Mörser Karl 1/35 Trumpeter

Started by Michel Verschuere · 50 · 1 year ago · 1/35, Mörser Karl, Trumpeter, WWII
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    Michel Verschuere said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    This is a short report on my current project: It is huuge!


    It was a family gift for New Year and since I finished the last build just before the holidays, I started out on it right away. I am now about 70 hours in this project centered around Trumpeters' #00215 dated 2007.

    See also: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/trumpeter-00215-moerser-karl-geraet-040-041--104832

    It is a fairly nice kit. There are some issues with it though, mailny the rubber band tracks featured with the kit. These are no good at all so I replaced them with Trumpeter #02053 plastic tracks instead. Other than that, the kit shows its age a bit and there are many round elements in it that are to be joined in two halves, thus requiring careful sanding. I got an aftermarket PE kit for it as well but the use of it is limited: The model builds very nice OOB.






    I would never have bought this kit myself: The box is huuge and allows for building all versions of this heavy mortar used in the seige of Sebastopol and the Warsaw uprising amongst other key WWII events. I knew the kit though and when it landed on my lap as a gift, I was very happy.



    I am now ath the stage where I dry fit the tracks including application of sag. When that is done, I will adde further details and bring this build to the painting and weathering stage. Some parts on the real deal were cast Iron so I took care adding surface texture on them using thinned putty. I don't know for sure yet what to do with it when finished other than placing it in my display case, but I think I will make a little dio around it.





    Thanks for checking in and happy modeling!

    Michel.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    This is an impressive start already, Michel @michel-verschuere
    A pity about the tracks but you found yourself a nice replacement.
    It seems like this kit consists of quite a lot of parts.
    It would be great to see it presented in a diorama in the end.
    Looking forward to its progress.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    What an amazing entry, my friend @michel-verschuere!
    Replacing those links did the trick.
    Looking forward to it!

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    Hello Michel.
    It’s good to see you building and posting. I’ll bet this model is huge. The real thing must have been a monstrous beast. I can’t imagine what it was like to load and fire or worse yet be on the other end of it. These things made an incredible crater when they hit.

    By the looks of it you are well on your way to having another masterpiece in your collection. I usually replace the rubber band style tracks as well. For me they don’t have the same effect as those which are individual or multi pieces.

    I’m definitely strapped in for the ride and I have my popcorn ready too. This is going to be another epic build. You always impress me.

    I’ll be looking forward to your next installment.
    Take care my friend.

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    Erik Gjørup said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    That's a big one!

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    Michel Verschuere said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    Some more work on the reiling. I plan to place the piece in action so it is in the firing mode as stated in the instructions.


    Lots of fine work...

    Not for the faint minded...

    Oh well... moving ahead!

    Happy modeling!

    Michel

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    What an amount of fantastic work, my friend @michel-verschuere!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    Excellent work done, Michel @michel-verschuere

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    Michel Verschuere said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    Here is the status this evening: I have brought this build closer to the painting step:

    • Attached the reiling on the side, this needed care because the running planks are long and there was about 0.7mm curvature over the 20cm length of this. I attached the hinges one per one running front-to-back. It worked
    • Then followed various small parts that were not attached yet because of their fragility.

      Left are some PE parts and a handful of plastic parts. I will proceed primering in black from the rattle-can for shading.


      I am glad this one nears the painting step, I might actually clean the plastic first to make sure the primer sticks well enough.

    Happy modeling, Michel.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    Great progress, Michel @michel-verschuere
    Looking forward to the paint session.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    Nice progress, my friend @michel-verschuere!
    Looking forward to the painting!

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    Erik Gjørup said 1 year, 9 months ago:

    You really are fast-tracking this large build Michel!

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    Michel Verschuere said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Got this one ready for primering- and painting. Lot's of fiddly bits and PE was left to do. Not the easiest model, despite its age. This is exaclty what I read in most reviews. I think I will wash the pieces now to make sure the primer will stick well and then let dry. Thanks for checking in on this one @airbum, @fiveten @johnb @lgardner



    I did refrain from using too much of the PE, the sizing of some parts was so tiny it was actually scary!

    Happy modeling, Michel.

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    Erik Gjørup said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Always a pleasure to check in on your builds Michel!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 8 months ago:

    Looks wonderful so far, my friend @michel-verschuere!
    Looking forward to see it painted!