Andrzej Snigorski reviews the K5(E) Leopold German Railroad Gun by Trumpeter in 1/35th scale.

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Thanks!

Hi James,

Thanks for posting it. I'm planning to build this monster for BIG GUNS campaign so maybe I'll post build review too.

Andrzej

Me Too,got this monster sitting in my workshop and am currently toying with starting it.
If anyone knows of any pitfalls with this kit how about posting them - after all,forwarned is forearmed (motto of the now disbanded Royal Observer Corps )

I have this kit about ¾ of the way built and I’m taking a bit of a vacation from it. It’s a good kit but from what I’ve found so far out of the 1200 or 1300 parts in the kit just about half of the kit parts are used in the two trucks (portions with the wheels, I guess that’s what they’re called) alone. The tip of the barrel on mine it looked like the halves of the mold didn’t quite line up correctly, there was a 0.010” thick ledge at either side so I took some 0.010” thick plastic sheet stock and glued it part way around the part starting at each ledge and when set I sanded them down and feathered them in. I’ll have to post some pics, it’s hard to describe. The fit of the parts so far has been pretty good there are a couple parts that had way to many ejector pin marks in them in areas that were really hard to get to. You’ll have to be careful when building the main body of this kit because the panels are quite thin and even with all the alignment parts in place it will be very easy for it to get warped or cockeyed. I’ll post some pics of what I’ve done so far.

Here it is so far. http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/wonktnodi/280mm%20Leopold/100_1517.jpg These are a couple pics of the barrel repair. http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/wonktnodi/280mm%20Leopold/100_1515.jpg http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/wonktnodi/280mm%20Leopold/100_1516.jpg and here is one of the parts where the kit designer or whomever went crazy with the ejector pin marks and where it goes on the kit. http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/wonktnodi/280mm%20Leopold/100_1518.jpg http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/wonktnodi/280mm%20Leopold/100_1519.jpg
It's sitting a little off to the side because one of the pins that hold it in place and allows the part to swivel broke and I haven’t quite figured out how to fix it.

I built the Dragon Leopold a few years ago,when these 2 kits came out.Since much of the rail truck is not visible,the Dragon kit seems a bit easier.A plus for the Trumpeter version,is the wood walkways on top ,going from the shell hoist to the breech.I added these on my own.
When you finish the kit,buy a Dora.
I did.

Andrzej, if you do decide to start a build log on this let me know and I'll add a link in the review.

Yeah, there is a wooden walk way on top from the breech back that is molded in plastic as well as on the top of the front truck. If I had the money and the space to put it, I would love to build the Dora that looks like a very impressive kit. Hehe where would I put one??

Hi all,

@ James - sure thing - as soon as I start building this stuff I let you know.
@ R.J. - Fitting problem of barrel was something I was worrying about in my review. I know a little about plastic moulding and in case of parts this big it is very difficult to keep all the pieces 100% within dimension tolerances…

BTW. I'd love to build Dora... I have only two problems: too small wallet and too small room...

Andrzej

Hi,

I just want to let you know that I've just started build log showing my work with this monster.
You can find it HERE

Andrzej