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Messages in this Build Logs forum are automatically posted when new Build Logs or Chapters are added. Other modellers can then comment on them. Refer to the Build Logs section for more information.

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Messages	2459

Subject:

[Chapter] Chapter 11 - First Stages of Howitzer Construction

Date:

Jan 29, 2005

From:

Alex Hill

Chapter 11 - First Stages of Howitzer Construction

With the tractor finished, it’s time to move on to the 7.2’’ howitzer. Although, technically speaking, the 7.2’’ was introduced in 1941, it was in fact little more than a re-hashed 8’’ howitzer of WWI vintage and as such it was never a great success in service. The out dated carriage and recoil was never up to the job of controlled firing with modern propellants. The result was a gun, which could be dangerously unpredictable under recoil. To try and improve things ramps and scotches were issued, but even then the full charge which the barrel was designed for could not be used. You have to admire the bravery of the gunners, who could never be quite sure, when the firing lanyard was pulled, where the gun was going to land. These problems weren’t resolved until the introduction of the Mk 6, which was essentially a U.S Long Tom carriage with a lengthened 7.2’’ barrel.

The AA kit of the 7.2’’ is very nicely done and an easy build with very little extra detailing required, but there are a couple of problems. First and most obvious are the instructions. The quality of assembly instructions provided by the resin manufacturers is a constant irritation to me. Accurate Armour are by no means the worst offenders, but with others like Calibre 35 producing really excellent instruction sheets, why aren’t all the firms taking note and realising what can be done to make their customers lives easier. The specific problem with this kit is that a few parts simply aren’t mentioned at all. The only way of finding a home for them is minute study of the slightly blurred photo’s which anyone who has built AA kits will be familiar with.

The second problem is in more of a grey area and is best explained with reference to the main photograph and in set picture below. According to some Military Modelling magazine plans I have for the Scammell and howitzer, with the barrel fixed in the transport lock, there should only be a sliver of metal visible above the tyre when viewed in profile. Of course it’s hard to confirm this with period reference photo’s, as they are rarely taken from a perfect profile position, but the barrel does appear to sit very low between the wheels. I noticed during the dry run stage that, when built standard, there is a good 5mm of barrel visible above the tyre (shown by line ‘b’). Adjusting this isn’t a huge job, it’s simply a case of moving the wheel mounts up the side of the carriage rail a bit. Of course this is a bit of a compromise with accuracy at the wheel mounts suffering to improve the overall dimensions.

Another change to the wheels is the addition of some inner hub detailing between the spokes. This was a fiddly job and the results aren’t perfect. Ideally, the inner hub the inner hub should have a quite heavily domed surface. Initially I tried to reproduce this, but the depth meant losing a lot of definition from the spokes. After a lot of cursing whilst whittling out the Milliput from this failed attempt, I settled on the shallow dome photographed here. As I say, it’s not a perfect job, but it would be difficult to get better results without splitting the wheel and removing a lot of the resin.