Thursday, July 31, 2014

Weapons walkaround vol.5: British Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Gun

Subject: British Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Gun
Location: London an Edinburgh, UK, 2013.
Comments:The 25-pounder was the main field artillery weapon used by British Commonwealth and colonial infantry and armoured divisions of all types during the Second World War. Throughout the war each British-pattern infantry division was established with 72 25-pounders, in three field artillery regiments (battalions). Armoured divisions eventually were standardised with two field artillery regiments, one of which was self-propelled (see below). Before mid-1940 each regiment had two batteries (companies) of twelve guns; after that date regiments changed to batteries of eight guns and added a third battery, a process that was not completed until early 1943. In the late 1950s, the British Army reverted to batteries of six guns. Field artillery regiments had two batteries of 25-pounders and one of 5.5 inch guns. The early 18- and 25-pounders had been towed in the field by the Light Dragon, a tracked vehicle derived from a light tank, and the Morris CDSW. Throughout most of the Second World War the 25-pounder was normally towed, with its limber, behind a 4x4 Field Artillery Tractor called a "Quad". These were manufactured by Morris, Guy and Karrier in England, and, in greater numbers, by Ford and Chevrolet in Canada. In the 1950s, the British Army replaced the various "Quads" with a new Bedford 3-ton gun tower fitted with a specialist body. In 1941, the British Army improvised a self-propelled 25-pounder named the Bishop, on the chassis of the Valentine tank. This mount was unsatisfactory and was replaced in 1942 by the American M7 Priest. However, this complicated the supply of ammunition in the field, and was replaced in 1944 by the Sexton, which was designed and mostly manufactured in Canada (some 2/3 of ordnances and mountings were imported from the UK due to limited Canadian production capacity) and mounted the 25-pounder on a Ram or Grizzly tank chassis. By World War II standards, the 25-pounder had a smaller calibre and lower shell-weight than many other field-artillery weapons, although it had longer range than most. (Most forces had entered the war with even smaller 75 mm (3.0 in) designs but had quickly moved to 105 mm (4.1 in) and larger weapons.) It was designed for the British practice of suppressive (neutralising) fire, not destructive fire that had proved illusory in the early years of World War I. Nevertheless the 25-pounder was considered by all to be one of the best artillery pieces in use. The effects caused by the gun (and the speed at which the British artillery control system could respond) in the North-West Europe Campaign of 1944–1945 made many German soldiers believe that the British had secretly deployed an automatic 25-pounder. In UK service most guns were replaced by the 105mm Abbot and some by the Oto Melara 105mm Pack Howitzer and the remainder by the 105mm L118 Light Gun. The last British military unit to fire the 25-pounder in its field role (as opposed to ceremonial use) was the Gun Troop of the Honourable Artillery Company on Salisbury Plain in 1992.








Sunday, July 27, 2014

Military Figures vol.6: Fallschirmjäger in Crete 1941


Subject:
Fallschirmjäger Crete 1941
Scale:
1/16
Manufacturer:
Verlinden
Price
US$ 20,00 + shipping
Description
Resin casted figure
Comments
This is a great figure of the famous raiders of Crete. Verlinden's Fallschirmjäger has great details and is an easy model to build. It was painted with Tamiya acrylics on the airbrush and Vallejo acrylics with the brush. 











Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Military Figures vol.5: Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945


Subject:
Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945
Scale:
1/16
Manufacturer:
Dragon
Price
US$ 20,00 + shipping
Description
injection molded figure with extras (weapons). Waterslide decals
Comments
Dragon has a relatively large series of 1/16 scale military figures. As with their great 1/35 scale kits, the large warriors were of high standards. I was very interested on the uniform and weapons of this kit. Fit is ok. there are not to many parts and construction is quite straightforward. I painted it with acrylics. Tamiya was used with the airbrush and Vallejo at the details. I still have some problems with the face painting with acrylics. I am trying a few new moves. I hope to get better results on my next project!








Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Kit review vol.21 : U-Boot Typ II



Subject:
U-Boot typ IIB
Scale:
1/144
Manufacturer:
ICM
Price
US$ 25,00 + Shipping
Description
Injection molded in grey plastic. Panel lines are raised where appropriate and deck detail has recessed wood work. Waterslide decals complete the painting guide.
Comments
This is  a nice kit from ICM and completes a series of U-boots in 1/144 scale along with releases from other manufacturers. Revell has the Type VII and XXI, ICM the Type II and XXIII, and trumpeter has a greta kit of the XXIII too. Now, all we need is a scale down version of Revell´s type IX and we can get a fleet of U-boots in constant scale. ICM´s Type II is a nice kit, with reduced number of parts but nice detail. It should build into a good replica of this boat. 



Sunday, July 20, 2014

Work in progress vol.14: Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945 - READY!


Subject:
Obersturmfuhrer Totenkopf Division Budapest 1945
Scale:
1/16
Manufacturer:
Dragon
Price
US$ 20,00 + shipping
Description
injection molded figure with extras (weapons). Waterslide decals
Comments
Dragon has a relatively large series of 1/16 scale military figures. As with their great 1/35 scale kits, the large warriors were of high standards. I was very interested on the uniform and weapons of this kit. Fit is ok. there are not to many parts and constriction is quite straightforward. 

The sprues:



Construction:






The completed kit:







Friday, July 18, 2014

Weapons Walkaround vol.6: M102 Howitzer




Subject: M102 Howitzer
Location: South Military Command Museum, Porto Alegre, Brasil, 2012.
Comments: The M102 105mm howitzer is used in air mobile (helicopter) and light infantry operations.The weapon carriage is lightweight welded aluminum, mounted on a variable recoil mechanism. The weapon is manually loaded and positioned, and can be towed by a 2 ton truck or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), can be transported by UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, or can be dropped by parachute with airborne units. When emplaced, the howitzer's high volume of fire compensates in large measure for the lower explosive weight of the projectile compared to the Army's 155mm and 8-inch howitzers. Since 1964, the Army has acquired 1,150 M102 towed howitzers. This weapon is being replaced by the M119-series 105mm howitzer. (reference: wikipedia)