Hi all,

I've finally decided it's time to take the plunge and begin my first build blog. And as such, I decided to go with Dragon's very nice rendition of this very appealing weapon system:



Since I have not really seen many of these built up, I grabbed this one from the stash and decided to tackle it. I actually started this project yesterday and have already worked on a few items pertaining to step 1 so you can say that I've gotten ahead a bit on it. Mainly, I spent most of the day yesterday working on the gun breech (filling, sanding, and priming it to make it look decent as there are quite a few gaps that need quite a bit of putty to make it look correct). I also did some work on the gun slide were, borrowing from Terry Ashley's PMMS review of his gun, I added some strips of pastic card to the bottom of the slide to give it the "lip" that it's not really represented on the kit. Lastly, I worked on the gun cradle where I added a couple of spare PE parts to represent the strengthening plates (?) found inside of the real thing (per the Monograph book on the gun).

As you can see, I don't yet have any pics of the work done so far but will surely get something up by tomorrow so you can see where the project is at the moment.

So, with this, wish me luck on my first ever blog and watch this space for more!

Rob

Rob, nice choice for a build. Take your time and have fun, I'll watch along
Joe

Small world Now I know where the gun for my Hummel came from.
I've got this kit in the stash and never thought about it being the same one.

I'll be watching this one too
Tony the Mutt

It's a great kit, but there are some issues with the instructions (it's Dragon, what else is new). I can't find the post here, but there is someone who has sorted out the screw-ups in the instructions.

Until someone comes up with the Armorama post I'm thinking of there's this from PMMS.

Oh yeah, there are quite a few actually. I've collected the ones by Terry over at PMMS and also got those from James Tainton's build of this kits over at Planet Armor. I also have, as mentioned, the very detailed Monograph book for this weapon so I'm hoping I'm covered (at least for the major part). Of course, I would appreciate any insights and corrections as I go along from those of you way more experience guys (and gals).

I should have the first set of pics loaded sometime tonight (I hope).

Rob

Yep, Tony, the Hummel actually uses this same gun but, of course, with small variations in terms of its mountings and the such.

Rob

Thanks Joe! Kind of nervous actually as this would be my first attemp at doing this sort of thing 'publicly.' Mainly want to make sure I don't end up screwing up somehow on the kit as it has happened before

affirmative on the instruction issues. i checked to see if i had noted any of the corrections on my instructions, but such luck. Most should be avoided by working slowly.

Mine is currently sitting with one coat of gray.

Cheers.

Good Luck, with this one Rob, I'll be watching, it may help me along with the AFV one i hope to start on soon. milvehfan

Good luck with this kit!
I´ve built Trumpeter´s "s. 10cm K18" in firing position and made a small dio, which now I planned to continue / finish. My build-log can be found here on the site.

greetings...
Soeren

Hi all,

As promised, I was finally able to take some pics of where I am at the moment. It's not much, really, but work is progressing slowly but surely.

First up is a pic of the main reference resource I'm using for this project (Monograph book #19 sFH 18). Great book all around with lots of detailed photos of the gun. It helps quite a bit in deciphering some of the issues with the instructions.



Next are some close up pictures of the breech and related details. Boy, this part of the kit needed lots and lots of putty to get the look right. Besides just filling in the 'normal' gaps at the front, you must also fill the gaps that result from joining the top piece to the rest of the breech.









Note this pic where the red circle is. When joining the top area of the breech (which Dragon includes as a separate part), there is a prominent step that results in this area. Basically, Dragon has you just attach the top portion but does not account for a smooth transition from the top piece to the rest of the forward breech. In actuallity, there should be no step here and the contour in this area should be flat and smooth just as it is on the other two sides of the breech.



Note: I'll include a picture of how dragon has you attach this top piece (from the instructions) and a picture of this area from the real gun in my next installment just for comparison purposes and also for you to know exactly what I'm talking about.

Okay, next we have some work done on the gun cradle. This was all pretty straight forward so no real issues to really talk about here.









I added two small PE pieces to represent the bolted plates inside the cradle on the real gun. These PE pieces are not 100% accurate but it was all I could get from my spares box.



