Christian - that's a great price! I bought one for just over $30 and shipping was free (was already ordering a pile of other junk).

Randall - I just need to let myself finish something all the way through - good OR bad. And if it's bad I'll stuff it in the box of shame never to be discussed again.

So... I did make some progress just not enough.

I read a bit about replacing the springs (C5 or in this case, C9) with the spring from a Bic pen and some shrink wrap. I tried it and found the results to be a bit over-scale (it was too thick and the "corrugations" were a bit too large).

I spent some time with leaded wire and shrink wrap to see if I could improve the look but if I used 1/4" shrink wrap I couldn't get the "corrugations" for the spring and I couldn't get the leaded wire to hold up enough to use the 3/32" shrink used with the spring.

In the end I stick with the Bic/shrink wrap but if I can't make it more to scale I'll simply use leaded wire alone (will look like the stock spring but would have no seam line to fill).



One last thing I discovered - Trumpeter gives you 2 pieces of PE (part #1) for the vaulted cover to simulate the warning placard.

It's a nice touch but there are actually 4 placards needed (two for each cover) - so I went thru my old PE frets and make a set of 5 (I think one is too short) and I'm going to save the "real" Trumpeter PE for when I do the final build (that way I'll have the 4 pieces needed).

Ok so that's it for now.

Regards,

Brad.

Ok so made it a bit farther today...



I had some fit issues adding A28/A34 to the barrel assembly and ended up shaving off a couple of locating pins. I did have to re-glue and clamp things a bit to make sure it was nearly square.

I'm sure 99% of the fit issues here are my doing... I really didn't pay enough attention to the orientation of parts B9, B10, and B11. They need to be parallel to fit in B33.

I really wanted to wait to do step 7 until after painting but I forged ahead and that hopefully won't be a problem (that's where I discovered the fit problems).

I fought the urge the past two days to toss this in the trash and start over but it seems to be coming together. At least good enough to serve as a paint test mule for the "improved" build.

I really need to learn to be patient and slow down - remove the part from the sprue, clean up the attachment points, check for any seam lines or ejector pin/sink marks, test fit, assemble... wash, rinse, repeat.

Oh yeah - I need to remember that I'm not experienced enough to skip steps (I glued the muzzle brake on before realizing that B38/B42 need to be installed first. Sigh... not my best moment).

I'm actually optimistic I'll actually finish but I'm pretty sure the end result will be a 3 foot model (or the latest entry into the box(es) of shame).

EDIT: Ok, one last thing for the record. Again, it's probably due to my error but I noticed the shock absorber(s) (C14) bent at an odd angle where it enters C1/C2. After step 7 I went back and stuck a toothpick between C14 and and the assembled "arms" just to correct the angle then glued them together.

EDIT2: Alright it's probably actually edit 43 but I wanted to add that I didn't use glue where indicated and didn't glue C20 so when I noticed the barrel was angled a bit low I was able to adjust it up even after I glued C14. I can adjust the elevation about 30%? Amazing eh?

Regards,

Brad.

You got this Brad. YOU CAN DO IT! Get it done before mine gets here Thursday--otherwise I might have to start mine and see how we both do

BTW--are you going to do her up in 3-Color, or Desert? (Or whatever you want)

It looks like this kit is quite demanding Brad. Good job so far!

Olivier

So, even though I enlisted back in October I wasn't able to start until the end of May. Here's my initial post:



and a few progress shots, up until my present point which is prepping for weathering. Base coats are on but not yet coated.







Hanging out with some buds while letting their base coats cure:

Shell Bush- Nice work! Love the paint job.

Christian- Well I'm trying to wrap up "spring cleaning" so I've been having to spend most of my modeling time doing chores. Won't last forever but I won't finish soon and I'm afraid the rain is here for a week or so and that will cause me issues painting (need to get a booth and paint inside my basement).

I'd love to see your build-up if you do decide to start.

Olivier- I think this build is only challenging if you're as impatient and as inexperienced as I am.

An example: I confused the muzzle break with the breech for the longest time. So that caused me confusion trying to follow some of the on-line builds.

