The kit was purchased for use as a builders aid for the 222 Gun carriage. With the completion of the 222 system I decided to finish this kit off as not to have another open kit floating around the shop.
Due to time constraints the gun is a somewhat basic build, but I did go ahead and add / improve some details on the model to polish it some
The first area that I reworked was the pedal/ firing linkage system. Just like with most mounted AA Artillery pieces the gun is fired via a foot pedal.
The Stock part was very basic and left lots of room for improvement. To upgrade the part I tweaked the pedal by adding the Linkage, and return spring detailing. A matching clevis and perforated link was added to the carriage block. On the real gun the foot section was adjustable, and the holes on the linkage were for this adjustment.
Another section where I improved the model was with the gunner shield, the kit version was molded as one piece with low detail hinges molded in. To rework the part I cut the plate in 3 sections, and deleted the molded hinges for real miniature doll house hinges. These hinges are full function and are a huge step up from the kit original.
If anyone is working on this kit, or has one in the stash, On my build I had to do some hand fitting to this location in order to fit the shield to the gearbox. The instructions are a bit vague in this step (not much of a surprise) but with a little file work the parts began to settle properly.
Another mod I made was to the carriage retention latches. The kit has simple hex bolts molded in and the two straps are meant to be glued in place, However with the stress of function the glue alone is too weak IMO, The molded in bolt was removed and now Two Small brass fasteners are used, In addition to the fastener I also added the chain retention detail which was found on the real units.
Probably the weakest detail portion of the kit is the sighting system, This late variation of the gun features an elaborate two optic system for aiming at targets, A scope type optic and a prism type optic. Both optics are calibrated by a analog type computer which is on the gun's rear.
The scope is included with the kit, but there is a typo which tells you to omit this part, To enhance the scope I added the power cable detailing. This includes the wire, and the plug which connects to the arm.
For the prism sight to enhance the kit offering I added two pieces of clear plastic to the areas where the prisms are found, In addition I also added a rear pin sight to the rear portion, this was fabricated out of a wire brad and was found on the real unit.
The power cable was also fabricated, along with the plug. Unlike the scope cable this cable connector was larger, and also features a small wire retaining clip. These details were added as well. In addition to the cable on the real gun there are two combination lock type knobs on the base. These details are molded in and when painted make the unit pop.
On the computer itself I went and painted the gauge and knob details, this too also helps with the overall look of the piece.
On the gun itself the gun was OOB, only I drilled out the flash suppressor vents.
The Kit mags were also used as they are decent OOB, but the supplied ammo is too small. The rounds look more like .50 BMG as opposed to 20mm. Panzerwerk has some awesome scale correct rounds in CNC Brass and I will probably pick up a set to load the mags.
Other than that the gun is all set and is sitting in the collection,
More outdoor pics were posted on the ECA facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.519233404904041.1073741896.125690767591642&type=3
and a youtube video showcase was added as well,
https://youtu.be/KtposZNoIAw
Now Back to work on the 222 and the Firefly... More to come!!
