If you read my entry above,I asked how to make the figures fit. WELL I an very embarrassed to say I goofed! I was looking at it this afternoon trying to figure why when I did something similar to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!
I opened the K-5E Photo book. Then I noticed that the platform was not attached high like you see in the photo,it is suspended almost to track level.

I used de bonder to release the whole thing. Patience and it came apart. I will post pics of the rebuild.
My advice RTFI!! Read The --- Instructions!

Ok,I was able to de bond the incorrect gunnery platform. I cleaned it up and redid the platform. I mocked it up here so you can see that the scale figures will now look good.

I will glue it about last as it will be delicate and break easily I scratch built parts and hopefully you agree it looks military/industrial.

Here are some photos.

A quick up date. I was trying to get my ladders to fit and work. Well the tiny bits of stryene kept snapping and it started to look like carp! I just went on e bay and for $20 I got the Eduard kit(Eduard wants about $36 in cost plus shipping/ good deal),I messed the first one up buy trying to drill out the tiny ladder holes to fit the stryene rods).WRONG APPROACH!!!!

I got some very thin brass rod that will fit in the factory holes. I will make put them through then cut to length.I will also use epoxy so things do not move later.Right now I am sanding and scraping the old plastic and glue off.Thank heavens I decanted a can of Tamiya spray Dark Yellow. If you recall the bottle of Tamiya Dark yellow did not match the spray.

Also advice to you experts. Thank heavens for Debonder!! I was able to salvage a bunch of ladder bits by soaking them in debonder. Now they are as clean and usable as new.

As I have gotten more and more into this build I have become a perfectionist(well close). That's why I am redoing all my ladders. This time I will do it right.

I am also trying to decide how I want the ready ammo pallet to look. Although I should depict the ready ammo standing vertically,as if you were to pile the rounds on each other you might damage the rotating bands.

More advice ,when I started I didn't pay total attention to the instructions this caused a lot of problems later,ladders,trunions etc. Oh well when I do my next project,the 54cm SP Morser LOKI I will remember.

Happy Father's Day to all!!

Got up early,wife got me a really nice Notre Dame polo shirt. My alma Mater!

She decided to go swimming,so I was able to spend all day working on the ladders of the K-5E Leopold. These ladders have been so frustrating. Why did Dragon make the ladder rungs so flimsy and impossible to cut of the sprue!!! WHY WHY WHY?

Ok, I bought the Eduard photo-etch and tried t drill larger holes.ruined it,went on e bay and bought a second one and put it together and I .it looked like crap.Pic 1,2,3,.









I mean bad! I looked at my stash and got out my Plastruct 90725 .5 mm x 2.5mm flat . It is a bit bigger than te Photo etch but thinner and more to scale than the kit. I also got some thin rod. I made a jig to drill ladder rung holes and using my Dremel I drilled out the ladder rung holes. Pic 6,7,8,9,10,and 11.













After lots of breakage finally got them done. Rounded corners ,were made by cutting the square and sanding.I used plastic weld cement with this siphon dripper thing. Worked very well, They may look a bit well not perfect but when I paint them and sand them they should look ok. After all in combat things get damaged and beaten up. I remember jeeps and guns etc after a fight. Broken windshields, fenders atc. Holes. Very few in me thank heavens.

I bought another Verlinden ammo kit. I want to post the gun as if there are ready for multiple fire missions I put them on my sprue paint jigs and painted them with Tamiya RLM Dark Grey Acrylic paint.Pics 12 &13. I painted the shell canisters with Rustoleum Gold metallic paint from a spray can I had in garage. Much better than the brass acrylic. I then paint the other 4 canisters the same, I think they look 99% as good as the brass ones I got from Germany!







While waiting for the ladder kits to arrive,I decided to try the German Uniform Archer Dry transfers and decals.After prepping with Future,letting it dry overnight, I put the Black,red white shields on each helmet, also the German eagle on the other side. They went on ok but my hands are too big and I am glad they give you extra.I used some of the dry transfer shoulder boards, , I put a thin layer of Elmers glue Too, Then I carefully cut out decal shoulder boards and put them over the dry transfers. They looked pretty good. Then I put on collar boards and hat emblems, also the division cuff things, even an iron cross or two, , NCO chevrons etc. For purists please note used some SS and others insignia,I used insignia that shows up best. Pics 12 ,13, 14 ,15 ,16, 17, 18 ,19 and 20.















