately the cats decided they want to help.

Or maybe not!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited January 31, 2021 by PeterB

[Andwil]

At least they haven’t mistaken the box of pieces for a litter tray....💩🤮

 

AW

[PeterB]

Not yet, but they have tried to chew the pieces which did not make them very popular!

 

Pete

Edited January 31, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

The gun carriage chassis is now complete and next I will have to deal with what is a common problem with military kits in this scale.

Until they issued the Bedford QL set fairly recently, Airfix provided no glazing for any of their trucks etc - Matador, Quad, Opel Blitz, jeep and Kubelwagen, halftracks and of course all 6 vehicles in the Refueling, Recovery and Emergency sets - not that they were alone as the same applies to Matchbox at least. I dont know whether to just put a sheet of clear plastic across the interior of the windscreen or try and cut some to actually fit inside the frames. I will probably get away with Krystal Kleer or Clearfix in the smaller rear windos.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Col.]

Regardless of the fiddly nature to many of the components on this one it looks to be coming together well Pete  

[PeterB]

A little bit more progress.

The windscren glazing is in place and the bonnet as well, though it is a poor fit so I might try a bit of filling. As you will see I have "weathered" the radiator grille and the glazing, just leaving clear arcs where the wipers would have done their work - the kit has neither wipers not wing mirrors unfortunately and I do not feel inclined to add them!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Col.]

The arc of dirt across the windscreens make for a nice suggestion that the wipers are there  

[PeterB]

Well the tractor is pretty well done.

Bit short of creature comforts - canvas roof, canvas doors and the gun crew even had canvas windows by the looks of it - I will do a little detail painting pehaps to pick them out- so I guess the sand got everywhere! The fit is a bit vague and the exploded diagram type instructions ar not too good for small parts, so I expect I will have fun with the gun itself. Strangely they seem to have carried a spare wheel for the gun carriage but not the tractor, unless Airfix have missed it out - suppose it could be in the crew compartment. I presume all the stowage boxes in the open rear section are for ammo - I seems to remember the theoretical maximum rate of fire was 100 rpm but more normally 60rpm or so until the loader got tired.

 

 I might tidy up the weathering on the front wheel! Then a little gloss and on with the decs.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 3, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Airfix give you a number of options with this kit. The side mounted jacking arms can be swung out if you want to show the gun in use, though it would be a good idea to glue the jacking pads in an extended position if you are, and you can also leave off the wheels and axles. I am showing it in a travelling condition, partly because I am rubbish at painting figures, and the kit ones are not that good, and probably one or two less than would actually be manning the gun - just one loader would surely be rushed off his feet.

 

In keeping with the options Airfix provide an open ammo feed and an alternative box to cover it when travelling - sand and ammo feeds do not mix well! They also provide an optional gun shield but the instructions are far from clear as to how it fits, so I will be modelling it without the shield as shown on the box art. The one area where the detail is poor, perhaps understandably given moulding limitations, is the sights -

On the left is what comes with the kit - I have actually shortened the bar slightly so it will fit the etched sights I got from Dan Taylor, on the right, As the PE is a bit flimsy I have rubbed down the kit piece to make it thinner and glued the etch on to it. I will have to be careful painting it so as not to clog it up! To give you a feel for the size, the long support bar is 1.4cm in length and the pancakes are 3.5mm diameter. If I don't make a mess of fitting and painting them they should be a big improvement.

 

However, I have made one slight change of plan. The kit comes with decs for a tractor with census number H4149013 - the H stands for Artillery Tractor so that is ok, but the list of census numbers I have does not include softskins so I cannot confirm the date in service. However, they also provide the RAF roundel type air recognition marking to go on top, and AFAIK that did not come into use until 1942, whereas Airfix say the kit is as used in 1940! I have therefore decided to go with the later mid war type of sights.

 

Looks like I could have taken a bit more thickness off the kit part!. Oddly, as I mentioned earlier, the box art actually shows this type of sight so maybe the artist was correct after all, and whoever wrote the instructions just got it wrong, though I guess it now casts some doubt on the other markings, but more on that next time!

 

Cheers

 

Pete 

[PeterB]

So the decs are on.  As I mentioned a few days ago, I started back on modelling AFV's etc. around 10 years ago, and discovered some useful info on British Army colours on the MAFVA (Minature Armoured Fighting Vehicle Association) website based on research by Mike Starmer and others. Mike also at that time produced decal sheets with things like markings and census numbers, though when I "spoke" to him by e-mail a few months back he said he was giving up. Anyway, on his recommendation I bought the 4 Mushroom Models volumes by Dick Chambers entitled "Warpaint, Colours and Markings of British Army Vehicles 1903-2003", and together with Mike's articles that led to me purchase of the White Ensign Colourcoats paints I showed you earlier. So using the info in the books I can translate the markings reasonably well.

