Nice progress since my last visit here!
I had the idea, to build another (1/35) gun, using a 2- or 3-tone camoflage.
But, building a small 1/72 kit is real an "art".
(as we can see on the gun-barrel)
Great work!

greetings...
Soeren

Thank you for your comments and observations. I have always enjoyed building guns but there are not that many decent one's available in 1/72 scale. I received a Revell German 21cm Morser 18 last Christmas and have been itching to build it. However, I always seem to get side tracked by other projects. I have seen your 10.5 cm gun and would love to have that and it's bigger cousins (15cm, 17,cm) in my scale.

I have got the shield together and finally found a way to paint it and the carriage without blowing them across the room. I'll post an update on the progress soon.

Cheer,
Jan

Nice progress there Jan. I'm glad to see that you are going for the camouflage scheme. That's the one nf the box back? I am no expert but from what you mention about the scheme I'd tend to think that there wouldn't be much use camouflaging the back of the shield. From the review pictures it looks like it slopes backwards so it wouldn't really be all that visible.

Regards,
AJ

Thanks for the interest and the comments, AJ. I am going to do a slight variation of the camo on the box back. I am still not sure about the back of the shield so I'll see if I can't find a few more reference pictures.

Here's the progress for today as I managed to get the shield and the rest of the mount painted with the base colour.





I had pictures of the mount but my remote flashes batteries expired and the images were too blurry. The shield pieces went together quite fine and as the mount was painted I decided to attach the gun to it. Unfortunately, in the process I broke off the co-gunners seat. As I state several times, this small size can be a true test of patience. I got some of the initial camo done but now I'll have to wait until I can reattach the other seat. The only parts remaining to place are the ammo clips and the feed tray.



Edit: I apologize about the last picture. I had to take it with the limited pop-up flash on the camera.

Cheers,
Jan

The painting continues. I still have a ways to go but things are finally shaping up. I've done some subtle shading on the gun barrel and the receiver and it's starting to not look too bad. The shield is just dry fitted for the pictures. I found a few references that had modest camouflage on the back of the shield and minimal on the gun proper so I decided to try that. Still have the ammo and feed tray to finish painting and install. Once everything (final pieces) are attached I'll start the weathering process and hopefully it will tone down the colours.







Maybe it's just me but I particularly like the second and last pictures. I'll have to try to get more with better camera settings.

And here's one more with the trailer in a little vignette.



Cheers,
Jan

Excellent reviews , i wish to have your patience...Much further increase!

Hi Jan,

It has been a pleasure following your build and you have shown all the 'pitfalls' as well as the good points, which makes it all the more interesting. Very nice finished item, worth all the effort.

All the best,

Paul

@madmax5510 - Thank you for your comments Dani. It has truly been, and continues to be, quite an exercise.




Paul, thanks for your comments but this little gun isn't quite ready for "prime time" yet. I still have the ammo, feed try to add and permanently affix the shield. More importantly is weathering to tone down or mute the camouflage. The small size makes the painting and even the handling of this model a challenge. All I can say to those that build this beast is think before you act and take your time. I hope and am glad if this blog can help some future builder have an easier time than I have experienced.

Cheers,
Jan

I haven't dropped by the forums in a bit and it's nice to see all the Braille scale action. I looked at this thread and after reading the posts on this page went back to page 1 to see if I had missed anything. I am quite impressed with the details on this little piece. Those holes on the muzzle bread really stand out. The last picture on page one is really cool. Is that going to be the actual base?

Regards,
AJ

Thanks for the comments, AJ. I'm not sure that that will be the base as it's actually a bit too large for this project. I've got a nice wood base that might be perfect for this little guy. The concept used in these pictures will be similar though. I'm still experimenting with this whole diorama side of the hobby and am not as good as I'd like to be.

I have started the weathering process so here's a couple of progress shots. I'm using Tamiya Dark Earth, Buff and German Grey in very diluted washes. As you all might expect, it's quite time consuming.





