My Gun Collection.

[John Symmons]

My Gun Collection.

I’ve always had a fascination for models of big artillery guns. One of my very early models (late 50’s) was a 1/35 scale?? of the American 8-inch howitzer artillery Long Tom gun from Aurora or Renwall, I think the company also made the Ontos. Then in the 80’s I came across the Hasagawa Mini-Box range of 1/72 armour that also had the American 8-inch gun and the 88mm German AA gun both of which are very good little models especially the 8-inch gun, and I still maintain that in the 1/72 scale, even today the Hasagawa model is still the best bang-for-buck model of these two kits, the only one coming close being the Zvezda Art-of-tactic version, the Revell one being way too pricy and grossly over engineered. Since then, I’ve discovered other makes like Ace, Revell, Roden, and Zvezda all have an artillery piece somewhere in their range. I haven’t included any tanks or self-propelled armour as this collection is really only towed artillery pieces.

 

Ace

This is a short run model company, often doing odd or unusual subjects not found in the main stream. They are not for the novice and can be over engineered in places and their instructions and paint guides can be, to put-it-nicely, confusing.

German WW2 version of the French LaFH-16 105mm howitzer & limber. The mystery gun in the middle is a Hat model of ?? WW1 gun in soft rubbery plastic (Not recommended.)

German WW2 version of the French LaFH-16 105mm howitzer & limber. The mystery gun in the middle is a Hat model of ?? WW1 gun in soft rubbery plastic (Not recommended.)

Another LaFH-16 105mm Howitzer including the limber used by the Americans in WW1. Pity no horses were included. Model finished as a museum display piece.

The first of two German 88mm anti-tank guns with a simplified four wheeled chassis and then a two wheeled version. Both worth building if you don’t mind a challenge

German Pak 43-41 88 mm Neuntoter

German Pak 43-41 88 mm Scheunentor

 

Airfix needs no introduction. I’ve currently only got two models by Airfix one is a very ancient model I believe it’s even painted with Humbrol enamel paints.

The Pak 40 was the German anti-tank of WW2 especially the early part of WW2, Airfix modelled this paired with the Blitz truck. I know the truck has some accuracy issues, but as a kit it was an enjoyable build and I was very tempted to by a second one when it was re-released a few years back.

The Bofors 40mm AA gun & Morris tractor was made so long ago that I can’t say much about it, but at least it’s survived 30 plus years. One of the better things these older Airfix models have, is that there’s crew included, which these days is quite rare only Zvezda seems to be doing it now. Back in the day ESCI (now Italeri.) Hasagawa, and Matchbox all used to supply some crew, and or driver, ESCI even with their tanks, pity it seems to have fallen away. Another thing is it’s a real shame no one has copied the Matchbox initiative of including some sort of diorama base.

I really must look at getting the other Airfix models that include an artillery gun like the Matador and 5.5-inch gun, Bren gun carrier and the Field gun and Q

 

British Bofors 40mm AA gun with Morris towing tractor with very novice painting Humbrol enamels in some sort of, what I thought at the time was a desert scheme??? I even did the 8-inch American gun in the same colours???

 

 

German Pak 40 with Opal Blitz truck.

 

 

ESCI

This was an Italian model company that made some cutting-edge models of their day many of which are still being re-released today as they were that good. They made quite an extensive range of armour that is often re-released by Italeri. The only one piece of artillery of theirs that I can find was the Nebelwerfer 41 rocket & smoke unit. This model came with two Nebelwerfer units and a complete crew in German winter camouflage dress. I’ve only made one of them the other is still all on the sprue and I’ve somehow still got the crew. Again, finished with enamels, and rather crudely painted so don’t look too closely.

 

German Nebelwerfer 41 rocket & smoke unit.

 

Hasagawa

This is a Japanese company, and are right up there was Tamiya. In their 1983 catalogue there are 35 models in their mini-box range of 1/72 armour including many semi-armoured and soft skinned models with some real oddities like the Toyota truck (pick-up) with a starter attachment for starting the Ki 43 Hayabusa with a dog-tooth on the spinner and a bomb dolly with bomb, a Stuart Mk1 tank with a horse and rider??, Hitler’s 6 wheeled Mercedes staff-car, and both field camp and check-point sets and 1/72 models of the 600mm Mortar Karl and the Leopold rail gun. The Mortar and rail gun shouldn’t really be called a mini box.