I have already said that I cannot be sure about the census (serial) number H4149013 as the pre-war system which used the year of issue as the first 2 digits was overwhelmed after the start of the war and soon dropped, otherwise I would say 1941! Having said that the number seems a bit too high for the early part of the war, and if the air recognition roundel is correct then it must be modelled at least sometime from 1942 onwards, not 1940 as Airfix claim. As was supposed to happen though did not in some cases, it carries on the nearside the red Jerboa of the 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats) which was part of the 8th Army. The divison included tanks, infantry and artillery which would include AA units. On the offside it carries the so called "Arm of Service" marking which as you can see is a white number 54 over a red and blue rectangle which indicates an artillery unit. Now if I am reading Chambers correctly, AA units up until 1941 had a variation where the colours were split vertically with red on the left, and from 1943 they had an oval instead of rectangular patch, so that seems to place it from late 1941 to early 1943. Now the numbers indicate the unit itself, but for security reason these changed from time to time to confuse the enemy!

 

The first digit indicated which HQ they answeed to, in this case the Fifth in order of seniority, and the second digit was the Brigade I gather. Looking at the establishment of the 8th Army over time, 54 was not allocated until late 1941 for an AA section, and remained on the books as it were until  the start of the invasion of Italy in 1943. Taking it all together we have a vehicle from an AA unit of the RA attached to the 7th Armoured Division from sometime in 1942 on past the battle of El Alamein, so not 1940 as Airfix said, and I cannot say for certain if it was 1 Battery, 8th Troop, 15th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment as they also claim. However, Wiki confirms that the 15th (Manx) Light AA regiment did indeed join 7th Armoured Division in August 1942 and used Bofors guns - and includes a pic of one in June 1942 without a shield, so perhaps Airfix just got the date wrong on the instructions! Of course I should have done all this research before starting the build, but as luck would have it I have got away with the paint scheme and bought both the early and mid war sights as a precaution.

 

Just to finish off the markings, the combination of tractor and "independent" trailer was subject to a speed limit of 20mph as shown on the black oval on the rear. Vehicles in the ETO would have a similar layout of markings (on a green backgrount the census number would be white), but since 1940 they would also have a bridge rating sign somewhere at the front - usually a black number on a yellow disc. In the case of tractors with a trailer / gun there would in theory be 2 numbers one over the other, with the top one showing the rating of the combined unit and the bottom one the tractor alone - something like 9/7 or 10/7 in this case though my list does not show this exact combination - however a Quad tractor towng a 25pdr gun was 9/6 and I am guessing this would be a little heavier. Vehicles were not allowed to cross any bridge which had a weight rating sign showing a number less than their own.

 

I will finish touching up and "weather" the decs a bit.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 5, 2021 by PeterB

[Col.]

Good work on the sight Pete. There's some fine detail in there. The markings add a nice touch of identity to the tractor unit as well

[PeterB]

Thanks Col,

 

Given that it is a relatively simple subject and an even simpler kit, I though I might try an add a little detail to the "commentary" though I probably went a bit over the top on British WWII military paint schemes!

 

Pete

[Col.]

It's all useful information for anyone contemplating the same project and finding your thread Pete  

[PeterB]

Assembly and painting complete.

Just needs a coat of matt varnish to finish, and then hopefully I will at some point be able to get some outdoor pics which will come close to the true colour, though the bottom one above is not too bad. I have dirtied up the decs, though not too much on the roundel on top of the crew compartment as instructions were issued saying that it should be kept clean for obvious reasons! I may have made a mistake with the strange frame that supports the tow bar, as I have just found the walkround pics on the BM site and it looks like it was vertical rather than horizontal - I said the instructions were vague! In fact they do quite clearly show it as I have built it but the box art with the gun detached shows it raised up, so maybe it pivoted to get the tow bar out of the way to stop anybody tripping over it. The gunlayers' seats may be wrong too as the ones in the walkround are a perforated metal bucket type, but it will have to do.

 

If the real gun was at El Alamein, it might be one of the ones used for firing tracer out over the heads of the advancing troops to show them the cleared paths in the dark, a technique Monty later used when crossing the Rhine!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 7, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

So, having started out thinking in terms of 3 planes, I enjoyed this GB so much I ended up doing 9 plus this! Outdoor pics finally taken and it will go in the Gallery shortly.

As ever, thanks to the organisers - it has been fun.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Col.]

You've certainly made this GB more interesting with your variety of subjects Pete and produced another nice result with this one

[Timn]

Brilliant work.