I don't think I will glue the ladders on until just before I display the gun, they break too easy,

I plan on touching up/improving the soldiers,arranging the ammo pallets. etc. I a;so have to buy a shelf to hold the completed gun! Hope this helps if you are planning to build this baby!

Hi all, progress to report. I have written a long piece on ladders in the Scratch builders part of the forum. If you cannot see it there let me know and I will post it here.
Suffice it to say I finally got the ladders looking ,I think, GOOD!!! Here are pics of the ladders.










I hope you can see they are straight and not warped like my other attempts.

I stopped by Bobe's Hobby shop and found more stuff. I bought some HO railroad trucks/wheels/. I also bought a shelf to ut the model on. How to pose it. I decided I wanted to post it with an ammo rail wagon. It will fit and ride on the rail road track and is hand pushed by troopers. I got flat stock,glue and well here is the result.The final pic shows a soldier/arms temp off when finished the cart will have ammo on it.I used a flat sheet of stryene,then used l beams to wrap around it. I cut notches in the L beam then bent it,I also carefully melted/almost/ a rod to make the push assy. I laid flat stock to simulate wood. And i used some Popsicle sticks for the sides where I have the axles

I used the ho trucks and painted them I had planned to use one soldier But the second one /soft cap/ looks better, I pulled his arms off and his hands look better. I had to drill out the handles and shorten them,better looking for scale

I also used some of the rail trucks on the deck ammo cart, I think it looks good. You tell me!!

.









The ammo cart will be on the same track as the gun,
I got extra ammo . I don't recall if I mentioned using Rustoleum gold metallic to paint the brass parts. It does a good job. Better than brass acrylic.

It looks great!

Your scratch building of the rail cars also came out very well.

I am looking forward to each article on your progress.

Best regards,

Villiers

This topic entry is about ladders.
I am currently building a dragon 1/35 German K-5E 28 cm Rail gun. This kit has a bunch of ladders. All were of different sizes, lengths, and configurations. This is how after several mistakes, I finally got it right
There are several ladders on my K-5E 28cm rail gun. The kit ladders are too big and besides I messed them up. So I bought the Eduard photo-etch kit. I tried to drill holes in the ladders to put rungs through them. Bad idea see photo. Then I tried using very thin sheet stock, looked like junk see photo. Then I saw another Eduard photo-etch on e- bay bought it and while it looked ok, it still was not up to the standards set by all of you. Plus, if truth be told I thought they looked like c—p! See photo. Then it hit me, my problem was drilling holes in tiny pieces of plastic, getting them glued and even. It wasn’t working.
I went to my hobby shop; Bobe’s in Pensacola and bought 3 sizes of Ladders, pre made. When I got home the middle size looked best. But how to make bends .and ladders to fit within ladders (they telescope).
Ok so here is how I did it and the results are great. First I used the Dremel tool with the rotary sanding attachment and carefully sanded the outer edges of the ladder stock to make it a lot thinner. I used the Mark I eyeball. Then hand sanded it smooth. Next got suitable (close to scale) flat stock and got the Plastic Weld glue with dripper. I used the Eduard photo-etch as a guide.
I cut the ladder stock to length, cut out rungs where needed, until I had all the ladders (9) ready. There are 6 side ladders and 2 front ladders. The front required attachment points that look like the letter F see photo.
I laid the sheet stock and ladder on glass and glued the straight tips, I used butt joints. See photos, I used lots of glue, after they dried I used an Exacto knife to pry it up and turned them over and clued the other side. The front ladders required a lot of small straight pieces that when glued and cut look like they are bent. I shaved the edges to make the right angle glue pieces look round. Then I carefully sanded them, so they looked rounded. On the front 2 ladders I had pre drilled holes on the attachment points. Now I had all the ladders, but all were the same width, they were TOO BIG (wide). I used the Eduard kit ladder to get the width of the front ladders. I took a length of plastic rod and cut a piece the length I wanted. How to get it all perfect? Using sprue cutters I cut all the rungs on each ladder at one edge. Now I had 1 edge with rungs and one that I sanded the tiny rung bumps flat. Then I used the exact length rod and held it against each rung. I cut each with the sprue cutter. Now each rung was the same length. I carefully sanded the tip of each cut rung to be sure it was flat. At this point I put the hangars on the appropriate rung I test fitted them and if ok, I glued the rung half to the other piece. Using a right angle glued with super glue as a straight edge, I made sure that the each side of the ladder was even and true. As they dried I also made sure that they were vertical. You can see the result with in the photos.
Note a few of the end pieces came off during sanding and handling. No problem I either cut new ones or just re attached and glued. The curved nature of the front ladders was tricky as I had to cut some at an angle then make straight pieces seem to be a continuous curve. I took the L shape and very carefully cut the angle, then sanded to make it look like a single piece of steel. I think the final result looks pretty good and very close to scale. Now all I have to do is paint them and glue them to the side of the gun.
I hope I have done a decent job of explaining how to make ladders to scale. Hope this helps some of you on your projects. My next project, the 54cm SP Morser Loki also has ladders so I am ready for that too.
I’ll be happy to answer any questions. Hope this was of interest.
REDLEG Scarlet Guidon

