Self Propelled Artillery/Mortar GB 2006-2007

I'm really sorry to hear about your eye Chris , i truely hope the surgery goes well for you .

Shell

PanzerWulff- Thats no good, I hope all go well.

Plastic_Cross- Looking Superb!! What part is missing?, I can't tell!

Will

In fairness, the first post on this thread says 'any form of self-propelled artillery is allowed', it doesn't say anything about requiring an indirect-fire role.

NTM

WHen I think of artillery, don't you see guns firing up? Do you not? If it is primarily a tank killer, then its main gun is a cannon, with an unintended and very secondary use of indirect-fire support. If we look at it that way, we can put a mounted .50cal in this GB because on rare occasions it was used indirectly.

Will

Gun Tech wrote:

That looks awesome Cross!  Very interresting, not a subject that I know.   I think I see an ejector pin mark on one of the roller in the 1st pic. Very well done, I really like the wood box in the last pic

You have an eagle-eye Gun Tech.  That indeed is a pin mark.  I missed a couple of them on this build.  I'm really glad you like the wood box.  I discovered how to use oil paints by experimenting on that little ammo box.  It was a very gratifying aspect of this build for me. Thanks a ton for the nice comments, I really appreciate it.

Larry

Will7813 wrote:

Plastic_Cross- Looking Superb!! What part is missing?, I can't tell! Will

Will - There's a hinged shield in front of the gun sight.  It fell off while I was doing the filter wash.  I noticed that my fill job on the two pin marks was poor, so I just left it off instead of fixing it and re-attaching it.  I've posted the picture below to document my true confession.  Thanks for the great job moderating this Group Build, and thanks for your very encouraging comment.  This is a Rockin GB. 

PanzerWulff wrote:

Wish me luck Chris"PANZERWULFF" Gray

Chris - I want to wish you all the luck in the world.  You can count on us to keep you in our thoughts.

Larry "Plastic" Cross 

Thanks for the kind words plastic_cross! No one will motice if you don't tell them that part is missing, can't wait to see it finished!!

Will

Hummmm!  A very dark M12.  I like it alot.  You took your time on that one Larry, and the result is very good.  I remember having trouble with the decals but they look great on your model.

 Nice job.

Will7813 wrote:

WHen I think of artillery, don't you see guns firing up? Do you not? If it is primarily a tank killer, then its main gun is a cannon, with an unintended and very secondary use of indirect-fire support. If we look at it that way, we can put a mounted .50cal in this GB because on rare occasions it was used indirectly.

Tell that to the Germans: StuG crews were part of the Artillery arm, not Panzer arm, and wore artillery accoutrements. A StuG is not a tank killer, it's an infantry support system. Its job is to aid friendly infantry with the application of high explosive shells to suppress or destroy enemy targets. i.e. Artillery. It's primarily direct-fire artillery, not indirect fire artillery, but it is artillery. Otherwise, your definition of artillery would exclude pretty much every single artillery piece from pre-Napoleon through to the American Civil War, bar mortars.

 [ETA: Indeed, I would submit that tank-killing cannon would also count. Archer (Brit WWII version) or Nashorn, for example, should qualify as self-propelled artillery vehicles]

NTM

Manic Moran wrote:

Will7813 wrote: WHen I think of artillery, don't you see guns firing up? Do you not? If it is primarily a tank killer, then its main gun is a cannon, with an unintended and very secondary use of indirect-fire support. If we look at it that way, we can put a mounted .50cal in this GB because on rare occasions it was used indirectly. Tell that to the Germans: StuG crews were part of the Artillery arm, not Panzer arm, and wore artillery accoutrements. A StuG is not a tank killer, it's an infantry support system. Its job is to aid friendly infantry with the application of high explosive shells to suppress or destroy enemy targets. i.e. Artillery. It's primarily direct-fire artillery, not indirect fire artillery, but it is artillery. Otherwise, your definition of artillery would exclude pretty much every single artillery piece from pre-Napoleon through to the American Civil War, bar mortars. NTM

Interesting..... that's a very good point. 

I'm sorry, But I have to put my foot down somewhere don't I??!!

Indirect fire only!!

Will

Yann Solo wrote:

I remember having trouble with the decals but they look great on your model.  Nice job.

Thanks a lot Yann for the compliments.  This build was definitely a growth experience for me.  About the decals......I was careful with the lighting and the camera angle for the photographs to minimize the appearance of the imperfections.  Even using Micro Sol and Micro Set, the decals did not set perfectly.  I couldn't get rid of the shiny border around the perimeters. 

The idea to minimize the markings on this model came from a great picture in the "US Self-Propelled Guns in Action" book.  The caption to the photo on page 38 refers to Morteau sector of France on Nov 15, 1944 - Battery C, 575th Field Artillery Battalion. 

And here's another dark secret I forgot to mention about my antics with this build.  My initial paint job using the airbrus was terrible. A lot of splatterish type bumps all over.  So I steel wooled and sanded it down as well as I could. Being  frustrated with the airbrush,  I decided to just us a plain old can of Tamiya OD spray paint and laid down the final coats.  It looked much better than the butchering I did with the ab. And here's yet other mistake - I wasn't paying attention and used satin finish paint instead of flat spray paint.  After thinking about it though, I figured that was just as good as painting it with flat, then applying the Future layer prior to applying the decals.  It seemed to work out ok. 

