This mortar is a Russian variation of The Mortier de 58 mm type 2, also known as the Crapouillot or "little toad" from its squat appearance. It was the standard French medium trench mortar of World War I. Vargas Scale models also makes the above mentioned French mortar, which will be what I build next. I have found next to no information in web searches for the Russian version. I have found pictures of 3 in museums, and they are all different. That is good and bad, and I’ll get to that later.
This is a low parts count kit 3D printed in blue resin that comes in a common size, top open box for the manufacturer, but is bigger than necessary for this particular kit. This is my first 3D printed kit to build, and I was not surprised to find the resin is very brittle. The printing is very good, and the detail is mostly very good, with just the bolt heads on the end securing bands being somewhat soft. The good news is, for the 3 mortars I’ve found pictures of, you will need to remove the bolt heads anyway. The only real omission in this kit is the hole for the fuse. You can’t see it in most pictures, so it isn’t surprising. I also must say that my kit was an early kit, and some changes appear to have been made since mine was produced, and I am also forwarding anything I find to Mr. Vargas as well. There may be more changes later, as he seems to want to keep improving his already very nice kits.
I started with research. Like I say, I found 3 in museums on the web. I have no books for the time period, so there may well be more available. I just don’t have it to hand. All 3 are different. I don’t know what is original to them, and what, if anything, might be museum restification. I also have no color information on WWI equipment. I just chose one of the 3, and went with it.
The one I chose to build:
I removed all the parts from the sprues and started cleanup. Care must be taken when removing the spigot bombs, because if you cut too close to the nose, it could break instead of cut, and you will have to get out the body filler. Trust me. The barrel was drilled out first with a 1/16 drill bit, then a 5/64 bit so the bombs would fit, even after painting. The same two bits were used on the axle hole on the mortar.
After getting everything cleaned up, it was time to start making modifications to the existing kit. I said earlier that there being 3 different ones available in picture form was good and bad. The bad (not really BAD, just not ?) is, this kit doesn’t represent any of them. The good is, this kit has the bones to build all 3 of them, and that is the important part. The one I chose does not have the anchor point for the adjustment rod on both sides of the tube, so I removed one side.
The adjustment rod can be on the other side of the tube as well on other variants. I removed the bolt heads on the securing bands on both ends, as well as the extra strengthening straps on both ends. I also sanded the ends of the base as close to flush with the securing bands on the ends as possible, as there shouldn’t be any of the wooden base protruding on the one I’m building.
As I said earlier, my kit is an earlier production, and the collar for adjustment is missing. I had a screw from the kit, but no collar. I used 1/16” brass rod to make one, and then I used the heads from one of the small adjustment screws to complete my adjustment screw. I left off the handles, as I didn’t know how they attached to my version. I added four bolts to the base, because the one I was modelling had them. I used .030 plastic rod, with .040 square stock cut down for the nuts on the ends. I don’t know what these spikes/bolts are for, but I suspect they might be for handle attachment points for movement?
Now it is on to painting. I used a gray primer, and I used Testors Medium Green rattle can, with black for the part of the wooden wheel that contacts the ground, and also for the mysterious bolts I added. I don’t normally weather my kits, because I like to have NEW looking builds. My personal taste. I put a LITTLE into making some shadow effects, which ended up way too heavy, but my build just came off the assembly line.
Another thing I want to point out is the bombs. They look like other bombs I’ve seen pictures of, but not all of them. I don’t know if the differences were due to what the mortar round was used for or not. If you look at the box lid, you can see one with a pretty narrow band around the fins, and if you look at the instructions, it looks like they have 2 larger bands on the tail fins. And then another one I have a picture of has one wide band on the fins. I just wanted to point this out to the builder. Maybe someone has more information on them, but I have seen at least 3 different kinds of bombs. The kit bombs will be a great place to start for the other two variants.
In conclusion, I’d like to say that this is a very welcome kit for me, and I hope others as well. It has great bones for a project, kind of right in the center with the major parts the builder needs, and the work required makes you forget the lower parts count. Parts count isn’t a big deal to me, but might be for others. I like the look of the 2 other mortars I’ve found pictures of, and I will probably be buying at least one more of this kit to go a different route. This kit isn’t for beginners if you want to base your build on any of the mortars I’ve found, but would probably be fine for a first kit if built right out of the box. I highly recommend this kit. Sorry for the poor photography. It is not my strong suit. Also, be careful when building this. I misplaced it a few times because it is so small and painted a dark color!!