Cheers,
Jan

It's looking really good so far Jan. Keep us posted.
Charlie

Thanks for sharing your build with us Jan, this is really helping to motivate me into tackling my braille scale guns.

Looking good!
But the ground looks a bit "flat".
Did you planned to add some dirt-parts on it?

I also have a built (but not painted) gun and a small picture-frame; perhaps I will make another dio.

greetings...
Soeren

@nikon1 - Charles, thanks for the comment. I've got three builds going on at the moment and am cycling through them. The upper part of the mount and the base are yet to be weathered but I hope to do that shortly. It is kind of time consuming due to the small size and more in particular the delicate nature of some of the finer parts. As an example I've broken the assistant gunners seat twice and the cocking handle three times.

@vonHengest - Thanks for commenting Jeremy and I am glad that it is inspiring you to give some Braille scale guns a try. If I may be so bold, you might want to check out my blog about the Airfix M119/L118 Howitzers for perhaps more motivation.

@ Gorizont - Thanks Soeren, glad you like it. I have several colours of dirt and have gotten some sculpting clay to try to make some rocks or large stones. As I mention, the current base is too large and was only to make the pictures a bit more interesting. Wouldn't mind seeing some of your guns.

Cheers,
Jan

WOW, you've really toned down the paint and your initial weathering gives the overall gun a very used and dusty look. What are you using for weathering (pigments, oils?)? I also have to comment on that muzzle again. How can anyone hollow out anything that small. Thanks for a great build thread.

Regards,
AJ

Thanks again for your interest, AJ. The weathering is done with Tamiya acrylics with a wash of dark earth followed by a buff wash. I use a dark grey wash to highlight certain points.

I started on the ammunition clips and they are proving to be a challenge. The actual clip is supposed to be a natural metal colour, brass shell casings and a darker metal shell. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get a darker colour between each round. Even my finest brush is about the size of the projectile. I tried a diluted black wash to go between the shell bodies but is dulled the brass colour.



I need two "perfect" clips. One for the loading tray and one for the front most of the storage rack. The ones behind it will be pretty much obscured except for the projectile part.

Cheers,
Jan

Hi Jan

you have really done a great job with your 'in progress' pictures and descriptions, I appreciate how much time it takes, thanks for keeping us up to date with this build, its been great viewing and reading it

:-H

cheers
Neil

Here is the link to the build-log.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/129752#1074354

It´s only one gun, but also I have a small version, for which I originally planned the snow-landscape.
Perhaps I will use the small 1/72 version for an Atlantik-wall scene ... or I will build another 1/35 one. But I´m not sure about that.

greetings...
Soeren

Thanks for your comments, Neil and I am happy if I can help others avoid some pitfalls that almost any model possesses. I have two builds going on at the moment so I alternate between them and that at times adds to my delay in posting.




Thanks for looking Soeren. I checked out you build and I must say that you did a superb job on not only the model and base but also in your explanations. I am prejudiced so I'd prefer if you did the 1/72 scale gun. I have the Revell 1/72 21cm Morser 18 and it truly looks intimidating.

Cheers,
Jan

Thank you very much!
It was hard work, my first diorama and complete scene for a kit.
I had the idea for adding a civilian person and found an interesting kit.
Perhaps I will buy, build, paint and add this.
I don´t like -in action-scenes- , but perhaps I will change my mind using Trumpeter´s 17cm Kanone 18 in an DAK scene.

Now I build on my 3rd diorama, which is (like the second one) very different to them here on earth.
It´s very interesting to test and learn about materials and techniques.

I also have Revell´s "21Mörser 18", but it was partly destroyed. (it lost one of its wheels) I have used its barrel for making a "ring-antenna".
I think about Trumpeter´s version, because of the better accuracy... and in this case: bigger is better.
But I have no good / interesting color-drawings or schemes (only Revell´s ones)
Also I have some videos, which are very.... "I won´t stand at the other side".

