Skoda 42cm M 1917 Siege howitzer

[NIK122]

Hi all! Here's a model that I've been working on for some time. I've approached the build blog in a slightly different way insomuch as I've photographed the progress as it's happened and the build is now nearly finished. So here is the last few months work.(In no particular order). The whole build has been straight forward with some scratch building. The only moot point is the figures. After sending hours building them I'm not happy with my painting attempts so far, so their inclusion is up in the air at the moment.

The Takom kit is a pretty decent representation of the subject but there are numerous small details missing that I hope I've improved on. The RPM kit of the ammunition cart on the other hand is a dog and needed a lot of work.

 

I've approached the build from the ground up. The gun in real life was assembled from six main components the first being two large metal boxes that formed the base for the weapon. These were lowered into a pre prepared hole using eight jacks. The kit is sadly missing this structure so the idea was to hint at what is beneath the ground. Below is a shot showing the scale of this weapon. A monstrous thing.

The first job was to thin the folding curved plates that are much too thick. As you can see the plate is molded consistently the same thickness all along the base plate.

The thickness reduced with a great deal of scrapping and sanding. Rather than thin it all only the visible edge is reduced by tapering it.

Next job. Added shallow box structure with plastic card. If you really wanted to go to town this could be three times as deep.

A trip to my local home store provided a suitably sized picture frame to form the base. Pine block board was cut to size to fit snuggly into the frame. 

Layers of cardboard were then added to build up the surface.

Medium density model board was then added and sculpted. All joins and the edges were filled with a two part wood filler. 

Next up some scratch building. The base boxes for the weapon were positioned by pulling each box on a set of removable wheels along a track using block and tackles. Once over the pre dug hole they would then be lowered in. From what I could make out from historical photos the tracks look like a heavy duty gutter shape for want of a better description. These have been created using Evergreen profiles.

And in position. Two in total, one at each end. 

Below the metal eye that the block and tackle was attached to and the timber jack block and retaining wall.

Retaining wall courtesy of coffee stirrers.

The next two photos show added bolt detail to all four sides from evergreen rod. Riveting.

The rail for the ammo cart was constructed from more evergreen profile. The top flange of I beam has been sanded down and slightly rounded. The sleepers are some plastic strip. The spacing between the sleepers was roughly calculated by comparing images of the ammo cart in relation to the rail. It's roughly 1m in scale. At the top of the image is a set of the wheels from the cart to gauge the track width. The axels needed shortening by 0.5mm on both sides to match the rail on the guns turntable. The wheels had three semi circular tabs(just visible) on each rim which were a pig to remove. Lots of patience.

On to the cart now. I had plans to build two of the carts but I'd lost the will to live after building one. To build one half decent cart took a lot of work and there are still inconsistencies with the shape. The RPM kit was under ten pounds which I guess is good value as it comes with decals. The kit it's self though has horrible sprue gates and quite soft details. On closer inspection it only vaguely passes as a representation of what it is.

As you can see by comparing these two images the shape of the body of the cart is off. The real thing being more curvaceous. A glaring difference is the attachment points of the handle in relation to the rear axel. Also the lever which I'm assuming locks the rotating mount of the shell cradle is missing. The assumption is as there are no obvious breaks and most pictures of the cart show a stick passed through the front axel to stop the cart rolling leads me to this conclusion.

The wheels as mentioned before all had three semi circular tabs that needed removing with care but aren't too bad at all once this is done.

Below after numerous hours already tweaking the kit its starting to take shape. I ended up completely remaking the handle out of soldered brass rod . This was the main reason for not making a second cart. It was tricky as every time I soldered one end of the cross rail the other end became loose. The lever was made from plastic card .

Below shows construction finished. Additional details added and the travel lock keeps? completely remade,(the weird sticky out bits between the wheels). Relief that I bought two kits evident in the light gray wheel on the shell cradle.

Finally the finished article with shell. I'm jumping around with the chronology here as I didn't start painting until all the construction elements of the model were finished.

 

The decals went down well although the carrier film on the largest decal still showed after a gloss coat so the shell ended up rotated to hide this on its underside. Painted with Mig modulation set and given an oil pin wash. Weathering pastels from Mr hobby. The green of the shell I mixed myself so it's a guess.

Next onto the shell loading mechanism. Some additional details including missing bolts etc.

Painted as before.

And with the same shell as before.

That is it for now. I've loads more to show so I will post some more later today or during the week. Thanks for looking

 

 

 

[ColonelKrypton]

That is quite a big and involved project, a lot like several smaller projects that will come together in the end. 

 

It is progressing nicely. I like what you have done with the RPM cart.

 

cheers, Graham 

[NIK122]

Moving on. The main elements of the gun carriage, barrel and breach and a chap for scale. 

For anyone is interested in building this model I recommend the book below. Whilst there are not loads of photos of this particular weapon in the book what pictures are there are sharp and informative. There is also a decent technical drawing.

Additional details to the gun included the jack points below.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the kit is how to paint it if it is fully assembled. The simple answer is that you can't. My solution was a little surgery. The offending part marked for cutting.

The offending part removed. A note to Takom! Could this have been a feature of the kit? Having both sides like this as separate parts would allow the kit to be painted in three main parts and then assembled.

As I opted to remove just one side the axle needed shortening on the opposite side to allow the fit.

With the above alterations the barrel now drops in with removed piece to add after painting.

Next up was this small detail. The weird sticking out bits in between the ammo cart wheels made sense when seeing this device. Once the ammo cart is on the base of the gun the travel lock holds the cart in the right position for the transfer of the shell.

