do any of u guys know if this artilly pice
atomic annie was ever made.
i saw a show on the history channel to day,
and it got me thinking to build this
artllery pice thanks guys

Yes Chris, the 280mm Cannon (Atomic Annie - nickame of just one of these guns) was fielded with the 42nd Field Artillery Group in Germany. There were six battalions of 280mm Guns in the 42nd - all deployed to Europe by 1955. This unit also had Corporal Missile Battalions assigned as well. I have a really interesting US Army video tape on this unit, also called NORTAF (Northern Task Force).

At that time, NORTAF (42nd FA) was supporting the US 7th Army, but could be called upon for special nuclear response ops if so directed only by the Commander, US Army Forces, Europe himself. These were pretty special weapons.

There is an old Renwall and Revell History Makers kit of the 280mm Gun. These are rare kits and regularly go for outrageous prices on e-Bay. So outrageous - I haven't even been willing to pay that asking price for old plastic that virtually needs complete rebuilding to render an accurate miniature. I keep on looking, however...

Gunnie

There was a plastic kit put out years ago of it. I may be wrong but I think it was the old Renwall company. The real Annie was used in testing artillery fired atomic shells.

thanks guys if iwas a better builder i would try 2 scrath build this amtic annie, lol

A terrible confession, an uncle of mine sent me the old Renwall (the makers of the missile kits,, the Ontos and god knows what else) kit of Atomic Annie when I was about 10 years old. God knows what kind of mess I made of it but it was a monster to build.....A nostalgia kick, thanks Tazz for the reminder...Jim

They used one to destroy the zombie infested city in Return of the Living Dead.

Atomic Annie is still at Ft Sill. Check out this awesome model of the old Renwall kit by Vim Wink. Mil-mod Go to the page, then to Construction Articles, then on Atomic Cannon. Can't do a direct link for some reason. But you will not be disappointed.

Atomic Annie is on display at Ft Sill Oklahoma. Here is a pic:




There are more pics here: http://sill-www.army.mil/Graphics/FORTSILL/Page.html

Howdy fellas,

Thx for the link Gino, I checked it out (the pics look familiar). Really nice build-up, but the article definitely supports our good Gunnie's point that almost the entire thing needs to be rebuilt! Nice subject matter though. (When I read the Topic Title, I just knew Gunnie would be one of the first to chime in ).

Here's a question.....whatever happened to the Renwall mould? Does it still exist? And if so, wouldn't that be kind of interesting to see on the 'New Release' shelf at your LHS!

Tread.

I've heard many urban modeling legends over the years, but most seem to indicate that the molds still exist somewhere in the vaults of Revellogram. However, no mention of resurrecting this or any of the other History Maker series molds. I signed a grass-roots petition to Revellogram a couple of years back in effort to show them that modelers are still interested in these kits even today. No movement generated by that effort, obviously.

Inside of the past two years, a small French/European gottage industry effort got going on producing a resin 1:35th scale effort (ya'll know the Renwall/Revell HM is a casual 1:32nd scale kit). I haven't detected anything close to a release in the past 18 months or so, sadly. Probably would have been a good thing - as this project sounded quite ambitious - and I'm sure the amount and weight of the resin would have come in at the same ridiculous retail price the current kits are commanding on e-Bay. Perhaps the small group came to this determination early on too and it curbed their enthusiam...

The 280mm Cannon is just a wonderful subject to do in miniature, but I'm afraid, not an economical one for consumers. If it were a WW II German artillery piece, however...

Gunnie

You fellas are right, Atomic Annie is on display at Fort Sill in Lawton Oklahoma. I was there about a year ago and saw her and a bunch of other impressive artillarey pieces. If you are into artillarey, Fort Sill is a must, as it is the Army's artillarey HQ.

I found a bagged half built Atomic Cannon at a LHS in Austin and bought it for my dad to make up for the Phantom Huey I broke when I was a kid. I could borrow it and get some pics and measurements if anyone is interested. I've got the instructions that some scanned for me as well.

Paul

Hi all
If you are looking for the complete "Atomic Annie" you would have to go to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. They have the complete vehicle with the A and B unit tractors. I was there about 9 to 10 years ago and took some pictures of it. Its awesome to see it in person.
Cheers
Ralph

There's some pics HERE
(1st pic in APG #5) I took them last year @ APG

There is yet another atop a hill on the south side of I-70 right across from Marshall Airfield at Fort Riley, KS.