ARMOR - Towed Gun Group Build (ends 7/1/04)

Well It sucks but I am officially bowing out of this build... I am just too far behind to get motivated so I'll pick ya'll up on another GB. Good luck on your builds and I look forward to seeing the finnished projects

QUOTE: Originally posted by Kennethc Well It sucks but I am officially bowing out of this build... I am just too far behind to get motivated so I'll pick ya'll up on another GB. Good luck on your builds and I look forward to seeing the finnished projects

Sorry to see you go, Kenneth. If you eventually get around to proudly displaying a towed gun, then the GB has done its job.

Sorry to hear that Kennethc. Well, maybe next time.

John: That's indeed QUICK! Could you show us some pics?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn The sheave is in the Masters Production set. There's actually a decent amount of stuff in the set besides the wheels. Don't know what you mean by "bracket" -- if you mean the mounting part the sheave fits onto, that's in the MP set too, replacing the kit one for the M115.

Larry:
When you get your AA#13, check out pix on pg 37,38,47 -- the bracket & sheave are mounted atop the cradle. I am unsure what part you are referring to on the M115 as the 8" did not have to be jacked out of battery for travel.
Still waiting on MP parts. Am currently assembling the handbrakes & etc to the bogies. The tabs on the handbrakes don't fit in the slots on the axle, so I'm carefully slimming 'em down. I don't think I have enought fingers & toes to handle all these parts at once.
I did get around to your infamous A28's today ... I agree.

Heres a couple of progress pics.

Looks really good, John. Is that a 105?

sure is its by italeri 1/35

Looks good so far John.
How'd you find the kit? I have one unbuilt, and the flak I recently built from Italeri was very nice, so I was wondering about this kit as well

QUOTE: Originally posted by zokissima Looks good so far John. How'd you find the kit? I have one unbuilt, and the flak I recently built from Italeri was very nice, so I was wondering about this kit as well

I've built it, primed it and started painting the OD on it. It's actually quite a nice little kit. It's languishing in the mostly-done pile, which I would dearly love to convert into an entirely-done collection.

QUOTE: Originally posted by jratz When you get your AA#13, check out pix on pg 37,38,47 -- the bracket & sheave are mounted atop the cradle.

Yeah, I don't have the AA yet, but the sheave is definitely in the MP set.

QUOTE: I am unsure what part you are referring to on the M115 as the 8" did not have to be jacked out of battery for travel.

So the 8" M1 definitely did not have the sheave? I could've sworn that I've seen images of the 8" M1 with the sheave. They didn't pull the barrel on the 8" back for transport, but they still would have had to pull it back for maintenance. I guess I'll have to doublecheck the AA before I add that piece. This might actually make it easier for me. As it is now, my gun has the kit pieces.

QUOTE: Am currently assembling the handbrakes & etc to the bogies. The tabs on the handbrakes don't fit in the slots on the axle, so I'm carefully slimming 'em down. I don't think I have enought fingers & toes to handle all these parts at once.

I just ran the edge of the xacto along the tabs on the handbrakes to slim em down a bit.

Hooking the kit up to the Mack has made assembly even more complicated for me! All those crossbars are going to have to wait for attachment until I have the right elevation for the trails, which I guess will involve propping the trails up and then carefully inserting glue into the axles so the gun's suspension can set. Then I'll add the crossbars and all the other goos stuff. One or two of the pieces will require modification due to the increased height of the trails. Oy vey! Is we havin' fun or what?

QUOTE: I did get around to your infamous A28's today ... I agree.

"Now, simple remove this BB from a quart of cottage cheese -- without disturbing any of the cheese." Ah, for fun.

Admit it though. It's gonna look killer when it's done.

EDIT:
John, here's a pic of the AM set for the M1 guns which I got from a helpful person from Track Link. It shows most, but not all, of the AM stuff. Look especially at the wheels.


I may be wrong, but that looks like the 8" to me, and it's got the sheave on it.

Larry:

That is the same pic I saw on the French site I ordered from.
Yes, that is a bracket & sheave atop the cradle.
I believe that's a 155, not 8", but it is hard to tell.

