Ok so here is the Trumpeter s.F.H 18 15cm Field Howitzer kit in 1.35th.

I decided to get somthing a little differnt than normal.
Ok so upon opening the box i was quite surprized at how many little peices it seems to have.
First look at them show little flash and the moldingg is very good.

Rubber rims are provided i quite like them but i think we would all prefer some plastic one or resin.
The kit come's with a lion roar barrel which make's it worth while getting if your into this sort of thing.
I cant comment on accuracy because i know nothing on the subject.

Any way here are some pics.











So there it is.
Its building time.

looks good

How does overall fit of the parts look?

Be watching this one with interest David, looking forward to it!

Al
Ive started on the build and the fit is about what you would expect from trumpeter kit.
Its not to shabby but certainly not a Dragon kit.

Bill
thanks for the interest.
The next update will be soon.

Ok so the first part of the build calls for constructing the Gun mount (there is no names for anything in the instructions so i will make them up accordingly)
(click on images to get a bigger picture)




so far there is a couple of gaps to be filled and sanded but nothing to bad



This gap needs filling but i feel you could get away with it as its behind the Front wheel's

Back to building.

Thanks Dave
I was thinking of ordering one.....I think I'll go ahead
It seems like good value for the $

Hey Al
Glad to be of some help.
The kit cost me $40 dollars But i imagine it will be alot cheaper where you are.
Still im guessing the Dragon one would cost about $70 so its worth the extra work.

Ok for all those thats just buy the kit for the guns...

Here is some pics of the barrel.

Hi to all, that would be an interesting kit!
Also I´m surprised about the 10,5cm K18 field gun and perhaps I will buy both kits. ;-)
Looking forward to see more from this...

Soeren

Hi Guys:
I was just up on Squadron this AM and they are selling the Dragon kit for $39.51 - retail is quoted at $43.90. Think I'll get 2 - one for Afrika and one for Europe.

Enjoy
Charlie

Is there a comparative review of the Dragon and Trumpeter offerings anywhere on the net?

Dragon's Dicker Max was so much better than the Trumpeter kit, so I'm inclined to believe the same is true for the s.F.H 18.

Never mind, found it:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/trumpeter/tr02304.html

As I thought, the Dragon kit is better.

Believe me, the Dragon kit IS better. Not that the Trumpeter offering is not good but for almost the same price (I paid $47 retail for mine) I would definitely check out the Dragon version. I mean, the thing is AWSOME!!

I do like this thread very much though and I thank you for posting it.

Rob

I would agree that going by the price of them both maby the Dragon one is the beter deal.
It also has decals the trumpeter offering does not.

their are two or three 15CM in china,
jinzhou&beijing(may be one in nanjing).
china input some 15CM before japan invade china in 1937"卢沟桥事变"(japan says"日支事变"OR"支那事变").
this photo belong to a trumpeter officer.

Thanks for the picture kkiron.

Just a pointer when assembling this...

The elivation or trim? wheels are hard to get off the spru without breaking them.
It may help to seperate the peice of sprue they are on then cut them off so no excess pressure is put on them.

Ok i have assembled the wheels and cross strut that goes between then (or maby a steering axle.)


When peicing together the wheels take no notice when the instructions say to put the rubber tyre between the rims as you put them together (step 5) as they can be pushed on later Although the fit is tight
(only if you want to paint or treat them seperatly)

When you put the wheel on also make sure the locking pin (part A15) is hanging in the right direction)

Also Fit the tyers on so the seams are on the inside (they are hard to get rid of)

Some more pics.


Closer


Next update as i build it.

Thanks
David

Ok not much progress lately as the weather has been to good to stay inside.


closer


Ok so parts D51
And D41 obviously leave a seam that needs to be gotten rid of
Not alot of work here but i might straiten some of those lines up.



Thanks
David

Ola David

Nice built progress you show here. All very clear. I saw the older resin precision models kit of this gun for a nice price at the IPMS Nats in holland and I didn';t bought it. Would be interesting to see how both the Dragon kit and the trumpeter kit do it against a model that is over 10 years old.

Great looking gun. Might get myself one of those too. The trumpeter kits are quite affordable here in Holland. Next to that DML made some really daft mistakes on the Instruction sheet and the decal sheet and on the PE... be it minor... evenrybody who had done some homework... and a german dictionairy would not have made the mistakes.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

I've been working on the Dragon one. Other then the bad instruction errors its been going together nicely.

Tip:
I don't know if its the case with the Trumpeter one, but I noticed that the metal barrel is weighing down the gun making it tip to the grround even in the firing position, so before I closed up the arms up with the bottom piece I put some lead weights in there and seems to work pretty well.

We have one of these beast at the courthouse a couple of blocks from work.

Gator

I will be watching this build with interest. The new Leaping Horseman book called "Artilleryman in Stalingrad" has some great pictures of this howitzer that I am thinking of doing a diorama of.

Looking good so far.

Marty

Thanks for the tip there James.
I will keep that in mind when i get to that step.

Hey Marty could you share some of those pics with me sounds like your onto a good idea.

Thanks
David

I have a walkaround of the s.F.H. 18 15cm Field Howitzer that in front of the parish courthouse if anyone is interested. This particular was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. It made it's way here because the parish donated the WWI German canon to the war effort scrap metal drive during WW2.











http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q209/gatorloup/sFH%2018%2015cm/

Gator

David, most excellent work so far.

Thanks for the link and the pics. I have the Dragon one on the stash waiting its turm so they would be definitely useful.

Rob