Matt,

I just received a (FREE!!!)* 1/72 Hasegawa K5(E) and am hoping to equip it with 1/64 wheels and attach it to flatcars with KD-802 (American Standard) couplers on the outside and matching chain link couplers on the inside so that I can operate this railgun on my ‘S’-scale layout.

This is actually my first piece of German equipment and the first piece of equipment I’m attempting to make railroad functional (though several pieces of equipment, including an M1977CBT have become railroad LOADS).

I’m hoping to find pictures or information on the transportation of ‘Leopold’ or ‘Robert’ (aka. Anzio Annie’ and ‘Anzio Express) from New York to their first permanent home at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, where they were combined into a single functioning gun named ‘Leopold.’

I hope your project’s going well.

*I actually gave my friend a 1/72 Panzerjäger Tiger last month and, since he picked up the Hobbyboss K5(E), he gave me one of his Hasegawa K5(E)s.

Your job is excellent, Very good details.-

Omar

Thank you Omar, I hope the build is being enjoyed.

I got the elevator pulley, motor and cable assemblies finished





now to finishup the handrails

I think I'm about out of handrails to replace!!





I was talking to "Sea Dog" (owner) at the local hobby shop and auto body emporium this week and we figured I must have bought about fifty pounds of evergreen for modifications on this kit. Pretty soon I think there will be more white than black showing.

Dear Carl, That's d*mned nice of you to share viyal tips that may help to prevent mental breakdown and intermittent fits of insane gibbering and muttering "Somewhere... somewhere ... those blasted wheels MUST be SOMEwhere!!!"

I say that if you can keep just one military modeler from this sad, sad fate, it's time well spent.

What a high level of commitment this must take. Truly looking very cool!









~ Jeff

thanks guys..

well just when I thought the handrails might be done...
a few more....





and I see a couple more just waiting for the center sections.

Dave

I got to quit with the detail.





and this stuff you can't see without a flashlight as it's inside the frame rails.

Nice work. I am thinkingthe center loading platform,lined up with the breech, ought to be from one of the ammo carts.
Imagine: The carts come up loaded on the elevator. The shell cart, gets the upper section rolled to the center area,leaving the lower part of the cart empty. After the round is rammed home, the empty cradle goes back along those right angled guides to the cart.
Then, the powder chrage cart repeats for it's delivery. I think in a true "in acction" setting, 1 cart should be empty on top, with the shell or cartrige tray in place on the center section.

Hey Carl,

I was thinking the same thing but...and I don't have any informatin on this except for a video clip .. but in the video clip the german gunners are actually rolling the shell across the platform into what looks like the loading cradle.

I had assumed that the curved part of the ammo carts slid off the cart onto the platform (on wheels maybe?) and across it into the ramming position which would leave one cart with nothing (no curved section) on it during the loading process. And likewise when the carts are on the bridgework loaded with the shell and powder charge the loading platform wouldn't have the curved shell holder ramming thing on it. But then again the tollerances between the carts and loading platform whould have to be VERY close for the curved shell, powder holder to be able to roll from one to the other especially if it's on wheels. And also if it was loaded this way then why were they rolling the shell? Thats why I modeled them like the curved shell holder could pivot sideways sort of from cart to platform and the curved section on the loading platform could pivot, or roll to the side to roll a shell onto it. But I'm probably wrong so please if anyone has any information how this process was actually done please let me know, pictures would be nice, and I'll change it.

But thanks for the input Carl, you are probably right since it does makes sense. I sure wish I could have seen one of these things or at least find a book to borrow for a week.

After closer examination of the few pictures available on line, and Luis's masterpiece build of this gun I see the instructions have the front and rear center sections reversed..so.. out with the razor knife and saw.
Positions in the instructions:


parts removed:

center pieces relocated to proper positions:

and a start in scratch building the front inside the frames catwalks and screen coverings.

Hopefully I'll have it finished by the end of next week. Then a couple weeks of paint and decales and ... what's next.

Modifications and additions -- DONE! (I think??)




And put together for final fitting before paint.



And yes I guess you can see all the scratch built detail between the frame rails

Model group meeting / build at the house tomorrow and then -- dissamble and off to the garage for paint!! Then for decales which will be another feat in itself. Dave

Oh man, oh man! What a beauty! Your detailing is so exquisite! I wish I just had a built one to buy and own but I could never go through a build like this. So much dedication!

Very nice work and I'm glad you shared it with us!








~ Jeff

Hello it's very nice to watch the final assembly of your masterpiece because it show really what big( hudge ) amount of evergreen work you did (and accurate way to modify to match real deal )!!!
I suppose you will have hundred of pics in this stage before to spray final paint ; non advertised people seeing your Monster will say ... one more DORA ....Hoooooooooooooo NO This is THE 1/35 MASTERPIECE DORA model !!!!! Congrats

May be in the future you can built on some 3 or 4 railways cars holding all "from the box" blacks parts as spare for the battle !!! HA HA

Wonderful job.I like the relation of the shortened barrel to the rest of your gun. Look for more pictures of the bottoms of the hoist towers, I don't think that bottom bar exists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1HF3Jr5w9w
Pause at around 1 :40. It looks more like the HobbyBoss 1/72nd rendering.

