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Trumpeter's 1/35 German Geschutzwagen VI 21cm Morser 18 [sf] |
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Background
In 1942, Krupp received an order to design a new vehicle using existing Tiger components where possible, such as the engine, transmission, steel wheels and track. This vehicle was destined to be the beginning of a Grille (mortar) series of heavy, self-propelled weapons. Originally the vehicle mounted an 88mm main weapon, but soon larger versions were planned, including a vehicle that would field a huge 210mm Mortar 18/1 L/31, called the Grille 21. Full-scale production was slated to start in mid-1945, but the end of the war cancelled any further development.
Grille 21 had its armament mounted on the rail platform inside the hull allowing it to be dismounted if needed. It would be operated by the crew of eight (driver, commander, gunner, radio operator and four loaders). Powered by a Maybach HL230P30 or HL230P45 engine, Grille would be able to travel at maximum speed of 45 km/h with range of 250km. Fuel capacity was to be 1000 liters. This massive vehicle was nearly 40 feet long (with gun), 10 feet wide and nine feet high. Its armor protection ranged from 16mm (side) to 30mm (front). It weighed almost 60 tons loaded, but carried only 3 rounds of ammunition. One prototype with 170mm gun was almost completed in May of 1945 and was captured by British troops at Haustenbeck near Paderborn.
This in-box review will soon be followed by a full build article of this kit.
The Kit
The kit comes in Trumpeter-standard soft, light grey plastic on 15 flash-free grey spruesand a lower hull. The detail is thin, very crisp and well molded. Clean up is a breeze – this plastic is very soft and sprue-attachment points can be removed with just a swipe or two with a sanding stick. A small fret of photo-etch provides engine deck screens. Two metal springs are included: they appear to be run between the 'sled' that serves as a base for the massive 210mm mortar and the platform behind the weapon used to load ammunition and service the breech. I guess this platform is moved out of the way to make room for the weapon's recoil when firing. I'll have to wait until I build the model before I will know just how well that mechanism works. 'Moving Parts' always send up warning flags for me.
Open-topped armored vehicles have one annoying characteristic that complicates assembly. There is no easy way for the manufacturer to hide mold ejection pin marks – they will be one on side of the armor or the other, and both sides are visible on this vehicle. The Grille 21 has 13 marks on each of the two main side panels and another dozen or so on the back of the front-facing plates (of different sizes and depths).These will need to be filled in order to have any chance of placing in a contest. There are no areas that show obvious mold lines.
The 28 page instruction sheet is clear and complete, separating assembly into 30 steps. A color five-view is provided for painting only (since the kit does not come with any decals). The color go-by for painting has call-outs for Gunze Mr. Color (Lacquer), Model Master and Humbrol (Enamels), and Gunze Aqueous Hobby Color, Vallejo and Tamiya (Acrylics).
The color scheme suggested is Hull Red throughout, but photos of the completed model on the sides of the box show a Hull Red superstructure with a late-war German Yellow main weapon assembly and breech. Interestingly, there is no photo provided of the engine or transmission.
When I first received the big box containing the Trumpeter kit I was puzzled to understand how a rather simplistic, open-topped self-propelled weapon could have nearly 600 parts? Looking at the sprues started to bring the build together, but just a little. There are over 125 parts covering just the bogies, return rollers and axles. And then there are a whopping 131 parts (!) for the beautifully detailed Maybach engine and transmission. Trumpeter provides two small 'teaser' hatches that can be positioned open to reveal a little of the detail, or you can leave two larger plates (which have lift handles) off entirely to expose a little more of the work.)
Together, however, the running gear, engine and transmission make up less than half of the total parts – with the remainder of the build looking rather plain. Where do all those parts go? I guess I'll have to wait and see when I build it for the next article.
The massive barrel is not slide-molded, and is made up of two tubes with two pieces each. The centerline seams match up but will have to be cleaned up. The plastic is thin and will not have to be worked at all at the end.
The two vinyl tracks are very thick – much heavier than what you would find in a Dragon kit, for example. There is excellent detail on both sides of the track and they take adhesive, paint and pigments very well. I know this because I have encountered this track before when building the Trumpeter E-50. While the detail is good, the design is problematic. Having learned from the other build, however, I will apply what I know to this one and see if I have better luck. Essentially, the thickness of the track required me to pin the track down by drilling holes and using toothpicks as well as gluing the track to the bogies where possible. Fortunately, this model has many (many) more bogies and as a consequence the track should not curl up on the inside and outside of each run, allowing the model to sit on a surface evenly. We'll see. The connecting tabs are also too narrow and do not extend across the full width of the track. This produces an unrealistic break viewable at both edges of the connection – requiring a lot of fiddling around to make it look right.
There is only a single, lonely hull-mounted machine gun on this vehicle for close-in defense.
Conclusion
I think this kit will be a lot of fun to build – there are a lot of parts and the paint scheme is different. Plus, there's all that gorgeous detail under the hood. Searching the internet I found very little information on this vehicle and precious few pictures (2) available for comparison, so the modeler is on is own here as far as historical accuracy.
With a good finish this kit should build up into a nice representation of one of the many German prototype vehicles produced, discovered and uncovered in the closing days of WWII.
I recommend this kit to anyone who likes to build and finish heavy self-propelled guns. It finishes to nearly 300mm in length, and should certainly look impressive on a show table!
I would like to thank Stevens International for providing this kit for review, and to Internet Modeler for giving me the opportunity to build this kit – stay tuned for the full-build article to follow.
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