American US 155mm ‘Long Tom’ canon in dodgy paint scheme.

German Pak 41 88 mm AA gun painting getting better colours still a bit iffy.

Now if only these could be re-released I’d re-do them properly.

 

German Pak 41 88 mm AA gun painting getting better colours still a bit iffy.

 

American US 155mm ‘Long Tom’ canon in dodgy paint scheme.

Now if only these could be re-released I’d re-do them properly.

 

 

Nichimo.

Not much known about this company except it was Japanese, but is no-long in business, the little anti-tank gun was part of another model but I’ve forgotten what it was as only this little gun has survived. Again, in the same dodgy desert colours. I think the gun was a 30mm and was a lighter version of the Pak 40. Please correct me if I’m wrong as I’d really like to know.

German 30mm?? anti-tank gun.

Part two to follow.

REmember we do this for fun                                John the Pom

 

 

[John Symmons]

Something weird has gone asque with the photos and text with this posting like why is the text red and some photos are out of place. Hopefully part 2 will be better.

Why if something is working well like to old posting system someone has to break it and try for something better and usually fails If it's working it doesn't need fixing. It's taken me cover six hours to post this and that was prepping all the photos beforehand and writing out and proof reading all the text before hand

REmember we TRY and do this for fun                                                          John the Pom.

[96RAF]

4 hours ago, John Symmons said:

Something weird has gone asque with the photos and text with this posting like why is the text red and some photos are out of place. Hopefully part 2 will be better.

Why if something is working well like to old posting system someone has to break it and try for something better and usually fails If it's working it doesn't need fixing. It's taken me cover six hours to post this and that was prepping all the photos beforehand and writing out and proof reading all the text before hand

REmember we TRY and do this for fun                                                          John the Pom.

The post is held for approval due to including the word "Hitler' which is on the profanity list and could be used out of context.

[Ratch]

4 hours ago, John Symmons said:

Something weird has gone asque with the photos and text with this posting like why is the text red and some photos are out of place. Hopefully part 2 will be better.

Why if something is working well like to old posting system someone has to break it and try for something better and usually fails If it's working it doesn't need fixing. It's taken me cover six hours to post this and that was prepping all the photos beforehand and writing out and proof reading all the text before hand

REmember we TRY and do this for fun                                                          John the Pom.

Perhaps if you posted in smaller chunks.

[John Symmons]

OK: If the adjudicators cpo0uld delete the whole post I''ll re-post it with everything in it's proper place and any offencive words removed. Previously, directly after posting the poster was given a short time to correct or edit any mistakes would it be possible to re-instate that feature?

And I thought this was a modeling forum where we often dealt with history and historical fact and historical figures after all is Paul Potts .Stalin or even Oliver Cromwell deemed offensive. Yes German WW2 aircraft and armour often had swastikas on them as part of their livery but so did Finland  It was actually their recognition symbol, also in  WW1 some Royal Flying Corp also had then painted on the sides, historical facts. Please don't let this forum go woke and try and re-write history. 

End of mini-rant, and remember we do this for fun                           John the Pom 

[Sailorman]

John,  I believe you can edit posts up to one hour from when they are made.  I would agree with Ratch.  Try posting in smaller chunks.

 

[John Symmons]

My Gun Collection. Part two.

Revell.

Like Airfix Revell really need no introduction except to say they really do have a diverse catalogue everything from North-sea oil wells to WW1 aircraft perhaps their greatest failing is their equally diverse scales, except these days their aircraft and cars are now in the usual common scales but their ships are all over the place, and their armour can be a bit iffy. As for armour they seemed to have kept out of the 1/35 scale unless they reissue some ancient kit from some obscure American manufacture, their main focus seems to be 1/72 and 1/76 these last ones being the old Matchbox models. A few years ago, they surprised everyone by suddenly releasing some new 1/72 armour kits, and even more surprising two artillery pieces the 210mm Morser and the 88mm AA gun together with the18-ton SD Kfz 9 Framo half-track.

