Ola Guys

This is the blog about Trumpeters sFH18 that I reviewed a while ago you can see the review on the following link Trumpeter 15cm sFH18 review

So I started building it last weekend and basically here is a chronological step by step blog of how it builts up. Again I need to give some credit for trumpeters instruction booklet. Where every step usually combines 2 or 3 steps in which you make subassemblies and usually the same step also shows where the subassembly needs to go. However still I managed to misread it a couple of times so far. You will read a bout it later.

Starting with
step 1
Where the base of the carriage is started. 2 steps. Starting with the top and the bottom being attached to each other. A little note here. On the insides of the parts B1 and B2 you will find ejectorpinmarks.; You can fill them but it is not neccesary because they are on the inside and will be hidden by the parts that are attached later on. And further a small moldline needs to be romoved from the sides.



The second step in step 1 Shows the sides and the back being added to the base of the carrage. The sides are made up with 3 parts this means that you have to fill and sand the gaps where the parts meet up. This is at the round ends of the carriage. See second pic



Step 2
shows actually 3 actions. Again a subassembly for a part that needs to go on the carriage. A picture of two parts being added to the back of the carriage and a drawing of how the subassembly you just made attaches to the underside of the carriage. (can you still follow me)

Starting off with the parts that need to go on the back of the carriage

And how it looks attached.


Then on to the subassembly of a thing with 2 levers. which need to go to the underside of the carriage.

And here Trumpeter did something odd. The levers have both a round pin but the holes they need to go in are Square. You either have to adjust the pin or the hole. I adjusted the hole by scraping round it with an Xacto

And this is how it looks assembled. (actually when I was working on these pics this afternoon I found out I had misread the instructions and the levers should be the other way around. Have fixed that by now)

Next step is adding the thing with levers to the carriage bottom




Step 3
again consists of 3 Actions. The Axle with the leafspring. Some kind of mechanism with two adjustment wheels on both sides that needs to go to the front of the carriage and step 3 shows how all the subassemblies are added to the carriage. On the axle you need to remove some pretty big mold lines on both sides and some ejectorpinmarks need to be filled on the leafspring. I did this with CA glue and some sanding with the Fibreglass pen.
First up the axle and leafspring



Then onto the thing that goes on to the front of the carriage An amount of 7 parts is needed to complete this step.


And a picture of subassemblies and the carriage



On to step 4
Step 4 is basically all about the parts that go on the axle inbetween the wheels and the carriage. Starting off with some sort of hydraulic device consisting of 3 parts. You need to make 2 of those but make them separate since they appear on both sides and they are thus mirrored.



Next up the part attached to a plate and added with a break lever? and another small part which later gets a rod added to it. The breaklever has a couple of ejectorpinmarks on one side. Which needs to be filled and sanded. Again due to the size of the pinmarks I decided to go the CA route.



And the other hydraulic part for the other side




And putting the 2 subassemblies on to the axle. It was at this point I found out I misread the instructions again. Since I mounted the axle wrong way round. This way you either have the breaklever upside down or at the wrong side. So some carefull operation was needed to get the axle out again turn it around. and I had to turn the leafspring around too in this action but it all came good in the end.



So far this update... Nice kit with some nice details. And it builts good so far. Next up will be of course the rest of the gun but I'm going to start with the wheels.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Off to a good start Robert, looking forward to this one.

Looking good, Robert, some nice details that should weather up nicely. Great build log,looking forward to more

Definatly a subject that interests me Robert i will be following along and a great start

Ron.

Ola guys

Thanks for the replies.
This is a really nice kit so far and I really enjoy building it. Currently thinking about the paintscheme. Kinda leaning to a Sand yellow with green stripes for it. Just not to go with the panzer grey routine. Should be a real joy to weather with this nice bolt detail and all the other nice nooks and crannies

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Ola Faust;

I just bought this kit today, it looks real nice in the box and I'll watch this thread with great interest. I plan to tow it behind my Tamiya Famo.... I guess I'll have to build that too....

cheers

Bob

Wouw, great kit... I need to get one to!

greets Jens,

Wow, 274 small parts! Off to a great start.