I cannot remember a pic of an 8" with the sheave/bracket, but then again I haven't been specifically looking. (Look at pix in the AA book)

You bring up a good point about maint so reread my 155 TM & the only place where jacking the gun in/out of battery takes place is for travel. There is no crew maint action that requires it, so maybe 8" is same.

I gotta get the wheels/tires -- think they'll be in Mon/Tue -- I don't want to go too far with the bogies until I know what I have to do to make them work. Then I can mount the bogies to the carriage & continue with adding brake lines & things.

I think I spent too much time with the M5 Limber to swap to the M2 with the parts kit, but I can convert my gun tube back from an M2 to an M1 if I like the bracket/sheave. That will move me back into WW2.

Re AA#13: You will see several pix of an HST & 155 with name "Lucky Tigers" -- see pg 46 especially. I saw same pic in another book that said it was offloading during Korean War!! Think I'll go with the AA#13. Anyway, look at pg46 & see that the M4 is towing a 155 & that another trailer is hitched to the 155 !!! I believe it to be the M618 Smoke Generator -- some arty units had 'em I think. I spent some time looking around for that stuff because that 3 vehicle combo would have been neat. The 155 has a tow pintle on rear axle, but I do not believe there is any way to run air brake to the next trailer -- must have been fun. Anyway, I think I found an M618 Smoke Trailer resin kit but it was either TBP or BIG$$$ & I dropped the idea.

Anyway, my gun is in lots of pieces building into bigger assemblies and will all fall together wonderfully all by itself .....

Shoot all these nice guns are making me want to build my 88 now....anyway lookin good rebelreenactor.

thanks guys, I'm finding the kit tobe very nice. theres some small peices that are hard to sand. There are a few pin marks but it doesn't really show. I did, unfortunatly, run it to a problem in the directions, ive glued the connecting piece for the barreletc, to the bottom half. anyone know how to unglue things?

Larry, if that pic was for me, I think it was, that lookes slightly different from mine.
I need to get into AMparts. lots ofmoney though

QUOTE: Originally posted by thundergod Shoot all these nice guns are making me want to build my 88 now....anyway lookin good rebelreenactor.

I was thinking the same, except I don't have an 88 - I'd have to go find something!

QUOTE: Originally posted by rebelreenactor Larry, if that pic was for me, I think it was, that lookes slightly different from mine.

It was for "jratz", who is building an artillery piece very similar to mine.

The following progress picture sucks, oh well :





Well the picture sucks but I am making progress on the painting. I have spent hours and hours and hours Frankensteining my figures from DML, Hornet, Warriors, Tamiya, ICM, Zveda to make them fit EXACTLY what I want them to do. For example... a figure may have been intended to be riding on a tank but instead he may now be dragging a box of ammo to the gun crew

The figures are just laying on the board, there is no rhyme or reason to their placement and it WILL make sense when I am done hehehe

more pics soon, and they will be better quality

Larry:

OK, I have found pix of 8" with bracket & sheave on cradle.

British & American Artillery of WW2 by Ian Hogg has a couple (but I suspect these are Ordnance pix & not anything from in the field).

AA#13: I mised 'em first time because they are mislabelled as 155's !!! Only one of several errors I have found in AA#13 upon closer inspection.
Pg49: the photo is reversed (breech opening to wrong side).
pg51-52: these are 8" not 155
pg40: is that 155 or 8" ? see sheave/bracket & barrel
pg42: is that 8" ? see sheave/bracket
pg52-53: 8" with no sheave/bracket

So, who knows ? On my 155, I now have pix of "M1" that have the rings not the bracket/sheave, which means I could use what I have.

I'm convinced if time travel is ever invented, it will be by modelers all wnating to go back & see the real thing because the literature is so contradictory !!!!

my 105 should be finished soon, im just waiting to go to hobbytown to get some "un-cure" CA stuff, to unglue that darn piece.

Hey jratz,

if a lone gun has a sheave and nobody is there to see it, is it a 155?

Muzzleflash:

You are progressing well, I see. You are doing good with the painting. Hope to see it all set-up soon. Looks like a big dio.

Looks great everyone.
Finally got around to airbrushing my gun so ill have to get working on it so i finish in time

QUOTE: Originally posted by muzzleflash88 Hey jratz, if a lone gun has a sheave and nobody is there to see it, is it a 155?