I’ve built the Morser and Framo and mounted them in a diorama so the photos of the 210mm Morser canon include bits of the diorama. I’ve yet to start the 88 as to be honest it scares me as does the Hasagawa 600mm Mortar Karl.

When making the 210 Morser 18 model I almost ruined it on the fourth step when I glued part five the wrong way round this only becoming apparent in step 23 when fitting the gun barrel. Lesson learnt; always check with instructions, and then check again, especially when making complicated kit’s (re: over engineered) like these.

Painting this model can also be a challenge as it’s best done in stages, like ships. The diorama uses bits of Airfix, ESCI, Hasagawa, Zvezda and some railway OO wooden fencing which I think was from Pico, and of course the focus being on the two Revell kits.

Leaving camp diorama.

 

219mm Morser 18. You can see how the camouflage hides the massive gun.

 

To really get the size of the Framo check the size of the driver figure against the side of the truck.

 

 

Roden.

This Ukrainian company’s earlier models all tended to be very softly molded some-what resembling short run molds. I reckon their box-art is some of the best in the business.  Initially they concentrated on 1/72 WW1 aircraft, but soon added other scales of 1/48, 1/32 and the 144 that are mainly very popular for airliners and a few bigger aircraft like the B36; many of their 1/72 WW1 aircraft being releasee in the two bigger scales. They also started a 1/72 armour series and a 1/35 range. The 1/72 series is now quite extensive covering both WW1 and WW2, but with only one tank, the rest being semi-armoured and soft-skinned subjects with some making into very good little models, like the Opel Blitz bus command vehicle. If your thing is small scale armour it’s worth giving them a look-see, but they are not for the novice, or for a quick week-end builder.

Roden have only released two proper artillery kits the Pak 40 and the WW1 BL-9 8-inch howitzer Mk.VI with limber and the FWD model B3 towing truck in US expeditionary force 1918 colours, neither of these two I’ve started. The Pak 40 being the first Roden kit I brought, but I got side tracked with WW1 aircraft, and the WW1 three colour camouflage is a bit daunting.

I’ve included the Vomag truck with a mounted 88mm Flak 36 AA gun as this has recently been released by Das-Werks, I thought the small-scale armour modelers might be interested.

Vomag 660 truck with 88mm Flak 36 AA gun.

 

 

Zvezda.

All I know about Zvezda is that it’s a Russian company that again has quite a diverse catalogue, but mainly aircraft including, obviously, Russian subjects in 1/72 and 1/48 both WW2 and modern jets. They also market a war gaming system called ‘The Art of Tactic, it’s this system that includes the 1/72 military models. I found them quite by accident and brought one to try as they were very cheap, the German machine gunners. I was a bit doubtful opening the kit, very few parts, and a push fit, but not in that horrible soft vinyl plastic that won’ glue or take paint this was proper styrene, and the model has a proper little base to mount he model on, almost like the old Matchbox kits. Simply put I was so impressed that the following day I drove back to the model shop and virtually cleared them out of WW2 German kits. They might be simple gaming kits, but they are the complete opposite of the Roden kits above and the quality of the detail and fit is second-to-none. It’s a great pity that they are now virtually banned in the western market, hopefully they’re still in business.

German 105 Howitzer & crew as a game piece.

 

German 105 Howitzer & crew without the gaming flag.

 

German Flak 36-37 88mm AA gun the spare shells and casings are from the Hasagawa kit. After the Hasagawa kit, if you can find it, I’d say this is probably the best Flak 36 on the on the market. Certainly, the best for ease of build and price.

 

German Pak 40 Anti-tank gun in winter camouflage as a game piece.

 

German Pak 40 Anti-tank gun with crew in winter camouflage without the gaming flag.

 

Soviet 61-K AA Gun and crew. This is one of my favorites in this series.

