....and for my next trick????...........Any colour you like as long as it's grey.

[Guest]

Hi All,

Ok..... I'm about to crack in to "Hobby Boss 1:72 scale Morser Karl Gerat (can't work out how to do an "umlat" over the "a" ...... So I apologise to ur German friends)........ On first sight this kit looks good. Lots of detail on the component parts, no flash and instructions that look pretty "instructive" ...... The kit has options for Gerat 040 or 041 (Device 1 or 2)........

I've done a bit of research on this puppy, thankfully there is a lot out there on the net...... For all it's formidable appearance and specification it was actually a bit of a white elephant by all accounts........... I found one blokey who has built this, and seems to know a bit about the "Karl" and gives pointers on a few innacuracies in the kit and what to do about them......... Good Man!!!!

So now I'm wondering........ Do I build it with a "just out of the factory look" which from as far as I call tell entails gluing it all together and then dipping it in a bucket of grey paint ........... or do I throw some mud and a touch of rust on it and mount it sitting on top of a pile of crap?????

Here are some photos I took before I start.............Three of the four bags have two sprues in.....so there are a lot of bits to go together.

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I'll post some more on this as I go along.........

Cheers to All

Peter

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[John]

I've got a few Hobbyboss kits most 1/35 but looking at them they look like a really good kit, most seem to have PE's and rubber tracks which saves loads of time.

Looking forward to your thoughts on this kit

[Guest]

The Hobbyboss M4 High Speed Tractor you have in is superb john, lovely kit.

However, Fresh Grey or rusty? I doubt that they(it?) would have been allowed to get too rough but the general wear and tar is to be expected but not battle damage. Other alternative but really, you would have to be dedicated, is assuming that they were abandoned, did they have time to decay much before the allies overran them and captured them? Might be worth finding as much info as to their fate before you decide. I personally would go for a lightly weathered grey but I am boring lol.

[Guest]

The Hobbyboss M4 High Speed Tractor you have in is superb john, lovely kit. However, Fresh Grey or rusty? I doubt that they(it?) would have been allowed to get too rough but the general wear and tar is to be expected but not battle damage. Other alternative but really, you would have to be dedicated, is assuming that they were abandoned, did they have time to decay much before the allies overran them and captured them? Might be worth finding as much info as to their fate before you decide. I personally would go for a lightly weathered grey but I am boring lol.

I did consider maybe icorporating it into a small dio.......... Factory type thing. I've found an overhead gantry crane close to scale (HO railway thing)........ Thought maybe with a few figures fitting the Shell cradle and ram assembly............

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As for being abandoned after the war............. Of the 5 "Carls" that were built for the army .......... Only the whereabouts of two were known. One was shipped to the USA for testing and the other and only survivor is in the Kubinka Tank Museum............. The others are believed to have been melted down by the Russians. There was one other built for research purposes but that diasseared and was probably melted down as well.............

I think i'll just crack on with it and see where it takes me................

Cheers to All

Peter

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[Guest]

I think a diorama with a couple of figures would look very effective with a model such as this. I would go with a lightly weathered look appropriate with normal use on a railway line. I suspect a pristine factory grey will always look just that bit too perfect and a realistic look will be far more satisfying.

[Guest]

I think a diorama with a couple of figures would look very effective with a model such as this. I would go with a lightly weathered look appropriate with normal use on a railway line. I suspect a pristine factory grey will always look just that bit too perfect and a realistic look will be far more satisfying.

I think a bit of weathering..............But with restraint:granade:

Cheers to All

Peter

[Guest]

Hi Peter i will be doing the the 1/35 version of this with the rail wagons so i will be watching this carefully, the factory setting sounds cool.

scott

[Guest]

Looks great , a little dio is a must and agree wih the other lads a light weathering is also a great shout

Looking forward to this one Peter

Richy

[Guest]

Well I made a start this evening............... Spent a couple of hours trimming and cleaning up the parts for the suspension and wheels ........... and there are a lot of wheels:shocking:

....Tomorrow night we'll start getting a little paint on.

Cheers to All

Peter

[Guest]

Ok guys.........Here's the first bit............With rusty wheels and a bit of Mud............

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Cheers to All

Peter

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[Guest]

Nice start Peter. I agree, a few figures are a must to give a real sense of the size of this beast.

Andy

[Guest]

And now we have the tracks on.................

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I've started a little on the superstructure...........and I'll paste a few piccies when I've got some progress on it..............

............and yes, I agree I need a couple of figures to show off the scale (But I don't think I'll go for the full crew........ There was 1 officer, 2 drivers and 18 gunners. Might be a bit much).......... I'll have to see if I can find some 1:72 "Artillery" troops.........

Cheers to All

Peter

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[Guest]

You aint kidding that there is a lot of wheels, coming on a treat now.

[Guest]

You aint kidding that there is a lot of wheels, coming on a treat now.

18 each side................. made up of 29 components for each side............. I'm glad that bit's out of the way.........

[Guest]

I agree I don't think you need anything like a full crew or you'll be painting figures for ever more. Just a couple to give the model a sense of scale and proportion and bring it to life a bit should do the job.