I miss the days when parts were identified (even if not always right).

And despite my idiocy, each day I have an easier time and my work is better - plus this thing is really starting to come together.


Sorry to pictures today. I'm hoping to be ready for final cleanup and primer tomorrow.

Regards,

Brad.

Edit: Forgot to add that I'm doing this in the towing configuration in Desert (But the NATO 3 color cammo is looking better and better to me)

Neat! I will also be doing mine in desert. It arrives tomorrow, and I do think I'm going to dive in and see if I can get it done before June 1 when my next round of campaigns kicks off.

Loving your springs, I'd like to know a little more about how you did them. Was it just a click-pen spring? Did you use heat shrink over the top of it?

Thanks!

Hello.
Just discovered this campaign. Interesting, but I have to change some settings for the Resin campaign and get that kit, not started yet to this campaign.

Regards,

Robert Jan

Ok, enlisted to this campaign.
Entry picture originally comes from the Resin campaign.



Will be a nice build I hope. Kit parts just look superb.

Kind regards,

Robert Jan

That looks like a nice kit Robert!

Excellent - will look forward to seeing your work.




Yes, just a spring from a Bic (I picked a pack of the 4 color pens hoping to maximize my chances of making things work) and covered it with shrink wrap (I'm pretty sure I used 3/32" but on the second try it was too small and I used 1/8")

I plan to experiment with this effect as I'm not really happy with how it looks but for now it will do.

Best Regards,

Brad.

PS Looks like I get time to play this afternoon/evening so I'll hopefully post an update tonight.

I agree, can't wait to see it built.
Good luck,
Don "Lakota"

Hi all.
Busy building the piece. Had some bad findings on the fit of the kit. But with some corrections it will be even better.
Resin kits need to be fresh. This one is somewhat poor. Pictures will follow later.

Kind regards,

Robert Jan

Hi all,
Great artillery, gentlemen. I also begin to build my howitzer.

Brad--that spring hack looks WORLDS better than the kit's option. I will also try this.

My kit got here and the barrel had been de-spued with a machete, and then left to sit in a puddle of glue. It's HOSED. But. I am keeping calm and carrying on and trying to overcome it. SLOWLY. I have glued it and gotten it true. Now I have a few layers of putty drying to fill the seams/damage, and I'll try to clean it up this week while at work on con-calls. Almost no hope of getting it started, let alone done for this campaign.

Good news is the seller on eBay refunded me, so I got the (AFU) kit for free. I'm just forgetting that it's a Trumpeter kit, and pretending it's a short-run kit from the depths of deepest-darkest Eastern Europe, circa 1990.

I'm having an issue re-creating the same exact effect (see below).




Ouch! That sucks. I see that Trumpeter replacement parts has sprue "A" available (thru AliExpress) but it's about $12 + shipping. Not sure it's worth it given the fairly low cost of the kit.




That's a bummer. I was hoping someone else would build this and show me how it's done

But I'm glad you got it for free. Took me a second to understand AFU... was thinking some sort of Artillery Fire Unit?

At least I'm not a total loss and I did discover it's just a relative of FUBAR.

So speaking of hosed... here is an update on my M198. I did have to think long and hard about this - I was going to simply lie and hope nobody would notice.

BUT.... I've made a number of mistakes on this and I thought I'd just carry on but then I discovered my biggest mistake yet:



Careful observation will reveal that on the upper assembly, I have the barrel nearly 1/2" to the left. I tried to fix it but I seem to have secured things really well.

So showing that I have more money than common sense, I cracked open the second kit and started over. I figure I'll use most of the first kit as a paint mule and will buy a 3rd kit to build later (and hopefully visibly show how my skills have improved).

I'll say here that most of the problems I've had here are my fault - they kit is very nicely done. But there are a couple of things I'm pretty sure aren't my fault:

1. There is more flash on the 2nd kit, tiny amounts on the mating surfaces - annoying!

2. Some of the peg/slot connections are really tight. I had to enlarge some slots to allow the parts to fit (C39 as an example off the top of my head). So make sure you dry fit always (no big shock with that advice, right?)