6

I haven't posted for a bit. But that doesn't mean the K-5E Rail-gun is not progressing. Actually over the 4th I fired my real cannons. Scale napoleon 12 pdr and a Coehorn mortar. We live in the country so no safety issues.

Ok, as you can see by the pictures I have scratch built a few items. A wooden box for on the front truck, I also made air hoses connecting the gun carriage to the front trucks. I saw this in a K-5E book , I will be painting them black rubber. I used some extra Eduard parts for the connecting fixtures. I have several sets of ammo. I made a wooden pallet for some ,I made a steel pallet painted for projectiles, ten I loaded the pushcart with ammo,rounds,powder and canister also you can see a mock up of a gunner pushing the cart.s,then another pallet for the powder containers. I also glued rounds etc on the on gun cart. Then complete rounds(shell, powder and canister) on the lift for the crane. With all the ready ammo I could have a big secondary explosion!!!

Talking about secondaries, in Vietnam(105 How) you didn't use all the powder bags. Firing thousands of rounds in a day the powder bags stacked up. One of my duties was to burn it.There's the Army way and the way we did it.Lay it in a circle and spiral it and when you touch it off(it burns not explode). Well one time it made a huge tornado of fire that scared the French Plantation owners plus it burned a lot of cover and concealment for charlie.

Ok back to Leopold or is it Robert (both were at Anzio).The attached photos show what I have done.Hope you like!

I have done more on the K-5E Leopold. I put the railing on,chains and the gunners station. i also put the ammo and the base I plan on using. The model goes on a shelf(to be delivers soon) that is 48 x1 0x 1 1/8 inches. I plan on posing the gun crew and adding some grass and bushes.The photos were taken on a kitchen counter top.

One important thing I have discovered that with the barrel)metal one) installed the whole thing is not jut unsteady but will tip over as in crash!!!! So I plan on gluing the rail trucks to the track and the carriage to the trucks. I think I need to install some sort of bracing between the trucks and the gun carriage,I want it to look like it was built that way. Suggestions appreciated. I have some square logs(like rail ties that if I paint will not be noticeable I plan on using crazy glue . Or perhaps epoxy???

Here are the photos.I am pleased with the chains thy look real. Note the chain holding up the gunners lid. I saw in a movie that they used chain there,

I am still working on my K-5E ,I have the kit decals and I bought the Archer Leoplold dry transfers. I got the Leopold and another transfer on and they look great!! Then I tried to put more on and they didn't work at all. I ordered another sheet from Archer again. I mentioned my problems. I paid and thought that was it,that I was doing something wrong and screwed it up. This am got an e mail that Archer (Woody the owner) had tested some of the Leopold on his shelf and they were defective and that they refunded my money and are sending me new Leopold sheets.To me this is above and beyond. Permit me to compliment Archer and recommend them highly as honest ,professional and just great to deal with!!Plus their product looks fabulous! I cannot recommend them enough.I bought eye balls for my German gun crew.Pretty difficult to fire the thing without eyeballs,lolol.

Now to the thing that has been the most difficult, the &^&%*&#^#$&*^%$@$$@ ladders I think I may have done it but until I finish no pictures.
I got the shelf and have installed it on the wall for my sculpture,The K-5E. I am sooooooo LUCKY to have a military wife,who DOES understand me. And no you cannot have her ,she mine.

