this was another weekend build
UMmt 1/72 Scale kit, number 635, Air Defence Station Model 1931.
This was an AA gun, in effect 4 Vickers Machine Guns on a rotating mount, that could be tilted from about horizontal to quite a high angle to engage enemy aircraft.
WW2 photos show these mounted on trucks, railway wagons, and one the rooves of buildings.
The kit contains parts for just 1 of these.
It pays to study the instructions very carefully before starting, as there are many tiny parts and virtually no marks on the parts to indicate or assist with lining them up or affixing them in the correct spots. The instructions are mostly adequate if studied carefully.
The gun carriage sits on the pedestal without being glued so can be rotated, and if built carefully the guns also can be made to tilt up and down.
Liquid super glue was mainlu used to assemble this kit. Its built from the box, the only parts replaced were the 3 support poles that locate on the 'feet' on the base, and affix to the central pole. Brass wire comes with the kit, I replaced this with "stretched sprue" support poles.
I say the instructions were mostly adequate as they did not show where to locate the winding handle, so I affixed it where I supposed it should go.
Much care is needed with assembly, as affixing any part even a fraction of a millimetre will create a poor end result. I'm still doing small tweaks to this one before painting. I haven't decided whethet to mount this on a GAZ truck or on a russian rail wagon.
This kit would be improved were hoses to be included to connect the water jackets on the guns to the tanks below. However this could easily be done by the modeller, with fine wire.
some pics below
cheers
Neil
