Skoda 42cm... One of the big buggers
Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 2:23 pm
Fed up with the detail painting on my little car I started something completely different. A lovely artillery piece. I know this is a WW1 build and on the box lid it says 1942 at the siege of Sevastopol . However this particular gun was actually built In 1917 during WW1, but was not actually used. Of course this camo would not be applicable, but I thought to show it.....please excuse the amateur photographer.
Factoid
The Austro-Hungarian 42cm Howitzer was probably the most potent artillery piece used by any Army in WW1. Interestingly, it was not conceived as a land weapon, but was originally intended to be used against Naval targets. The first version of the gun was to be used by the coastal artillery of Austria-Hungary, to protect it’s naval bases in the Aegean. Therefore it was mounted in a armoured turret. The first of two was installed near the naval base at Pola. Pretty soon as the war started, the Austro-Hungarian High Command found out that the threat from the sea was less than the demand for heavy artillery on the land fronts. So Skoda was asked to make these coastal howitzers mobile, or at least transportable. Which they did. The result was the 42cm Haubitze M.14. (It is recognizable by the fact that parts of the original armoured turret was used in action.)
The instructions look simple and clear enough, however I have found that they have their short comings in being not very precise in where some parts should eventually reside.
The sprues look to have very crisp parts attached. Some plastic injection points are a little large and do represent a challenge for clean as they plow into some recesses and some parts aren't as flat as whats needed.
Joining the two semi circles together left the centre with a uneven surface requiring filling and copious filing. At this point I should mention that the plastic is quite hard and requires a fair degree of effort. I can assure you that one slip of the file doesn't ruin it at all.
I put a piece of 1mm card under the join. Being mostly a but join it didn't seem strong enough.
In this shot you can see the prominent seam line needing to be removed.
The barrel is a two piece affair that leaves a gap to be filled. I laid down some masking tape and filled with sprue glue. Now that was a mistake cause it didn't need to be done. As I wasn't really aware that the long piece actually stays concealed and it is only the shorter bit that needs attending to.
I tried dry fitting the barrel together and found the actual barrel ( long bit ) was 0.2mm short. I remedied this by using that flat diamond sharpening plate, placing the flat surface on it and drawing the part along. This flattens all the high spots and also reduces the overall length making it a perfect fit.
Those big bolts on the bottom weren't touching either before and this sorted that as well.
Factoid
In January 1915 the M.14 version fired its first shots, at Tarnow in Poland, with great success. During the summer the gun (the other one was still at Pola was used) was shifted around, and used at the Serbian, Russian and Italian fronts. As more guns were produced (finally six), more batteries were formed, and put into action.
Factoid
The Austro-Hungarian 42cm Howitzer was probably the most potent artillery piece used by any Army in WW1. Interestingly, it was not conceived as a land weapon, but was originally intended to be used against Naval targets. The first version of the gun was to be used by the coastal artillery of Austria-Hungary, to protect it’s naval bases in the Aegean. Therefore it was mounted in a armoured turret. The first of two was installed near the naval base at Pola. Pretty soon as the war started, the Austro-Hungarian High Command found out that the threat from the sea was less than the demand for heavy artillery on the land fronts. So Skoda was asked to make these coastal howitzers mobile, or at least transportable. Which they did. The result was the 42cm Haubitze M.14. (It is recognizable by the fact that parts of the original armoured turret was used in action.)
The instructions look simple and clear enough, however I have found that they have their short comings in being not very precise in where some parts should eventually reside.
The sprues look to have very crisp parts attached. Some plastic injection points are a little large and do represent a challenge for clean as they plow into some recesses and some parts aren't as flat as whats needed.
Joining the two semi circles together left the centre with a uneven surface requiring filling and copious filing. At this point I should mention that the plastic is quite hard and requires a fair degree of effort. I can assure you that one slip of the file doesn't ruin it at all.
I put a piece of 1mm card under the join. Being mostly a but join it didn't seem strong enough.
In this shot you can see the prominent seam line needing to be removed.
The barrel is a two piece affair that leaves a gap to be filled. I laid down some masking tape and filled with sprue glue. Now that was a mistake cause it didn't need to be done. As I wasn't really aware that the long piece actually stays concealed and it is only the shorter bit that needs attending to.
I tried dry fitting the barrel together and found the actual barrel ( long bit ) was 0.2mm short. I remedied this by using that flat diamond sharpening plate, placing the flat surface on it and drawing the part along. This flattens all the high spots and also reduces the overall length making it a perfect fit.
Those big bolts on the bottom weren't touching either before and this sorted that as well.
Factoid
In January 1915 the M.14 version fired its first shots, at Tarnow in Poland, with great success. During the summer the gun (the other one was still at Pola was used) was shifted around, and used at the Serbian, Russian and Italian fronts. As more guns were produced (finally six), more batteries were formed, and put into action.