I do need to practice as both attempts to cut off part A18 and clean the sprue connection mark failed and I "de-rounded" the part (man this thing has some tiny parts).

Be careful when placing part C15 making sure it's level... it needs to be able to connect to the slot in A12. One of my was placed crooked and looks odd (might be able to fix that). And if you're building the gun deployed C15 fits into A12 (so if there is a mismatch it's a problem)

Also I think I've seen this mentioned in reviews but be careful of part C35 - it limits the travel of the "legs". I'd suggest waiting on adding this part until the end (after the "legs" are set in position).

I'm really hesitating to add much about my problems because... well I'm an idiot and have no idea what I'm doing. Heck I'm still amazed at how much better the parts look after you remove the EPMs, sink marks, and seam lines (seems like every round part in this kit has at least a faint seam line).

Sorry to babble... here are some pictures of the re-work.

















Sorry for the poor quality - I'll hopefully add a bit of lighting soon.

I'm kinda bummed I had two tries to correctly remove the sprue "stub" from A18 (I trimmed just a bit too much). And I'm still making too many mistakes but...



It looks like an M198... almost ready for primer and paint. Hopefully I can hide most of my sins with dirt

Regards,

Brad.

Lookin' Good Brad!
Sorry you had to burn one, it happens.
As for mine, I got my barrel true and clean enough to use. I'd post pics of my 6+ hours of work I have into it--but it's really boring. It looks like a primed barrel fresh out of the box, but to get it there took A LOT of skill and patience. I've got the kit on my bench tonight, and am on my 3rd beer contemplating starting it in earnest.

Thanks for the kind words. We'll see what well lit close-ups show with a touch of paint - it might not be pretty.

I'm really trying to get the most out of this opportunity - I was thinking about saving as much as I could for the final build but decided instead to finish up both as much as possible.

I've never seen such tiny parts and as I keep removing parts from the sprue and cleaning up the attachment points... each time it seems to get a little easier and the results just a bit better.




I hope you do. Plenty of time left in this campaign (doesn't end until November) for you to finish.

I'm actually having a few Bridgeport IPAs myself (I lived in Portland/Vancouver for over 13 years and developed quite a taste for the local microbrews). If you're ever in the area I'll buy the first round

Best Regards,

Brad.

So I've made some progress... down to about a dozen parts left (including sub-assemblies). Working on the PE and it just hates me (or rather my glue does). Need more practice.

Anyways here is a picture of one of my most recent mistakes - beware of placing C15 properly:



I need to stop using so much glue - practice again.

And then, the last work I did last night was this:



I stopped a bit depressed because somehow I messed up the fit here and C30 was mounting crooked (I glued in the brackets - C10 - but just dry fit C30).

For the life of me I couldn't see where I'd made the mistake. I left my office a bit depressed, feeling that I couldn't do anything right.

Then... late last night I was reviewing the Prime Portal walk around and discovered that this part is supposed to be at an angle! Of course it looks like the left-most C11 is a bit crooked but I'm amazed it's looking this good.

Anyways back to the torture that is PE.

Regards,

Brad.

Looking good. Pretty sure than stowage piece is meant to me crooked, as the leg it is attached to is at an angle. I'm guessing, but it makes sense to me ***nods***

Don't be injecting logic into my model making ok? But you're right, it looks correct if you pick up the trails (legs?) and hold them near vertical (as in being towed).

Here are a few end of day pics...







Regards,

Brad
KF7FER

Looks really good, and I can now see how bad my barrel looks

Ok sorry... just one last one. I'm just so excited I've managed to get this far and not... well eff everything up.



Just some more PE work and then a primer/base coat.

Regards,

Brad.

Now that my 750+ campaign entry is finished and waiting final photo shoot, it's time for another big build campaign. The instructions almost made me throw in the towel, but I vowed to untangle them, though if there are errors, it could be a problem as subassemblies have to be joined. I'm going for Flak 37 with pressed shield.