What color or camo will this be painted?

Ola Guys

Thanks for the replies

@Bob
Yeah it is absolutely a nice kit. Would love to see it behind a Famo. Should look cool.
Found a picture online where it is towed behind a Renault Tractor whcih is also a nice combi. And of course behind an SWS it looks cool. Got one of those in Resin from NGC

@ Jens
Yup it is a nice kit. And not too expensive either.
btw. where from Noord Holland are you? Always curious to fellow Noord Hollanders.

@ Jeff
Still not sure what I'm going to do. Although it looks cool in Grey I think I go with a camo which I think will be yellow with green stripes. A bit like the ambulance I painted a while ago.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Not really a built update but to keep in the spirit of things. I found some nice pics of the sFH18 on Ebay. The pics are from Artillerie Ausbildung (basically Artillery Training) And the fun thing is that the guns have the Early style tires which are the same as can be found in the Trumpeter kit. Note the Barrel in Full recoil in the tow position.
Artillerie Ausbildung Grafenwöhr 1
Artillerie Ausbildung Grafenwöhr 2

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Ola guys... just spotted on Ebay.... an sFH that obviously has seen better days

sFH18 with some battledamage

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Ola guys

Well it is time for another update. And as promised I will start with the wheels. Since the assembly of the wheels start in step 5

step 5
Ok the wheel assembly is a step that consists of putting 5 parts together. The two wheel halves, A hub on the inside of the wheel. a nut on the outside part of the wheel and the rubber tire. All the rubber tires have a moldline that runs on the side of the runningsurface of the wheels and needs some very carefull cleaning. The wheelshalves also have a slight problem. The inside of the wheelhalves are shaped like a bowl that you put against each other. There is a pin inside it which should lock on into a similar shaped hole on the other wheelhalve. However the arc that both bowls make is too big. This leads to two things happening. A) the pin does not lock on into the hole in the other wheelhalf which means you can actually turn the wheelhalfs apart from each other and then you have the problem of the holes not lining up anymore, B) the holes in the wheelhalves show a big gap (each of them) see picture. I solved this problem by using a liberal amount of Tamiya Super thin cement and press the wheelhalves together with a clamp. And when all is cured I sanded the holes in the wheel to get rid of the seam and the excess glue.

See gap in the holes where the wheelhalves don't meet together


And the finished wheels. I made them first without the rubber and then put the rubber on. Works pretty good


Step 6
Ok here comes the part of adding the wheels to the carriage. I only testfitted them for the pictures and will be left off for the painting process. No problems here everything fits absolutely fine.



Step 7
This is where assembly of the trunnion starts. Starting off with 6 parts. The trunnion sides and base. Looking at part B42 you will notice that the part differs from the drawing by not having the cutout. But still assemble it the way the drawing shows you otherwise you will find out that the triangular parts on the inside of the parts B34 and B35 do not mate up with the bolt on plates of the base. Also on the outsides of the trunnion sides there are a couple of big pinmarks that absolutely need to be filled since they are in full sight. See pics




Step 8
Two steps actually in step 8. One is making a subassembly consisting of 3 parts which is a rod that connects to the underside of the gun cradle which is hold on it's place by a sort of block. A word of advice. Built the block first and then slide the rod in it. The rod is meant to be moveable. And a cilinder which goes on the side of part B34. No problem just forward assembly






step 9
The start of the cradle and the recuperator supports. A step consisting of putting 5 parts together. The cradle consists of two parts so the seam where they connect together should be filled and sanded. Both the cradle halves as the two recuperator supports have some big ejctor pinmarks which should be filled and sanded. Part of them will be covered by a plate which is added in step 11. but when you want the gun in fire mode then you definately should fill and sand the ejector pinmarks at the back end of the cradle. When in tow mode with the barrel in full recoil you probably can get away with it but I filled them nontheless. Same goes for the ejectorpinmarks on the recuperator supports.




