Hello guys,

Long time ! Motivation is back !

So let's go for a Trumpeter #00215 1/35, Karl mortar. I'll depict a late chassis one with the short 600 mm barrel

Here is the box :



I hesitate for the camo... either a sea of grey to play with modulation or a 3 tone as for example the "Ziu" sported at Warsaw siege

The chassis will be down and rest on the ground as seen in firing configuration.
Ejector pin marks everywhere !!!!!!!!!! (2004 Trumpeter kit you idiot ! )

Loads of options : aluminium 600 mm rounds, photoetched parts, 2 chassis, 2 vynil tracks sets...



Wow ! Aren't these huge ?



Plus I'll add...



Friul tracks still to be ordered, these will be my first...

Not so many things built so far...













C ya soon !

'nite

Richard

Looks good so far. Eventually I'll have to try my hand at one of these monster artillery pieces, that is if I can convince my wife that we have enough shelf space.

Does anyone know of any comprehensive reference work that covers this, any of the railroad guns or, ideally, both?

Hi,

I really thought the first steps were gonna be easy...



A nice clean drawing,

very clear but...

Pointless...

Was good til I reached this...







Richard

i have the orange box version of this. sitting uncompleted because i am to the point of doing the tracks (i hate doing tracks). I ended up finding the CMK railway transport kit for this (resin) for a huge discount..80 usd on ebay. they typically sell for over 200.

I'm in! Where can one get that metal barrel?

I have both the DML and Trumpeter so watching one get built will be good for both of us! (especially that metal barrel)




Jeff

Thanks guys.

To Jeff, got my barrel here http://jordirubio.com/es/

Hi,

Here comes da Karl ! Well, the putty on the karl...







There are some uneasy marks to fill in, putty would be a mess there, so i used plasticard instead (0,25) and am quite pleased with the result







Then another seam that will require its putty load



May the Putty force be with you !!!!!!!!!

Soon 4 more,

Best regards,

Richard

Hi Gents,

Here are some news from my Karl.

I thought I could become a Tamiya shareholder, considering the loads of their putty used here...



Once sanded




Even rail loading/unloading points needed some putty !



Once sanded glued in place, that was worthwhile IMHO



To change a little from sanding I switched to stretching heated sprues to make weldings seams



Regs

Richard

You ought to buy some paper or leather punches and thin Evergreen stock to make plugs for these holes. It's much easier than putty and less likely to change the shapes like all that sanding.

KL

Hi Gents,

Here's a little update.

The 600 mm shell dolly. The parts are pretty good, with much less ejection pin marks. There are still some but they're underneath and almost invisible :



The structure where the mortar will stand. Pretty straightforward build, with little putty needed :





Dry fitting the parts, just to have a look





I also started the howitzer with alu gun from Jordi Rubio, kinda massive !









The mortar needs to be textured, as the original's pics show. I'm going to have a try at this texture. I start by masking off the parts that need no texture







This is what I'll use for "texturization"



Next update soon with the rough cast texture

Regs,

Richard

Very nice work so far. You have much more patience than I. I can't wait to see this beast finished. I've always had a soft spot for these giant German artillery pieces. Keep us posted.

Jeff

Hi,

Thanks Jeff :-)

Here is the result achieved. Pics were kinda hard to shoot for the texture is so soft and the light was artificial (mandatory in november after a working day...)

Thanks to the stabilizer !!!!!!













'nite !

Richard

I'll be watching as I have this kit.
Dan

I had this kit but sold it. After seeing what you're having to go through, I'm glad I did. With all those pin marks the kit would have been sure to end up on my never to be completed pile.

Keep up the good work!

Hey guys !

Last update is 3 monthe old, I know, I know...

But there are some fresh news from KARL.

The shells dolly got its PE parts, the handles are still missing tho' :



With a heavy shell on :



The superstructure :





The mortar has had a homemade wiring around the gun tube as well as a red primer coating that will remain uncovered by the 3 tones german camo scheme :





Silencers textured with cement, plus they got some PE parts :



The body has been partially preshaded black, and outside platforms + rails were glued in place on both sides :



The tub's inside received the red primer after a black preshading :







To give an idea of how it looks :





With a 2 euros coin for scale effect



With a fig from the box :



Next update will be paint !

Regards,

Richard

Looks great!
Dan

Hi,

Before painting I had a look at the tracks. I bought the Trumpeter ones and did not pay attention but the hole on each pad is not drilled out

I had to drill em out, true that there are only a bit less than 200 ...



Next step is paint.

Best regards,

Richard

Making good progress on this, Richard. Good to see it in the works again.

Hello,

Thanks Bob.

This afternoon I primed the model with Dunkelgelb.

I used Vallejo primers (200 ml cans just to make sure I'll have enough for this huge kit)
The problem is this Dunkelgelb is known to be way too green, so I mixed it up with desert tan of the same brand. After many tests, I thought the good match was 25% 74604 (dunkelgelb) for 75% desert tan (74613).






















I'll get back soon with pics of the camouflage in green and redbrown.

Best regards,

Richard

I have this kit and the Dragon one ... it seems to me the Trumpter is more detailed..? Is it the more accurate kit? Great work!

Hi, both Panzer Tracts and Tank Power have published books focused solely on Karl. Both are decent, though it seems clear that there is not an enormous number of photos in existence of the thing in action.

On the Dragon / Trumpeter question, PMMS have a full comparison review.

Richard, looking good, keep going!

Thank you guys.

Mike, looking at the comparisons the Trumpeter has more details than Dragon's. However both kits look good.

Hi Richard ... Excellent work ..It's so frustrating when you have so much work just to prep the pieces but your putty work will be well worth the time and effort in the end .. I built the Dragon kit when it first came out and I must admit I found it very toy-like and it showed they just tried to get their kit finished and on the market before the Trumpeter kit. BUT one Karl is enough for me ..

Keep up the good work!

That looks like a perfect mix for the Vallejo Primers, Karl is coming along nicely.
Terry

Hi fellas !

Here are some fresh (smell paint ?) news with both brown and green sprayed. These colors are Tamiyas, XF-58 for green and brown XF-64. I added X-8 yellow drops to lighten these colors a bit.













Here's the working ground for upcoming decals, washes, pigments and so on !

Regs,

Richard