Wow. late in the video, it shows the shell being slid across on the cart topper, to line up with the breech, like I had thought earlier!

I hope this can get in a magazine as a feature. This is very clean work.

It looks cool all built together.

How are you going to paint this? Do you have a minispray gun? Let me know. Thanks.

thanks Jeff, Michel and Mark, and Mark I'll be spraying it with PPG automotive basecoat, custom color gray using a DeVilbiss touchup gravity feed gun.

And Carl, when do we stop with the details .. if your like me - NEVER.. If you don't mind could you post a picture of the bottom of the elevator towers on your 1/72 scale. As far as the loading tables I really think you are right but videos show both sliding and rolling. Watch times 3:03 & 1:58 (and there are more out there like it). But then 2:55 also shows sliding. The only problem with that is the top of the cart would have to be wide enough that there is NO room between the cart and the table as when rolling a tray with a 5 ton shell in it any gap between the table and cart would prevent rolling and also the elevator isn't wide enough for the cart to be that wide.

I sure wish there was pictures of this setup that I could actually see.

Anyone out there with a picture???? any information would be nice. Michael?? Luis??

Anyone?? If not I'll just leave it as is...

Hey,

I don't have any pics, just wondering if you needed to borrow a spray gun. Looks like yours is fine enough.

This should be good!!!

I really think you should save all the photo's of everything and send something in to Military Modelling magazine or something. Either that or you could swing a Champagne bottle at it when its finished.

Thanks Carl. The elevator brace bottoms of the two kits are really different.

As far as the loading platform and munitions carts what do you think of this .. I think they should slide .. period. The times in the video when they are rolling something, maybe it's the empty brass, or something from the Carl or Loki, same diameter?? I'm thinking (Ya. I know thats dangerous it means more modification and detail) Cut the rounded top part off the carts, flatten them and widen just a little. Fabricate tracks on top of the cart that match up to the loading platform. Scratch build slides that are the width of the cart, scratch build curved shell holders like the one they have fastened stationary to the loading platform (remove this, I think this is why there is so much confusion to start with) and fix them to the slides so you can push the cart up to the platform, slide the shell holder off the cart, onto the platform and into the same position as the one they have fixed.

What do you think?? Any one else with ideas, comments psycological help. Thanks Dave

Hey!
2:55 of the video, 2 things.
1. The bagged propellant was slid on its cart to the center rammer area, the cartridge end was left behind.
2.Look how close the edge of the cart was to the rammer section. Obviously the cart tops had to slide over. There are rails detailed into both size Dora kit rammer sections (platform)So there were matching wheels on the cart toppers to engage the rails on the center rammer section.

I'd be getting close if I'd let well enough alone!!

I found a few things that NEED changing. Like, the equipment boxes on the rail coupler carts are in the wrong place. The one facing outboard is way to close to the front of the cart. When moving that back the handrailings are to large, scale wise and might as well be replaced at this time. Around the cart there should be a larger solid strip to boarder the expanded metal (see Hobbyboss's 1/72 scale. I think they have it right. ) And I'm not positive but being a welder in the iron mines for a few years I doubt that the equipment boxes would be fastened to only the expanded metal because of vibration and flex when fireing so I put O guage deck plating on the front of the carts where the foot traffic would be heavy and as a support under the boxes.


Also around the side frame mounting point I'd assume there would be large amounts of grease pumped there to lubricate the friction points (where the thing turns on the cart) so I put a grease catch ring there like on the LARGE iron mining shovels, it looks right anyway.

And I think we almost all agree (builders of this beast that is, right Carl) that the shell holders mounted to the munition carts would "slide" over on to the loading platform and be positioned in front of the ram rod so - out with the band saw


and on to making the new cart tops and sliding systems


hopefully - if the phone stays quiet, or I don't answer it, I'll have the carts and loading platform finished tomorrow and on to the trunion modification that need attention!

I want to AGAIN thank Carl, Luis. Michael, Tom and everyone else who has been so helpful in comming up with modifications and details that could use, and those that need attention before painting. And the quest continues!!

Dave

I was able to rework the carts, shell cradles and platforms today
The carts:

the shell cradles:

together:

the next three show how the cart would roll up next to the loading platform, the platform would lower and the shell cradle slid out onto it and then the platform raised to ram rod the shell forward into the breach:



If the weather stays crappy for a couple more days I should get caught up on reciently discovered modification points. Tomorrow the breach trunions.

I got some more details about the breach block trunion ladders and lifting hooks. Thank you Luis,. They are wrong!! So--
The originals...

there should be only four "large" step platforms with a lifting frame in the center

this lifting frame should be much bigger
The originals removed....


I made up the frame work for the step platforms with the lifting frames, note the lifting frames for the forward side of the trunions

decking on


tomorrow night I hope to get the lifting hooks made and mounted, the step platforms mounted and puttied and the lower portion of the unit fabricated.

Wow! This is amazing. Great job. I look forward to following this build.
-Sean