DORA Railway cannon Trumpeter 1/72 huge WW2 gun largest in history

 With a bit of free holiday time, I thought, why not post the largest model kit I've been involved in the construction of? I really don't know why I didn't post it before. Mainly built by my father, a good more than 10 years ago, but my and my brother we did help in various parts, painting never ending grey bits, building and painting the figures, helping holding things to be glued together, and the myriad of doubts a kit of this size brings about.

After it's completion, we got two Dapol trams, and we converted them as best we could into the would be german electric locomotives. Sounds incredible but it was indeed just towed around by that, at least in short distances, like aiming, as it could not aim by any other way than building a round train section, and going round it :) . 

The later figures are slightly on the bigger side, which only shows the ridiculously gigantic proportions of this epic beast. The Thor is dwarfed to a ridiculous size at it's side!

It was even, fitted with air tube to realy shoot it's shells, but I can't remember if we did a video of it, so maybe for a later post. 

1/35 Iraqi Dragon BRDM-2 with D-20 152mm Howitzer

Here I post one of my father's latest builds, an Iraqi BRDM-2 with D-20 cannon. Made from a Dragon kit, and the cannon is Trumpeter. These cannons have been sold from Bulgaria to Iraq, so my father decided to couple them together. It was not very clear how decals should have gone, so it was a bit made on free interpretation. I made the pictures and did the dusting on the model :) . 

Review; Trumpeter Swedish Strv.103 b Stridsvagn 1/72 Model Kit Modern Auto-propelled artillery tank

Welcome to another modern tank review, this time the STRV 103 from the Swedish Army. One of the most remarkable and different designs from the modern era tanks.

       The Box 

Trumpeter boxes are always very dull. Just the kit made to good standard in the most common version. I would probably have more Trumpeter kits if the box artworks would have been better, the box leaves me completely cold, it doesn't transmit any sensation, and it doesn't the dull grey at the sides of the box.

The Kit 

Trumpeter kits are always very well detailed, and this is no exception. The fine detail and parts are superb, and you can specially see this in the mud rails at the top of the tank, which are beautifully made. 

One of the other great aspects of Trumpeter are the high quality elastic tracks, why you need to glue dozens of track links when rubber can do the job? Trumpeter demonstrates that you can do quality rubber tracks without losing realism. If you want to represent the tank in idle position, you can always sag them by heating the track (with hot water) and then placing plastic bars or any other object to leave them in position.

It's a wonderfully easy model to make, as there is very little flash to speak about, and everything fits nicely. The most tricky part are the small hooks, which tends to break, and you will have a job cutting out of the sprue in one piece. Fortunately, you are given some spare ones so you can even afford to lose and break one or two.

Trumpeter also makes other versions of this tank, so you will have some spare parts. 

Be careful with decals, if you don't Micro Sol products to fix them, or you don't seal them with varnish, they will break and fly off in a couple of months.

My version

I was in a mood for something different, so when I saw this "Ikea" version (it truly exists!) I said to me "why not make something different?" and "I won't be painting any other tank like this", so, even if there was some interesting alternatives, it was to be yellow and blue for  me (maybe someday I'll build the other version with reactive armour and track covers, with a white and bright green camo). You will notice the strange anti-aerial turret, and this a invention I made with a spare turret I was given. I will add shortly pics of the model with it's conventional turret, which I forgot to bring with me in the photo session up in the mountain. Everything was painted in plain colours, but it looked too new and plasticky (which was quite realistic, but looked bad) so I applied various layers of black inkings, and then I painted highlights of light blue and yellow respectively to get a more realistic, sun-lit appearance.

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Trumpeter 1/72 Selbstfahrlafette "STURER EMIL" L/61 Pz.Sf.V German Anti Tank Self Propelled tank TRU07210 winter front axis tank

Here today we have a obscure german tank, the Sturer Emil from Trumpeter.

BOX ART >> One of the few brands that just shows you the finished model. It serves well the purposes of seeing that it is indeed a nice model, and is a trademark for Trumpeter in their 1/72 kits.

THE KIT - 9.7 >>

This is a very fine kit, with  a high level of detail, nicely done interiors, all parts fits perfectly, no moulding marks, no filler required, and no accuracy errors (thanks I suppose because a example is conserved in the Kubinka museum, but a good thing all the same).

If it doesn't have a 10, is because the quality of the decals is quite poor. They have not resisted just 6 month of storage after it was built, when they started to fall. You will have to purchase a special product to fix them to the model, or varnish them with matt varnish.

EXTRAS - 0.0 >>

Trumpeter is a brand that normally gives you a perfect vehicle, but if you want extras, go and get them yourself, is what basically they express. With a so big open hull, a small crew will have been very much appreciated.

POSSIBILITIES - 0.0 >>

Yes, you read well, 0.0. This is a kit of tens and zeros. There were only two built, one  was destroyed and the other captured by the Russians. The one captured is the one made, and the other one had the same camouflage, most probably. So you can either make the box version, or do the other one, where the only difference will be the white lines on the cannon which demarks the 22 kills the tank achieved.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 8.5 >>

It is not a cheap kit, but it is of great quality. And a great quality kit in our days for less than 11 GBP like this one is hard to find. So it is fine. And you get a quite big model for your money, that always makes you happier than paying 11 GBP for a Vickers tank.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 1.5 >>

"The historical importance score is determined by how many were built, and how much operational service they had, and how much influence they had on the conflicts in which they were involved"

Just two were made, yes, two. It would score 1.0, or 0.5, but one of the two achieved 22 kills when it was captured by the Russians, (if we believe the white bands the tank crew painted on the barrel). The other one got destroyed. So no, it didn't change the war, but it was clearly quite effective, or at least it's crew was quite expert.

WARGAMING - 7.0 >>

Although it is a kit that everything fits well, it is not a super quick kit to make, like an Airfix or Matchbox. But all the same, it doesn't require great skills, and the final result is a sturdy and formidable tank. The other thing about this kit is that it can only represent in a generic way the multiple self-propelled guns the germans had, and was by no means a mass produced tank.

OVERALL - 8.0 >> 

This is a model most recommended to those like me who already have all the main german tanks, and want to have something different, albeit if all were used the same  operationally. I always like kits that have really fought, and not just have been prototypes or scrapped after some testing. But obviously, there are quite a lot of other tanks which were much more important in the war.The design is a very distinct one, not the typical Sturmeschultz or Jagdpanzer, and with their typical small variations, this has a unique body.

It is a pity that other nations don't have the coverage the german vehicles have had, with even the most rare and unique being modelled. Meanwhile, we still don't have some important British and Japanese tanks for example.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS

Model kit made by myself.