History

The German 12.8 CM Kanone was developed in 1943 and prototypes delivered in 1944. Approximately one hundred tubes were used on the Jadgtiger production and Maus prototypes. Fifty tubes were mounted on existing French and Russian carriages to be used as towed anti-tank weapons. Wikipedia states that the 11 ton towed design was impractical and the program was terminated. I could not find any references that these towed 12.8 cm towed guns ever saw action.

The kit

The kit contains nine sprues of crisply molded styrene that is almost flash free containing 207 pieces, packed in the typical Trumpeter box. All the sprues are packed in their own plastic bags to prevent anything getting lost. A lot of thought went into the packaging, especially on sprue “B” to prevent the small, fragile parts from getting damaged.

What's in the box

One each of sprue “A” and “B” containing the parts for the gun and the shield.
One sprue “C” containing the bottom section of the cruciform frame and some detail parts for the frame.
Four “D” sprues with the parts for the wheels
Two spue “E” containing carriage parts.
One loose stryrene piece for the top section of the frame
Four vinyl tires
Two small PE frets
Four brass tubes
Turned aluminum barrel
Small decal sheet
Sixteen page instruction booklet
One double sided color painting and decal sheet.

The styrene

The molding on the plastic is as good as I have seen. There is virtually no flash or ejector pin marks. The detail is very good as well. The molded serial number on the back of the breach block is particularly impressive. There are a lot of “flow offs” to remove and clean up. Without them the parts would have sink holes to fill so I will deal removing them. Some of the detail parts are very small and thin and will present challenges during assembly.

The Tires

The four tires do not have any appreciable seam to clean up and even have the manufactures made molded on the outside face.

The PE

Fret “A” contains limit detail parts for the carriage and the gun sight. The thickness of this fret is typical of what I am used to and should not create any folding issues.
Fret “B” contains the parts for the muzzle brake. The brass is (insert thickness here) thick and might be challenging to roll into a cylinder.

The brass tubes, turned barrel

Four brass tubes are used for the recoil cylinders. Nice touch since there won’t be any seams to clean up. The turned barrel looks good, no machining marks anywhere.

The decals, instructions, color guide

The decals are monochromatic so there won’t be any issues with them being out of register. Three different sets of "kill" stripes. They come sealed in a plastic bag with a piece of tissue paper. Nice touch.
The sixteen page instructions contain clean line drawing with the option to build the gun in combat or travel mode. There are a couple of “options” given (breach blocks, hand wheels) with no explanation? I am not really sure “notice cannon hole bearing” is referring to on the bottom of step 13?
The color and decal sheet has full color references for Mr Hobby colors and extremely limited references for Vallejo, Model Master, and Humbrol. What Decal placement info there is straight forward.

Conclusion

In the box this looks like a great kit of an unusual subject. The inclusion of the PE and the turned barrel are touches. Thick PE for the muzzle brake and small parts may be an issue for less experienced modelers. I am looking forward to building the big, almost 13 inches gun, anti-tank gun.