I had to make two of these parts. Getting the scale right was hit and miss so they were an approximation. The above reference book was great in helping with the location. Plastic card, brass tube and sprue construction.

Next up ARVclub came to the rescue. A great deal of internet trawling trying to find images of 2WW German optical equipment eventually narrowed down the search to a 'Zielfernrohr 34'. With some parts omitted I think it shows some strong similarities.

Below is the fitted part with what I think is the direct fire scope? removed and the elevation indicators? omitted. This is speculative of course but side by side with a photo of the real gun it looks pretty close!?

 

Another point of note is the position of the turntable rotation gear. The instructions would have it placed as below which is incorrect.

And in its correct position. 

Back onto the base which has been covered in fine sand and some courser bits to represent lumps of soil and stones.

More coffee stirrers for the planks.

Finally for today some shots of the ground works with some paint on. I airbrushed everything black to start with and then kept adding ever lighter colours.

Still in the early stages here with some overspray showing. Oils and dust effects still to come.

 

Base colours down. Loads of chipping yet to do.

As always thanks for looking

 

[Bullbasket]

What an unusual model, and so brilliantly done. Excellent work.

 

John.

[Model Mate]

excellent scratchbuilding and some great painting too - very nice indeed!

[Geo1966]

Liking the look of this. Not often you have to build a base first, but it makes perfect sense in this situation. The base is great btw.

 

George

[NIK122]

Hello! Here is the rest of this build. I've added some details to the elevation wheel? Hinge, bolts and counter weight.

The recoil cylinder ends? looked a little flat so I made some more pronounced shapes by turning some plastic card using a cordless drill.

And added. You can also see the addition of one of the triangular wedges under the top flange of the gun carriage in this shot. This would allow the jack plate to seat level when assembling the weapon. 

Some more small details added here. I'm guessing that they are guides for assembly. Brass tube and plastic card.

Below is the construction completed. 0.5mm plastic card and bolt detail added to either side of the gun carriage on top to create the missing reinforcing. I'm not convinced that the curved shapes either side of the breach on the carriage are correct. I think that this area should be straight across at the back from left to right with a radius in each corner. It's a little late to alter it at the point of writing this as its finished. Maybe that's for someone else?! Jumping around with the time line again as some of the parts have already been shown painted. With the limited reference material available I think it's been possible to improve on this kit without breaking the bank and it's something that anyone could do with a little patience. 

On with some paint. Once again Mig modulation set. Mig acrylic steel for the inside of the breach, barrel and around where the barrel recoils.

Semi gloss black on the optical equipment. 

I spent around four nights chipping the whole model using the sponge and brush method. This was done with the lightest gray from the modulation set, applied by sponge and Mig chipping colour applied with a fine brush. The whole model was then given an oil wash.

Static grass has been added to the base and painted. As mentioned at the beginning of this thread the figures, or should I say the painting of the figures, are not up to muster. I will persevere with them but for now they won't be included.  I will post shots of the finished model shortly. 

Thanks for looking

 

 

 

[Geo1966]

Think you have done the painting and weathering spot on. The last photo makes it look like realistic heavy metal, which it obviously was.

 

George

[vaoinas]

Man, that's a impressive gun you have there.

 

Absolutely a marvelous job, something to look at with a great interest.

 

 

Kristjan

[THEscaleSHOW]

On 11/09/2022 at 21:52, NIK122 said:

Moving on. The main elements of the gun carriage, barrel and breach and a chap for scale. 

For anyone is interested in building this model I recommend the book below. Whilst there are not loads of photos of this particular weapon in the book what pictures are there are sharp and informative. There is also a decent technical drawing.

Additional details to the gun included the jack points below.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the kit is how to paint it if it is fully assembled. The simple answer is that you can't. My solution was a little surgery. The offending part marked for cutting.

The offending part removed. A note to Takom! Could this have been a feature of the kit? Having both sides like this as separate parts would allow the kit to be painted in three main parts and then assembled.

As I opted to remove just one side the axle needed shortening on the opposite side to allow the fit.

With the above alterations the barrel now drops in with removed piece to add after painting.

Next up was this small detail. The weird sticking out bits in between the ammo cart wheels made sense when seeing this device. Once the ammo cart is on the base of the gun the travel lock holds the cart in the right position for the transfer of the shell.

I had to make two of these parts. Getting the scale right was hit and miss so they were an approximation. The above reference book was great in helping with the location. Plastic card, brass tube and sprue construction.

Next up ARVclub came to the rescue. A great deal of internet trawling trying to find images of 2WW German optical equipment eventually narrowed down the search to a 'Zielfernrohr 34'. With some parts omitted I think it shows some strong similarities.

Below is the fitted part with what I think is the direct fire scope? removed and the elevation indicators? omitted. This is speculative of course but side by side with a photo of the real gun it looks pretty close!?

 

Another point of note is the position of the turntable rotation gear. The instructions would have it placed as below which is incorrect.

And in its correct position. 

Back onto the base which has been covered in fine sand and some courser bits to represent lumps of soil and stones.

More coffee stirrers for the planks.

Finally for today some shots of the ground works with some paint on. I airbrushed everything black to start with and then kept adding ever lighter colours.

Still in the early stages here with some overspray showing. Oils and dust effects still to come.

 

Base colours down. Loads of chipping yet to do.

As always thanks for looking

 

Great model and build so far 👍

MD

[Milan Mynar]

Really excellent work.