Lastly, I took some pics of both pieces together, the breech with the slide attached and the not-yet-completed gun cradle.











On the slide that's attached to the breech, I added a couple of thin stock strips to the bottom of the piece.This was due to the fact that Dragon's original piece is designed to just be glued onto the slide once position is selected. Since the piece seats somewhat flat on the cradle, there is no 'lip' that actually allows the slide piece to lock itself to the cradle as it it should. So, as thie feature is prominent of these types of weapon systems I decided to add them. After the addition, I applied some Mr. Surfacer 500 to blend everything together.



Well, this is all for now. As you can see, I don't have much yet. Having really focused on getting the breech 'right' took most of my initial time so progress has been slow but will pick up as soon as these pieces are fully done.

Thanks for watching!

Rob.

P.S. Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures. My lighting isn't all that good so I'll try better settings next time around.

Well, I apologize for the long delays between posts but been so busy doing non-modeling realted activities lately that modeling time has declined as a result.

However, here is a little update on this build. No, it's unfortunately not some WIP pics but a pic of what I've just picked up for this gun:

Griffon Model barrel and PE set.





It looks incredibly detailed. I was actually in between this one and the Aber one but since the Griffon barrel seems a bit easier to install than the Aber one (which requires more plastic cutting that I'd like), I went with this one. Plus, with Griffon, you get a nice couple of ammo boxes in PE and a decal sheet.

Anyway, I'll get working on taking more WIP pics this weekend for a 'real' update.

Rob

Model Militay International issue 39 has a nice article about this gun. Pointing out some issues with the instructions.
Andy King who built it used a voyager set. It makes a stunning result

Jaspert

Hi Jaspert,

Indeed, the instructions are by far the worse I've experienced from DML! Not just that part numbers are mislabeled but that, at times, you have no clue as to how a certain part needs to be glued on. Part orientation issues abound on this kit. Besides the instructions, my only other complaint at the moment are the infinite number of heavy mold lines that must be removed to make parts look decent. I know mold lines are part of the process but some of them are pretty heavy in places and end up going right through very delicate detail like rivet heads and and the such. In fact, there were a couple of places where I had to completely remove all the rivets to be able to actually clean the part out. Other than these two, it is an excellent kit!

Thanks for the feedback!!

Rob

Hi all,

Well, here I am with another small update on this build. I apologize once more for the long delays between posts but with lots of other stuff to do this will sort of be the pace I will be approaching this build and log. Hey, better late than never I say. I have, however, been able to do some work on this kit since the last installment and the pics below will hopefully be of interest.

To start things off, here's the Griffon Model barrel, small PE fret, and decal sheet I picked up for this kit. This small set makes this already great kit even better. The barrel in particular is very nice with well done rifling detail.



In order to accomodate the Griffon barrel the 'tab' at the front of the breach (which extends outward to allow the kit's barrel to seat in place) must be cut and resulting area drilled to about 5mm. In my case, as you can see below, I drilled the required area but since I accidentally took too much plastic away, I had to slightly rebuild the area with thin stock strip to have the barrel seat correctly.



Here the barrel is in place but not yet glued.



Few shots of the cradle and breach/slide/barrel in place













This shot shows the PE pieces installed inside the cradle. Note that I actually changed these as they look much better in detail that the ones I initially installed.



Shown here is the 'actuator' (?) used between there recuperator and the breach. I used a simple brass rod but may actually change it to aluminum for better representation.





Here you can see the installation of the right trunion (?) to the base.







Here's the left trunion with it's details





And lastly, an overview of the work done so far with all pieces attached just to see how it looks (not glued just yet)







I also completed the equilibrators and filled the seams at the top. I may have to do more work trying to fill these in more though.







More pics of the overall gun















Okay, that's all for now. Next steps should include replacing some rivets that were lost due to sanding (will be using Tichy Train Group's HO rivets for that), working on attaching the barrel to the breach and adding some small details to the barrel and slide, and working on the breach block (which includes adding a small PE part to it). I'll also start work on the wheels and its respective details.