Also the 17cm Kanone 18 would be interesting - I also have a 1/72 version from Ace... but also this one was used for a test.
And I also would prefer Trumpeter´s version for an DAK-scene. I have some good color-images of one gun.

greetings...
Soeren

Thanks for the comments, Soeren.

I have made some more progress and am really starting to like this tiny gun. As I mention earlier, there was a problem with trying to separate the cartridges on the clip. The solution was so simple that I didn't see it at first. I took a sharp #11 blade and gently removed the paint between the brass cases. As four of the clips on the rack won't be that visible I only had to do this to two of them.

The clips removed absolutely beautifully from the sprue and fit in the rack just right. The Maco sprue gates holding these parts are absolutely the thinnest that I have ever experienced in a kit. Certain other manufacturers could learn a thing or two from them.

First clip fitted.





With three in place.



A couple of warnings. First is that you'll need some ultra fine tweezers to handle these little guys. Second is you have to be very careful when handling the clips as the projectile head is extremely delicate. I almost broke one off but thankfully it was still attached by a bit of material and was able to reinforce it with liquid weld glue.

Cheers,
Jan

Looking super, Jan. I can only imagine how tiny those ammo clips are. I like the subtle scuffing of parts here and there. I'd think that since this gun is so small you'd hardly notice the effect with the naked eye.

Regards,
AJ

Thanks, AJ. I guess you build these little guys for the digital camera, not for the Mk 1 eyeball. Even with my Optivisor there are some details that you miss or are still hit or miss.

_______________________________________

Just when you think that you are so close and about to call this kit done, a gremlin arises (or several gremlins). Before I go on I'd just like to reinforce the idea that the handling of this little gun will prove to be a near nightmare. Since the last posting I have broke and reattached the assistant gunners seat two more times.

While gluing on the the ammo clips to part #21 should not have proved to major an issue, it will be. You get six clips and the idea for the gun in action position is to have five stored on part 21 and one on the feed tray. There is room for five on the the storage rack and I had them all on.

The last part remaining to be attached was part #18, the extended feed tray. Imagine my shock when after gluing the feed tray on I found that I could not depress the gun less than 15 degrees from the vertical. There is a necessary little protrusion on the tray that hits the last clip on the feed tray when you try to depress the gun. I checked and the storage rack (part 21) is properly placed as it has two lugs that fit into recesses in the main gun base frame. I couldn't leave it the way it was so I had to perform surgery and remove the nearest clip from the rack so that normal depression could be achieved.

Also be forewarned that the clip on the feed tray needs to have a spline on its back line up with two on the tray. Here are a couple of shots of the modified ammo and rack. Note the little jutting part towards the top of the feed tray closer to the receiver. The clip on the tray is not yet properly aligned or glued.





BTW, to the right of the gun in the lower picture is a single track link from a 1/72 Sherman tank. Hope that gives all an idea if the size of these parts.

Cheers,
Jan

Greetings Jan,

How close to the finish now? You seem to be doing an amazing amount of work for such a small model, I am very tempted to get one after your build. However it would have to take its turn with other projects. Look forward to the next episode.

All the best,

Paul

Paul, it's REALLY close now. I stole some time from my other build to tackle this one. The ammo clip is fixed to the feed tray and the shield is now attached. I did a bit more detail painting (aiming wheels handles, gunsight) and some necessary touch-ups. Front of the trailer needs some extra weathering on the front part and the ammo trailer is yet to be properly weathered.

Excuse the rather shabby figure in some shots, it's very old and just there for effect. I'll take a series of different pictures after this little monster is done. Not sure of how the little vignette will come together at this point.







This has taken so long and there are so many pictures, I might try to find the time to do a feature. BTW, the ammo clip was a bit fiddley to get it to lay right and the shield needs care with gluing it on. The latter is only aligned by two inverted 'L' shaped tabs.

Cheers,
Jan