Step 10
Step 10 starts of with the making of the front part of the upper recuperator Which is made of 2 halves.

And then on to the assembly of the rest of the recuperator which is made out of 5 parts



Step 11
Again multiple actions in one step. First the assembly of the plat that goes on top of the cradle. And a part that needs to go on the front of the cradle.

And eventually adding those parts, The recuperator from step 10 and the cradle together.


Also in step 11 you have to make two parts that consist of a plate and a little wheel that needs to go on top of that which both are added to the gun cradle. in between the recuperator and the recuperator supports



Step 12
Step 12 deals with the assembly of part of the Breech, the barrel and the sled that rests on the gun cradle.
The breech is assembled in 2 halves and on top goes the lever to open the breech block and under the breech there goes a part of which I believe on the real gun the gas spring is added for the recoil. Since the first breech assembly is made up of 2 halves you need to sand and fill the line between the parts.


Then on to the barrel. Trumpeter provides this gun with both the plastic barrel and one in aluminum. Obviously when you go for the plastic barrel which is made of 2 parts you need to sand the seam where the halves meet up. Which can be a drag. So I opted, as I don't doubt many will do, for the aluminum barrel. The drawings show the barrel and the breech and the sled and how they should fit together. No problems here as everything fitted perfectly.


Step 13
Basically this step is about finishing the breech. By adding the breech block which is made up of 3 parts


The part that holds the rod that goes in the recuperator

And putting that all on the breech and adding the back side of the breech too. I only mounted the Part that holds the rod that again goes in the recuperator but did not yet fit the rod as I'm currently trying to find out if they only got the rod out when on tow or that they removed the whole part with the rod. Also you have to add some metal plates with bolt detail on the fron of the sled that rests on the cradle.




So far this update. Again with a lot of pics. I'm sorry for the dial up people.
Next step is adding the gun to the trunnions, Adding the elevation system and making the trailarms sandshovels and the Protze.
I hope you have enjoyed this update.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Ola Guys

It took a while till I made another update on this gun. In the meanwhile I have worked further on the gun and made pictures all the way. I only did not find time to put them on the PC and uploading them. In the coming days I will upload a part of the batch of pictures to prevent flooding the thread with an avalanche of pictures.

Starting with step 14. This step consists of 3 sections. Namely the gassprings for the elevation of the gun. Sliding the barrel in the cradle and mounting the barrel and cradle in the elevation rig.

The barrel and cradle:

Pay a bit attention here. When you make the gun in the towed position which the Trumpeter kit is more or less intended for, then the barrel must be in full recoil. This was the way this gun was transported. The manual shows you that you built it in the firing position.
So this is the firing position:

And this the towed versions position:

Last part of step 14 is to add the barrel and cradle into the elevation rig

step 15
Is 4 subassemblies and mainly deals with the elevation controls and it shows you where this goes on the elevation rig.







In this drawing it shows you where the elevation controls need to be placed.


step 16
Step 16 again three subassemblies and an overview where all these subassemblies are to be placed. It deals mainly on finishing the elevation controls and the gun sight.



Strange thing is that I built this kit to the booklet and part D32 is too short to fit from the gunsight to the elevation rig where it should be attached.


Above is already an older batch of pictures which I made shortly after I had no time to upload anymore. I found out yesterday when I was putting them on my PC that I missed some pictures of step 16. Currently the gun is ready for paint so I go on with step 17 and forget the missing pictures.

