http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/redleg99999/LEOPOLD%2028%20CM%20RAILGUN%20BUILD/DSCN1551_zps94c705b0.jpg

As ou can see in this picture the trunions are glued into the breech assy.When one gets aheaed of the construction instructions one has to back track and do more work. I had to take the trunions out (messt) and I will use brass tubing to replace them,BUT only AFTER I glue the deck.
http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/redleg99999/LEOPOLD%2028%20CM%20RAILGUN%20BUILD/DSCN1558_zps90e2aebe.jpg

If you glue the trunions early then you can't attach breech correctly because the trunions will not fit through the deck opening!!!

Also to be corrected are the ladders. If you look t the deck photo above the ladders look like crap

I was at the hobby shop and got 2 sizes of Plastruct brand ladders.These will look much better. I will have photos of new ladders and my trunion redo.
The Dremel tool with a zip saw like bit helped rout out and enlarge the trunion holes. I will cut the brass to size and use epoxy glue to seat the trunions. They have to be glues securely to support the weight of the metal barrel.I think I have a Dremel cutting wheel to do the brass. The plastic kit trunion supports should hide the damaged( by me) detail around where trunions are bolted to the breech block.

PLEASE NOTE ANY COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS WILL BE APPRECIATED.
How to I copy this build and duplicate it in the comments forum?

I will show you where I am using right angle Plastruct to bot support and strengthen the gun housing,

Hasta manana amigos!

Napoleon said" A commander can do no wrong if he marches to the sound of the Guns".

ARTILLERY KING OF BATTLE

Is it just my imagination, or are those rounds fitted with a wrong twist to the splines?

Thanks,I have the Verlinden rounds, cannisters and powder bags.I have to take a minuite later and look at the BTW thse aren't splines added to the round those are cut into the round. The Germans first did that on the Paris gun of WWI. I have a Squadron book about the K-5e. The Eduard photo etch has a tiny part (that is gone from mine after the great wind disaster Eduard mis places them on the diagram. I will try to show in a pic. But it goes at the breech block where the round enters the block. It has protrusions that that show/align the grooves in the round with the rifling in the tube. Sorry I just found it interesting.

I HAVE FOUND A FANTASTIC WEBSITE!! IT IS www.militaryzone.info. Books model magazines and walk around type stuff. It is ree and to have to register. If you donate $10 you get 4 weeks of downloading the special modeling magazines. Go an look it is a fantastic treasure trove of book etc. Check it out I promise you will love it!! and no I am not affiliated in any way.

Back to my K-5e I think the brass rounds and brass cannisters made by

http://www.modellbau-schatton.privat.t-online.de/index.html.

E mail modellbau.schatton @ t-online.de



The specialist in brass and aluminum turning, drilling,

Milling and Modelparts

Epoxy Resin complete construction.

Scales 1/35, 1/48, 1/72, 1/76, 1/87 and 1/700 ship gun barrels



Worldwide, direct shipping

I send worldwide to all directly

He is honest fast and didn't make me pay until I received the barrel and rounds.I paid via PAY-Pal.

Also e-bay is a good place to get accessories for the K-5e

Thanks for your input.

Here is a photo of the brass rounds




Primed VERLINDEN rounds,canisters and powder bags.

Today I started the ladders for the Leopold. Compared to the kit ladders these are much better. As you will see later I will have to scratch build portions.



These photos are of the exhaust stack for the generator unit. I first paint them with MR Surfacer 500. Then I poke the damp Mr Surfacer with a heavy brush. I want them to look sort of rusting. Pitted . They look bad now but when I paint then several shades of rust I hope they will look well used.

Just checked my references (the Armor PhotoGallery book), and it appears that The Verlinden rounds do have the splines depicted with the wrong twist; good to know when I start my kit. I wonder if different barrels had different rifling?

I had heard that the Dragon kit is better than the Trumpeter kit. Is that your thought, or have you been able to compare the two?