Hello Lou,
I was not able to comment recently, but followed your "epic" struggle with the ladders.
So far the "beast" is coming together very nice.
Regards,
Villiers

Villers thanks for the comments.The ladders are a trial by physical and mental torture.I plan on working on them again tonight. MY BOSS wanted the bedroom color changed. Finally finished,so I can get back to LOS LADDERS. Archer says my transfers should be here soon so I can start the decal process. I also have to finish the soldiers. I can see the end.

Got the new Archer transfers and I have added the ones that I know the correct location.A bunch go on the rail trucks. I have used future to prep the areas.When dry tomorrow I will add them. Please not I have transferred some to decal paper,which Archer sent me free, so they will go on as decals as the space is too small for rubbing.
I got a shelf on E Bay 48in x10in x 2in in shiny black,as you can see it is mounted in my ARMY/War Room. I will be adding bushes and some grass to sort of make it look like Italy. I also have to finish the German gun crew. Here are some photos of the carriage w/Leopold, the shelf and the rail tricks. Also the Ammo display.
Hope you approve!






This shot is of the new ladder I am making. Finally it looks good so far!!





This is the carriage on a jig/holder I made so parts do not break off and it is steady to work on!












More photos tomorrow. I may try eyeballs for the gun crew.

Hi, Lou!
Let me make a constructive criticism, the circled rank insignia is upside down. I just noticed.


Regards

Antal

Antal. Thanks for the heads up on the insignia or rank. I may or may not change it as most will not know and I am not entering contests.In the future I know. US ranks etc are no problem, but thanks for the attention to detail, I probably put SS cuff bands on regular arty troops,oh well.

Now for the one or 2 of you who are following this,tonight I finished decaling1 the monster!!
After lots of looking and research what you see is my best guess. Here are photos of the various markings. I used Archer dry transfers to clear decal sheets then using micro set and micro sol ,I placed the decals. Please note I used Future to make a smooth base. Once all dries I will use AV matte varnish to dull the gloss.

I will touch up paint and finish the ladders. Then the gun is done. Then I will have to glue the rails to the base,the truck wheels to the rails and then glue/epoxy the gun carriage to the trucks.Finally when all is secure I will glue the metal barrel and then the gun is done. As time goes on I will add the gun crew.
Meanwhile here are photos of the decaled parts.

Bob you are right a lot of decals. Most people don't know that the guns had split cerws. The gun was German Army the rail cars were Reichsbahn. German RR.
I do not intend the weather the gun much,perhaps just a few spot of repainting.

For those of you who aren't Artillery you may not understand our loyalty to our guns I know every piece I ever commanded was kept in tip top shape. I can only imagine whet the crews felt when they had to abandon the GUNs,

Now to tonight's entry The LADDERS!!!!Here are photos I am so pleased, Straight even with the hangars. Plus the staybacks They are straight and to me look great!!! I hope you all think so too!!
Here are the photos,I even made a small ladder for the Gunners platform.













Hope you approve almost finished and ready to mount

I have finished the GUN!!!!!! Final photos soon. I stumbled across a source and noted a wheel at the gunnery station to adjust the quadrant(elevation in artillery speak). Plus you need to calculate forks(the difference in elevation between gun and target added or subtracted from QE (quadrant)
I digressed, the photo here are of a wheel I made. I bought some round copper rings at Hobby lobby.2 bags that looked close to scale.One was too big the other looked good. Then I cut a piece of sprue and placed it center.then I cut rod that looked to scale and made and glued the pieces as spokes. Then I cut them to length and painted the wheel brass ,then coats of black and made it look like a brass wheel. Then I glued it on the gunnery wall. Hope you like,

The blob on the wheel is covered by the German Gunner when finished!!

Gentlemen here for your visual pleasure and awe are photos taken in my war room of a 42 in long German rail gun The K-5E ,Leopold.












































If there are things you want to see just let me know and I will try to accommodate you!
This was long build and I made several mistakes but I think it turned out ok.

Artillery the King of Battle!!

I don't know why the pics aren't here!! I will try again

Lou,
Congratulations!
Regards,
Villiers