Step 17
The left trailarm. This is a step showing 1 subassembly and a graphic where the subassembly and a lot of other parts are attached to the outside of the lefttrailarm. The subassembly deals with the outer end of the trailarm where in firing position the spade/shovel is mounted. Also in this step you add the top pivotpoint where the trailarm attaches to the base of the gun. As mentioned in the review too. The left tailarm is recognized by the letter L which is molded on the inside of the trailarm just on the position where in a later step the toolbox of the gun is mounted.
First subassembly of the end of the left trailarm


And then all the other parts that go to the trailarm





step 18
Step 18. the adding of the absolutely not accurate bottom of the trailarm. You won't see much of it in the end so it is just how much you dislike the fact that it is not accurate... or you can't simply be bothered with it. But it is far from correct. Step 18 also deals with adding some more parts on the outside of the left trailarm


And some extra details like a little plateau to stand on and a measuring stick ( I think that is what the red white sticks are for)



step 19
Again 3 subs where you put together parts that go on the inside of the left trailarm. A big step shows where all the subs go together with some additional parts. Also there is a sort of stop to prevent the trailarm torotate too much inwards and outwards.









That was it more or less for today. Tomorrow I will add another batch which deals with the right trailarm, de Protze and the rest. I have no pics of the unpainted gun. In my enthousiasm I did assemble the whole gun in towed position and then I took it all apart again for the ease of painting... And I completely forgot to make pictures of that step. The first time when I will make pictures of the gun assembled is when I am going to add the camouflage to it but then it is already painted.

With friendly greetings

Robert Blokker

Great build log, thanks for sharing it with us. You've spent lots of time with taking pictures...not to mention the actual build! Looking forward to your continued progress!

Cheers -

Tim

Great build! If it was up to me I'd built both Trumpeter and DML versions, but I was forced to remove them from the want list... So I'm finding solace looking at this build

Nice to see you're still working on this one Robert, lots of little parts in each step to contend with for sure.

Hello Mr. Blokker. Excellent blog so far ... very thorough, considering all the images and step by step notes. Looks to be an excellent kit as well .... except for those damned knock-out marks. Looking forward to further updates.

Ola guys

Thanks a lot for the replies. This evening I will upload the following batch of pictures dealing with pretty much the rest of the built. If all goes well then the gun should receive it's first coat of paint today.

@ Andras... You will quite likely find these kits for years. So maybe you have to put them off the want list for now. In a few years they might suddenly reappear on your list. In that time I hope this thread will work good for your inner peace

@ Frank... You are quite right about the knockout marks however there are even more on them but those are quite cleverly hidden away by other parts. Next to that there are some that I am not really bothered with because they will eventually be covered in my future plans with this kit.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Ola guys

Time for the next update

Step 20
The Right trailarm. Again we start with a subassembly for the part that goes on the end of the trailarm. This is a mirrored copy of the part made a couple of steps ago. ( Step 17 to be precise) And an overview where you can see where to attach this subassembly together with some other details for the outerside of the trailarm





And then the inevitable step 21.
Step 21 deals with several actions of which the first is putting in the (incorrect bottom part of the trailarm


Then 2 smaller subassemblies of parts that need to be placed on the trailarm itself of which one is to wind something up


A Small not on the abovementioned windup thingy. The housing consists of 2 parts. This means you have a big seam when you glue them together. This seam should not be there. The middlesection between the parts should be completely smooth. Look at the picture below you'll see the part on the right of the picture. I used putty on my model and used a Q-tip moistened with Nailpolish remover to smooth things out,



Then an overview where the two subassemblies need to go. Together with some other parts of which the top pivot point with which it is attached to the base of the gun.



Step 22
This step deals with the assembly of the innerside of the right trailarm. Starting off with 2 subassemblies. This time a little box which is also on the left trailarm and a cilinder where the pin of the protze hooks in when being towed.




And next an overview where the two subs are placed together with several other parts like the stop to prevent the trailarm to rotate too far inward or outward.



So far the trailarms.

