Thor Hobby is a new manufacturer of modelling accessories based in Taiwan. They have recently come out with ammunition sets for several German weapons. This review will deal with set A7205, ammunition for the WWII German 80cm guns "Dora" and "Gustav".
the set
The set consists of three rounds packaged in a small zip baggie with a cardboard header. The three rounds are of turned aluminum and appear well machined and are quite large. Reference material for me was difficult to come by, probably in part because so little is verifiably documented. One gun was deployed to Sevastopol and fired 42 rounds. There is no other confirmed combat use of the gun, which was realistically unusable on a mobile battlefield. I found some information about the guns and their actual use, as well as information about the ammunition at WWII in colour (http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3715.html) which states there were two rounds, as follows.
4800kg projectile, high explosive, with 700kg of explosive inside the shell, and a 7,100kg armour penetrating round with 250kg of explosive inside. The main body was chrome-nickel steel with an aluminum alloy nose cone and was 3.6m in length, or roughly 11 feet long. The high explosive round could blast a crater 30 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The armour penetrating round could penetrate 7 meters of concrete.
The rounds in this set are about 1 3/4 inches or 44.5 mm long. I was not able to get a more accurate dimensional measurement. They appear very similar to the plastic rounds included in the HobbyBoss 1/72 scale Dora kit (the only one I know of). No painting guide or decals are included with the set. The advantage of these over the kit parts would be a seamless machined finish as opposed to the plastic multi part assembly.
To give a scale dimension of the individual pieces, I placed them next to the Dragon 1/72 Sd.Kfz 131 and a 9mm round.
If you have the Hobby Boss kit, this will be a nice accessory set to accompany it.
The suggested retail price of this set is $12.50 but online prices have all been lower, so shop around for the best deal.
SUMMARY
Highs: One piece turned aluminum round will look cleaner than the multi part plastic round. Lows: No painting guide or decals are provided.Verdict: This is a good accessory to the 1/72 scale Dora kit.
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About Russ Amott (russamotto) FROM: UTAH, UNITED STATES
I got back into the hobby a few years back, and wanted to find ways to improve, which is how I found this site. Since joining Armorama I have improved tremendously by learning from others here, and have actually finished a couple of kits. I model to relax and have fun, but always look to improve. ...
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