I have both the Dragon and the Trumpeter K5(E) kits. I have
not built the Dragon one, but am currently building the
Trumpeter kit. Basically, the Trumpeter kit is more
detailed, but requires more effort to build. There is a
comparison review of the two kits by Terry Ashley on
PMMS:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/misc/k5.htm

Lou, it's good to see your build. Inspires me to stay with
the looong build of the Trumpeter version of the K5(E).
Someday when I'm ready to build my M107 and M109 kits, I
might need your help and experience with the real thing!

-Don

Thanks Don. Seems like the Trumpeter kit may be the way for me to go when the time comes.

The splines on the Verlinden are correct. Virtually all tube artillery has rifling with a right hand twist. (thats why drift is computed in the gunnery solution.), Most arty has a uniform right hand twist but some like he Pais Gun of WWl had different twist as the round went up the tube. Intersting to note the Paris gun started with 10 mm depth of rifling.They had several barrel failures so the final depth was 7 mm. Also these big barrels were originally designed for the Kreigsmarine. When they cancelled the Blucher and other battleships the Krupp barrels became superfluous.. They were then used on several railguns

OOPS you re correct,the Verlinden photo shows he splines backwards.They must have printed the photo backwards because I have the Verlinden rounds here and they are correct. here is my photo of the Verlinden Rounds

As you can see the splines are for a right hand twist,

[quote]


I have both the Dragon and the Trumpeter K5(E) kits. I have
not built the Dragon one, but am currently building the
Trumpeter kit. Basically, the Trumpeter kit is more
detailed, but requires more effort to build. There is a
comparison review of the two kits by Terry Ashley on
PMMS:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/misc/k5.htm

Lou, it's good to see your build. Inspires me to stay with
the looong build of the Trumpeter version of the K5(E).
Someday when I'm ready to build my M107 and M109 kits, I
might need your help and experience with the real thing!

-Don[/quote

The Trumpeter kit may be more detailed but I think most is in the rail truck construction. The Eduard photo etch goes a way to detailing the dragon kit,
I just bought (on e bay) a partial trumpeter k-5e for $9. I'll let you know the difference. I want to see how much I can use.I;ll take photos etc.

You're right Lou, I copied the image and reversed it, and the splines were then correct. Odd how a thing like that can throw me. By the way, in 2011, Squadron/Signal released this book on the K5(E), do you have it? It's pretty cool.

yes I have that book it is great ! I also have this one,is it against the rules for me to copy it and post it?

I also meant to add a website. It is free,it has books magazines etc. All kinds on Modeling magazines and books

www.militaryzone.info.

I have hundreds of books from German Artillery,Te Paris Gun and hundreds of modeling magazines. Also one that is 500 photos of the German Army in WWll
A few examples

I will be glad to help anyone.

WWII German stuff is just too cool. I love it.

As I said I downloaded 500 of the German photos

Earlier I wrote that I bought on E Bay. it cost $9.99 w.free shipping. it was only 4 pieces,see photo. I don't need the outer carriage walls but the inner supports even though they aren't 100% the same will help support the heavy metal barrel. There must be a big difference between the two kits. Right now i am doing other assemblies. getting my nerve up to try the big gun assembly.
More to follow
If I am not being detailed enough or I should give more info please tell me and I will try to live up to the standards set here.

Recently I told all about a site called MILITARYZONE.INFO has anyone checked t out it is a great reference site.

I also posted some pages of a book called German Railway Guns. Should I copy and post ? Is anyone interested???

Ok to the subject my K-5e Railgun Leopold ,If you look above you will see the kit ladders and the eduard photo etch that I butchered. I bought some Plastrut ladders and here are the re done ladders. I also show the semi finished exhaust stacks. I will be making them look rusty using AV dark rust .

I also show the finished derrick and the ammo lifter. I show it empty and with the grenates powder and Verlinden canister. Not the scratch built J lifting hook and pulley.
I also scratch built some decking for the Generator unit.

Everything is being painted in Tamiya TS-3 Dark Yellow.(Dunklegelb). I will add the rotbrun on later.

A note on construction. I discovered that Plastic cement(the kind that melts and welds polystyrene and plastic is better joining ladder rungs than CA glue.