Step 23
The two scoops/blades/shovels how you want to call them. They prevent the gun from sliding backwards when being fired and make that the gun has a solid fire base.The scoops where made detachable which made the gun easier to transport. During Transport the scoops where put onto two pins mounted on top of the trailarms so the scoops rested on the trailarms. If you look at the following picture you'll see just behind the wheel of the protze one of these scoops hanging from the side of the trailarm

Assembly of the scoops start with the two reinforcement struts of the blades. 2 parts per strut and 2 struts per blade. Part A26 and A28 went together fine but the pins on part A27 made that it didn;t line up too well with part A29. I eventually did cut the pins of A27 off and lined them up manually


Next is adding the lower part of the blade, No problems here and everything did fit perfect

Then on to the two parts that form the upper parts of the blade



The on to the additional details of the scoops. A sort of pin of which i have not yet found out why it is on the gun. And the handles which are there to carry the scoop around from the transport position to the firing position.






Ok that was it for today. I had planned to start painting this weekend but I adjusted my plans to add some details which needed to be scratchbuilt and I do the least damage when the gun is not yet painted. The Parts I want to scratch are the parts not delivered in the kit but which were present when in transport mode. Things like the leather cap on the guns barrel to prevent dust blowing into it. And I want a sort of special dustcover for the breech part. Or maybe a big tarp which is tied onto it. Still not decided about that. I do these additions mainly for 2 reasons. 1 is because they used it for transport mode but also because it gives extra color. And I like colors.

Next update shows the last building steps. The protze with which the gun was towed. The scratchbuilt items and then on to the painting stages.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hello Robert, nice work-tutorial! I also planned to build Trumpeters gun, but I prefer the "schwere 10cm Kanone 18".
Both Trumpeter guns are not perfect (wrong details) but not very expensive.

On my webpage I published some pics of a reworked 3D-object, which I downloaded from a website. I changed some details for another version. It shows 2 variants of a virtual model-kit. (plastic and resin)

greetings...
Soeren
http://hometown.aol.de/gadfly11m1/index.htm

Ola Soeren

That are some nice 3D models you have made there. You are right about the guns of Trumpeter not being completely correct. This is a fact I also mentioned in my review about the kit.

Ok well onto the last built update of this gun. It took a while to post the pictures of the last steps in building the gun. Too little time and too much to do. I will start immediately. I want to get this behind me
Step24
Starting with the wheels of the Protze (limber), 4 parts, the two rim halves, the ribber tire and a thingy that connects the wheel to the axle



step 25[b]
The bottomside of the protze. The plates with the holes in it mount onto the shovels when the gun is in firing position. On the inside of those plates you'll see some raised ejector pinmarks. These are quite hard to get away. I left most of them behind because they will be hidden bij a chan and a rolled up tarp.



[b]Step 26
Again a step made up in three subs starting with one half of the top of the Protze


And then a step of the other half


And then inevitable the step where you put everything together and with that you have to add some leafsprings too.



Step 27
In step 27 you put all the major parts of the protze together. The bottom, the top, the pin that hooks into the cilinder between the guns trailarms and some other small parts.




Step 28
Last but not least is the (no clue how you call that thing) thing with which you hook the limber to the artillerie tractor of choice. Assembly was all very straightforward and no real problems here.





Well this was the last step of the building process. It took me a while to get here. Quite some weeks and 143 pictures further and there she is ready for paint. I again want to give my apologies for everybody who uses a Dialup modem. I will make a new topic for painting and weathering. And include this built as a link. Painting has already happened. Both basecolor as camo are sprayed.
I also want to thank everybody who posted in this topic and for their patience with this built.

With a Friendly greet

Robert Blokker

I just picked this kit up earlier today. I figured 26 bucks wasn't to bad for a piece of artillery. Have there been any updates on the build for this? Also, if there are and I have missed them, are there any points to be careful of during the painting process?

I was just checking the on sale list at HLJ and they have this for 960 yen or
About $9.42 USD; €7.02 Euros.