Thanks for reading...

Rob

Hi everyone!

With some time to actually model and take pics of the build here's my next installement on this kit.

Basically, everything has now been assembled through step 5 of the instructions. Plus, I made good use of the Griffon Model barrel and PE set. I've also reprimed the breech and slide as I did a bit more work on it just to get the look I was after.

So, to begin things here are the completed parts.



Breech and barrel attached (note the styrene strips on the bottom of the slide)



Griffon barrel with PE ring attached



Breech block with Griffon PE work



These below pics show the rivet work done on the gun since, when cleaning the various mold lines, I chose to sand off some of the rivets to get a cleaner looking surface. These rivets are from the Tichy Train Group and come in many sizes. They are absolutely great for restoring rivet heads lost wile sanding (rivets are brown in color)







Lastly, these are general pictures of all the parts assembled.





This one is of the breech block in position



Okay, hope you enjoyed this pics of the work done up to now. Next up will be working on the wheels and the gun's platform as well as the trail arms. So, watch this space for more.

Rob

Great work so far. Makes me want to run out and get one.

-Doug

Nice work, Rob.All your effort is really paying off

Rob, The Gun is coming along nicely, Great Job so far. Cannot wait to see more. milvehfan

When I see this build, I get the desire to build Dragons sFh18 with some additional parts too.
Looks very good so far!

Soeren

Nice blog Rob, the kits looking great so far.

Thanks for the kind words, Doug!! It is a great kit overall. It has some issues (as all kits do) but when completed, from what I saw, it looks awsome!! If you're into artillery, this is a must have, IMHO.




Thanks Rudi!! It's a bit more work than straight OOB (which I was planning on doing at first) but, as you know, as soon as I saw pics with some of these extra accessories I just couldn't resist. This, I think is actually a bit 'middle of the road' type of build since I am only using very few aftermarket accessories. The full Griffon set for this gun and the limber was very tempting but I didn't feel 'prepared' sort of speak so I went with the barrel and breach set (which contains nice decals as well...




Hello my friend! Thank you for the kind words! I should have some more pics coming this weekend as I finished with step 6 (wheel and gear assembly) of the kit. I'll be working on the gun base as well tomorrow so I should hopefully have something ready soon.




Hi Soeren, thanks for the feedback! You really should try your hand at this one. You will love it, for sure! I sure do, despite some issues on mine with a bit of flash and heavy (and I mean pretty heavy) mold lines and the such. It's a pretty nice kit that with some care (especially around the breech area) should provide many hours of fun.




Thanks much, Dave, for the feedback! I wish I could just post more often but with so much non-model building stuff to do it's gotten hard. Will try harder to be more 'regular' with this.

Rob

Hi Rob,
take your time on this one!
The build looks very clean and well executed and the inclusion of the extras makes the waiting worth while...
I have no knowledge about artillery at all, but your builds makes me want to get one of those....
(I luckily have a correcting factor with me here, also known as "wife"... )

Are you doing a deployed or a towed piece???

Hi Ron,

Thank you very much for the feedfack! I do try to take my time with this build as there are areas that need correcting/enhancing and so I am forced, really, to go at it slow.

You do really need to try your hand at one of these. Trust me, once you do, you'll want another one.

Regarding the position of the final gun, since I glued the breech block leavers in the open position and built up the breach block with the nice PE set from Griffon, I think I'll do this one deployed. I don't yet have towing vehicle for this gun (waiting for the Dragon Sdkfz 7 to come out) so I'll wait for this and perhaps I'll do another one towed when the prime mover comes out.

Rob

Hi all,

Okay, I was finally able to complete step 6 of the instructions. This step deals with the assembly of the wheels and their respective mechanisms. The wheels and parts are overall very nice but the tire section of the wheels once again suffers from significant mold lines on the tire tread that have to be carefully cleaned up.

The small parts making up the brake assembly are really nicely detailed but care must be taken when working on them as they are fragile.

Here are the pics of the work done up for this step:





















Hope you enjoy!

Rob