It should be mentioned that I was trying to paint this vehicle while I was home from work with the flu, running a temperature between 101 and 102.  Between that and the poor lighting in my garage, I probably shouldn't be surprised at the poor quality of the results. 

After all was said and done, I finally gave my two airbrushes (syphon and gravity) a real good cleaning - and they are working up to expectations again. 

Sorry for the long winded message, but I thought a few comments about my mis-adventures during this build might generate a few chuckles.

Larry 

PanzerWulff,good luck with the eye op dude......hope your better soon and back at the bench.

Larry,that build is excellent.....you really came up trump's with this oneI'v been playing around with heavy weathering and I'v gotta say I'm going back to the lightly used finish like yours as in my opinion it look's a hell of alot better.

I feel all inspired now so I'm gonna start on the AS-90,there is even a walk around in this month's Model Military Int with some great in action pics........I'll report back shortly with some WIP pics.

Comet wrote:

Larry,that build is excellent.....you really came up trump's with this oneI'v been playing around with heavy weathering and I'v gotta say I'm going back to the lightly used finish like yours as in my opinion it look's a hell of alot better.

Wow...what a great compliment.  Thanks a lot Glyn. One of the reasons I didn't try to weather it more heavily is because I stink at it.  I would have ruined the model for sure.  So I went the safe route and stayed conservative.  But I do have to say that in general I like the weathered  look to be in the rare to medium-rare range for armor models. But I have also seen a lot of spectacular and tastefully done heavily weathered models, which are great, and a tribute to the skills of the modeler.  When I get better at weathering, I want to do a vehicle with a bunch of snow on it and icicles hanging from it.  Another scenario I think would be cool would be if I could come up with a way to simulate the appearance of the gun while it's blasting....in 3 dimensions.  Fire, smoke, the whole deal - static.

I really like the looks of the AS-90.  I've been tempted to buy that one on several occasions.  I will be anxious to see your splendid rendition of it. 

I'm heading over to the Trumpeter GB now and will be building the Trumpeter Sturer Emil.  I washed all the sprues this morning.

Thanks a lot Comet, and see you around the forum.

Larry 

Ok, you are in. to the GB

Will

SgtBrown wrote:

Alright, since my German assault gun won't work, I'm in for an Italeri 1:35 M110 A2 8" S.P. Cannon.

I think the M110 is a great choice - one of my favs for sure.  I'm looking forward to see the photos of your build.

Larry

Sorry guys it took a while.....      Still working on my previous GB, but I try to work on this one  as well.      1st timer with a Trumpeter kit, I tried to fill every sink hole in the suspension......   only to realise, when 80% completed, that half of them are not visible.....    Really slow progress, but good learning experience!    I got the Marder 1 and Beobachtungs in the stash with the same hull

The best part, should I say, the gun, is coming soon!

I finished the Wespe, i'll post pics as soon as I get around to taking them! The Braveheart is nowhere near completion yet.

 Will

Is there room in this build for one more? I'm considering a 1/35th DML Hummel  - I notice that no one seems to be building this one.

-thePostman

Well I finally got to starting my AS-90 and the lower hull is nearly built,I'v just got to rebuild the travel lock as the kit one is incorrect.Apart from that the only other thing I'v had to correct on the hull is the position of the drivers periscope.

I'm at abit of a standstill now as I'm waiting on a set of Eduard PE mesh for the engine grill's and the turret basket as the kit supplied basket is just naff.I'll post some build pics when I'm abit further on with the build.

Count me in. I'll start to work on the Hummel in a week or so - I want to clear some other projects off the bench first. In reality tho, that bench never really seems to get cleared...Always something to work on.

-thePostman

to the GB postman!!

Will

Greetings all,

I want to complement Plastic Cross on his excellent M12 . With only four kits under your belt...you should be proud of yourself. Practice makes perfect - or - Quit watching TV and go sit @ the workbench  

I read earlier that you're thinking of taking it up a notch; I'll have to find and post pics of my super detailed Academy 1/35th M18 Hellcat. I added so much stuff that it's become the heaviest kit in my collection.

Keep up the good work.

Ok, time for a update on my build. Slow progress as I said, since I'm trying to finish another build before the end of the month.

A lot of filling and sanding was required where the final drive housing meets the hull. There was a "Hotchkiss" moulding on the hull, but the sides were kinda square with rounded corners, which is incorrect according to the vehicle in Saumur. Eduard provided the answer

The drive sprockets position is too far forward, but I decided to ease my pains and leave them there. They are hollow though, and looked like , so I decided to make a custom fit styrene washer with the help of my trusty Dremel. They do not rotate BTW, only the roadwheels do. 

The roadwheels assembly was a pain to clean and put together. I actually broke one of the outside part in 2, easy to fix though and the break is hidden by the axle. Extreme care has to be taken when gluing the assembly to the hull, as the alignment is horrific. I temporary installed the idler wheel, then glued the center assembly, making sure with the track that everything was aligned. The others were easier this way.

Some interior parts are provided. I did not glued them in place yet, and they are not fully completed. Still need to do some PE and plumbing.

There is a gap on the left side between the transfer case and the hull. I will shime it later.

As you can see, the alignment for the drive shaft is just out. I'm still thinking of a way how to fix it.      

I also dry fitted the tracks, they are way too long. Still better than too short though

Looks like you have some work ahead of you GT , good luck .I've finished building my SturmTiger , except for the zimmerit .

See ya !

SHL