 

 

I still have the Hasagawa 600mm Morter on the rail transporter, Roden’s Pak 40 anti-tank gun, Revell’s scary Flak 36 AA gun and a Zvezda’s British 40mm Bofors AA gun waiting in the stash, and I must look-out for the Airfix models mentioned before.

Hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane and maybe inspired some-one to look for some different models. Let's just hope this up-loads properly.

Remember we do this for fun                John the Pom.

 

[john redman]

I don't think there was ever a German 30mm anti-tank gun. Some later fighters were fitted with 30mm autocannon for use against four-engined bombers. There was a 37mm anti-tank gun, the PAK36, later known as the "door knocker" for all the use it was against a lot of Soviet armour.

It fired a 1.5lb projectile, which by 1942 was even more useless than the 2-pounder (whose rounds actually weighed 2.4lbs, but there it is). That could be what your model depicts, although if so, it's a bit dodge; the gunshield angle and barrel position don't look correct.    

[jopres57]

That's a really good collection. I would like to see a return, in 1/72, of the British 105mm light gun and 1 tonne land rover by Airfix. The latter was used as a towing vehicle for the gun in its early days. The kits were originally issued separately by JB models about twenty years ago then re-released by Airfix, but only for a short time. They aren't easy to find at a sensible price these days.

Edited April 9 by jopres57

[Ratch]

8 hours ago, John Symmons said:

OK: If the adjudicators cpo0uld delete the whole post I''ll re-post it with everything in it's proper place and any offencive words removed. Previously, directly after posting the poster was given a short time to correct or edit any mistakes would it be possible to re-instate that feature?

And I thought this was a modeling forum where we often dealt with history and historical fact and historical figures after all is Paul Potts .Stalin or even Oliver Cromwell deemed offensive. Yes German WW2 aircraft and armour often had swastikas on them as part of their livery but so did Finland  It was actually their recognition symbol, also in  WW1 some Royal Flying Corp also had then painted on the sides, historical facts. Please don't let this forum go woke and try and re-write history. 

End of mini-rant, and remember we do this for fun                           John the Pom 

John, what would be the point of deleting your OP (which has been approved)?

Invision set the word censor - we have no input of what is or not suitable words. I had to approve one of my own posts because it contained the word "suck" (now I shall have to approve this post).

We are grown-ups here and provided that language is in context, is friendly and not threatening, there will not be a problem.

[Tour de Airfix]

Doh! I didn’t see on the application form that we had to be grownups 🤦‍♂️😂

@John Symmons what a great collection! 👍

When I built Italeri’s Pegasus Bridge set up into a vast water and land based diorama, I was provided with 4 wonderful German guns to construct.

Once built and not really knowing what to do next, I placed them almost out of shot in the trees, ready for the German counterattack. Having just deconstructed my diorama, maybe, I can make a more of them in the next one 🤔 😊

[96RAF]

44 minutes ago, Tour de Airfix said:

Doh! I didn’t see on the application form that we had to be grownups

Go read Guidelines #2

[Tour de Airfix]

26 minutes ago, 96RAF said:

Go read Guidelines #2

Phew! I just qualify 😅 Thanks ☺️ 

1. Age Requirement: Participation in these forums is restricted to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. This ensures a mature and responsible community, aligned with UK standards and regulations

[96RAF]

14 minutes ago, Tour de Airfix said:

Phew! I just qualify 😅 Thanks ☺️ 

1. Age Requirement: Participation in these forums is restricted to individuals who are 18 years of age or older. This ensures a mature and responsible community, aligned with UK standards and regulations

Unfortunately driven by regulation, not common sense. I am sure a lot of previous members of all the brands forums were youngsters and now supposedly barred from posting. One would think a counter signature by mom-pop-guardian would suffice.

[Grumps123]

Back to the main post, John, I really like your guns, an impressive collection.

[John Symmons]

Thank Tour De Airfix, nice and interesting diorama the only problem I've found is photographing dioramas to show everything in focus, look's like the American armour on the road could be in for some trouble Thanks for posting and hopefully we can see more of your efforts.

Remember we do this for fun                                   John the Pom