Here are more pics of the K-5e Build.The first are of the carriage. Also note tat I ground down all the placement plastic as I double walled the inner assembly. You can see the st few are of the carriage and the support 90 degree L beams I am putting in for rigidity and strengthening. As usual I didn't plan ahead the center l beams had to be removed in order to put the gun assy in,oh well.
Note the gun assy has strengthening l beams too. None of the styrene will show.
I scratch built he ammo tray. On the hoist I used jewelry making pieces for the hook and the pulley. I dry fit the deck and now it fits perfectly. You can also see the trunions I made out of brass tubing. You can see the inner workings of the elevation mechanism ,you son't glue parts ,this allows you to pose the barrel up down or wherever. The barrel is heavy It is the Stratton Metal barrel.
I also have tried to portray the rust on the generator exhaust stacks.
I put the barre on,the darn thing went down down. then I realized no trunions yet.
If you look carefully yu can see the rifling in the metal barrel. For about $50 it is a masterpiece. here are the pis for your inspection,and comments.
Tonight I am going to glue the Gun assy into the carriage. WISH ME LUCK!

The first photo shows the breech assembly in firing position,the second with the barrel show tha heavy barrel almost horizontal. But note the slots for the trunions. The glued trunions should support the barrel. This is why you sometimes see huge block weights on heavy artillery. These are counterweights.

Ya,mein general das ist gut!!!!

OOPS

YA Herr Feldmarachal ist gut!

It has been awhile since I have posted an up date. Between doing a lot of History teaching and things like a short in the home AC unit,I haven't been at the work table as much.The head gardener also keeps me busy as out side this is prime gardening/planting weather. Low to upper 70s. Later it gets too hot.

I would like to say something to all of you. I feel very what ok unskilled. I see what everyone posts and my work s just not as good.You guys do great work. Artists. Somewhere in the bowels of my K-5e something is glued slightly off. That plus my gluing the plastic trunions (kit trunions) then having to gouge them out and use some brass rod for trunions,well diameters etc are a tiny bit off.OK wonky!Add it up and the trunions are off. I uses 5 min epoxy to glue the trunions to the base. The gun is not permantly in a 50 degree position(the actual gun used 50 degrees for max range.Then I test fitted the trunion caps and ,oooops. they don't cover the brass tube(remember it;s diam is a bit bigger than the original. So using the epoxy(for strength) I glued some strip material to fill the gap. I will glue the trunion caps on later.

When I used brute strength to make the trunions fit into the holder 2 things happened. On 1 side the deck broke free and opened a gap. On the other side the trunion mount broke free of the deck,I epoxied the deck gap and I will epoxy the other trunion mount today. The good news and the bad. The good is I test fitted the metal barrel and everything held so it is going to work.,plus it looks really gig and spectacular!To my eyes at least.The only negative is the breech,where I did a really good job is completely hidden. But hey I know it is there!

The bad is it will not fit on the shelf I initially planned on displaying it.So it goes on the top shelf of the display.

Once I glue(epoxy) the gun to the deck I will finish up the crane the generator , sights(panoramic telescope.) ets.

I wish one of the references would show/describe the placement and use of the aiming stakes,The German survey methods etc. The gunnery aspects. It must be similar to my old M-107 175mm gun. Rotation of the earth etc. I do know the preheated their powder to get max muzzle velocity.Also they had to have been really careful laying tracks due to barrel cant. Remember these were not precision weapons. they were very accurate area weapons.For example the targets would be rail yards,airfields etc.

I know most of you enter model contests etc. My efforts pale in comparison.I am doing my best.I think it will look good enough for any who come to my house. At the very least they will say that is huge what is it. They won't see the trunion errors etc.

Finally I found a product it is PERFECT PLASTIC PUTTY made by deluxematerials.com I bought it on e-bay about $10 price plus shipping from England. I like it because it is easy to use and after being applied I moisten my finger(spit) and it can be cleaned and smoothed. When you make as many mistakes as I do ,it is handy! I just discovered the US distributor is Horizon hobby in Il. horizonhobby .com

Next hurdle is applying the rotbrun option of the camouflage scheme.
Attached are pictures of the build up to today 30 April 2013.

Sorry here are the photos