Good one .
Larry & I have been really getting into the bits & pieces of our two pieces (155 & 8") and the prime movers (HST & Mack) & the differences the model folks have missed. No doubt we could write a small book on the subject at this point.

BTW, I liked your pic of your gun & crew above -- well not the quality of the pic but what you are going thru. I'm in same stage with a 2-pdr trying to make a crew and the lack of much in the way of crew for my 155 has me leaning toward showing it in travel mode.

Wow, muzzleflash, that's quite a few figs. Any ideas what the overall scene will show?

QUOTE: Originally posted by muzzleflash88 The following progress picture sucks, oh well :

HOLY COW! What an ambitious project this is shaping up to be. It's gonna be one great-looking diorama!

QUOTE: Originally posted by jratz pg52-53: 8" with no sheave/bracket So, who knows ?

I got it on Saturday. I think the pics on pp 52-3 are from post WWII, so they would be M2 guns. (Or possibly m115?)

QUOTE: I'm convinced if time travel is ever invented, it will be by modelers all wnating to go back & see the real thing because the literature is so contradictory !!!!

Nah, this is much too much fun!

Update: got lots of work done on my 8" howitzer over the weekend. Hussah!

There are lots of suspension pieces that go on based on the position of the wheels, so first I had to glue the axles in place. So I created a jig that allowed the gun's trails to be tilted up the exact height on the towing pintle on the Mack NO (hopefully the right height!), propped some of the Master Production resin wheels on the kit, put some glue on the axles and then propped the gun on the jig. I let it dry overnight and then popped on all the suspension rods and the brakes that attach to them.

I've gone back and taken the bracket off my gun, and installed the resin one that takes the sheave. Then it was lots of little work on odds and ends.

I'm happy to report that construction is virtually done on my gun! It's in about five sub-assemblies, which will be separately primed. Then I'll construct most of it and put the OD on. I'm really shooting for June 6 or earlier, my own humble salute to the Allied veterans who sacrificed so much to hit the beaches.

I hope to have the Mack done by July 1, so the entire display model will be done, but don't hold yer breath.

Larry:

Got my Master Prod Am today -- A mixed bag.

Good News: very nice tires, correct 5-spoke wheels, an M2 Limber, and a few other parts. & of course (ready everyone), a bracket/sheave !!!

"Bad" News:
-- sketchy instructions with maybe only 80% of parts indicated and discrepancies between instructions & parts in kit.

-- Limber wheels: I know you don't need the limber stuff, but this is one more headache for me. Instructions show separate wheel/tire & conical hub to slide on axle. In actuality, the wheel/tire and hub are one part, making it difficult to use the wheel/tire on the M5 Limber from the AFV kit, which I will do because I've done a lot of work on the M5 already. I'll try to pry the hub off the wheel/tire & hope the wheel survives the strain.

-- Bogey Wheels:

• Again, the parts & instructions don't match as you've noted. The instructions show the AFV kit "drums" on the bogies & the MP wheel/tire sliding over same -- nope, the inner bogey contains the "drum".


• Also, when assembled, the tires appear to have too much gap between 'em. I know commercial tires are usually thinner than military, but it still seems extreme.


• I don't think one can sand down each mating side of the wheel assembly to take out the gap, they are too thin already, but one might be able to cut the "wheel" out of the (outer bogey) tire & remount it slightly outboard & do it.


• Since two of my four outer bogeys had loose "wheel" parts anyway, I only have to remove two more to try it.

Anyway, given how much time I (we) have spent on these things, I might have to scale back a bit -- I haven't even started the HST. So I'm working at options on the gun which will allow me to show it in travel or set-up, which means adding a bit more flexibility to the kit.

I also want to add some of the visible BII, etc.

Glad you are back on track !!

I finally got that piece that i misglued out. I should be progressing very rapidly again.

QUOTE: Originally posted by rebelreenactor I finally got that piece that i misglued out. I should be progressing very rapidly again.

So what product did you use to unglue what other product? :)

Yay, I finished my flak 43. I used citadel paints (of warhammer fame) to drybrush a steel finish, representing chips etc in the paint, then a little bit of a drybrush with Model Master Rust, and it was all done. I owe far too many pics to this forum, so this is one more to add to the list.
Still have to finish the carriage and the demag, but at least everything has a basecoat and a wash by now