German Howitzer 15cm sFH18 with Limber Dragon 1/35

I have stocked only the Trumpeter artillery crew set for a long time. Then the crew was useless; I got this howitzer several years ago.

This kit has too many part number misprints in the assembling manual. It was the most brutal manual in the Dragon kits I have ever made. It was the level that I wanted to throw out, not the spelling mistake of the color names as usual. I have thrown out this photo this March…
Then, I restarted it because the artillery crew’s two kits stock would not be completed forever without starting. Though the parts mold is sharp, then this kit is very disappointing. A problem may become bigger than a recall if it is a car.

Including the cylindrical part of the A47, often there are not indicated parts of the instruction manual; part number difference mistake is scattered.
The brass hydraulic pressure piston should be joined to the plastic parts. It was a mistake if the plastic component was glued together like a picture. It’s difficult to explain in sentences.

I am assembling the wheels and a pedestal part of the howitzer. There are many complicated parts, and not easy to understand how to assemble them. The not cleared points will be considered later.

My assembly might be a mistake. There seems to be no problem when I see it a little. Since I got tired very much, I wonder if I shift to finishing up the SdKfz223 for a change…
(05-November-2015)

I have written only a bad point of the assembling manual. There are a lot of parts with the part of 2 legs; it is also complicated. The parts mounting layout is shown from the left and right, which is very helpful for my assembling.

Because assembling was over, they are memo photographs from various points of view before the painting. I wonder if there are many mistakes.

The metal barrel is perfect. I think these days, manufacturers have a full of service spirit like this metal barrel often attached to the kit from the beginning. When it’s metal, the complete round goes out quickly, so such intention does whether you say that I increase in a precise sense. It may be complacency. The metal barren quickly reproduce a true circle, increasing the precision even if it may be self-satisfaction.

Through a puzzle-like assembling process, it was more complicated than expected. 15cm sFH18 Howitzer is quite extensive. This presence is interesting because I often made a small cannon on my palm.

I think the measuring instrument has a good appearance if perpendicular to the ground. Firstly, I intended to adjust it perpendicularly, and last, because the height of the slip stopper inclined the measuring at the tail end.

The backside is reproduced as such, too.
(21-November-2015)

Now, the form is shaped. Many artillery shells are attached. Processing of cleaning the parting lines is hard work.

There are small goods, including the working mats and the bursting charge.

The primary color is German gray.
(26-November-2015)

Well, I failed. I would spill adhesive on the tire. A part of the tire has melted. I say that these are splashes of mud and want to deceive it, but it is considered unnatural…

I will dirty other parts equally in a good balance when I make here splashes of mud. After all, I fixed it. I piled photocoagulation putty and sharpened it. Still, there was an irregularity, and it wasn’t easy. Well, it became significantly better than leaving it without a fix.

I blew a little light gray on a base of German gray.

An attachment is painted, and detailed parts are painted. It will be completed soon.
(28-November-2015)

15cm sFH18 is the German army’s main heavy howitzer. It was equipped with the Hummel self-propelled howitzer. It produced approximately 5,500 by the end of the war.

Depending on the bullet type, the maximum range is about 13,000m to 19,000m. It was inferior in the maximum range compared to the Russian Army cannon.

This kit’s elevation angle was movable, but I was worried about the durability, so the movable points were glued firmly.

This way, it looks like even though the instruction was challenging, anyway, the main body certainly has a good appearance.

I like the metal gun barrel; I could omit the filing and accurate shape.

It isn’t easy to paint the red and white border straight on the measurement pole with a free hand. Are there any tips for drawing a straight line neatly with freehand?

I refrained from heavy tipping this time. I gave a delicate surface by washing and emphasized an edge with a dry brush lightly. I thought that this had better balance when I set it beside the shells, not to do weathering.

The decal on the gun mount side has small letters, and exact feelings increase.

It is hard to see the tools, such as a shovel and pickaxe, placed on one of the main arms.　I considered a balance of the worn-out condition of the metal surface and the rust for paint.

I felt like having made many white and red poles this time. It may be a mistake. It’s a good accent for the model.

If it is called a dragon, I’m waiting for the Patriot missile system, which was scheduled to release this April but is not yet on sale. Dragon model had previously led the AFV model field with the highest quality kit, and I’m disappointed with the present situation. There are a lot of legacies of the Dragon in my stock.
Sorry, the Dragon did the massive hike in prices recently, and I used the reproachful term. Anyway, I hope Dragon releases the Patriot set early!

I received a question from a modeler in the Netherlands about a painting procedure. I introduce it here, too, as an example.

The painting procedure of the body and limber.

1. Airbrush paint in German gray overall.
2. Lightly airbrush paint on a wide part with brighter gray that mixed white in German gray.
3. Airbrush paint in black on the muzzle and the shadow areas.
4. Handwriting brush for tires, shells, an aiming scope, painting the red and white poles and the pickaxe, etc.
5. Pasting the decals.
6. Overall coating of Mr.Color Clear.
7. Washing with enamel thinner and dark brown. The next is washing with enamel thinner with dark yellow.
8. Washing with a pastel (Mig’s pigment is famous for modelers), thinner, and a little clear enamel for rust. Enamel clear is good for sticking the pastel particle, in case it’s too glossy, maybe needed matte clear coating.
9. Drybrushing in the buff and sand yellow.
10. The last is a dry brushing in a metal exposure part with metallic silver.

In Japan, the Creos Mr. Color is famous for lacquer paint. It’s a convenient and strong paint surface. I usually use lacquer for basic paint and enamel paint for color adjustment. I suppose Humbrol Enamel has many users in Europe.

For the howitzer loading part, I brushed lightly metallic dry after blowing black.

I think the board on the left side of the cannon is a calculation table. Because an etched parts mold is sharp, I thought it looked good as it was…

I let a mold clear with a little dry brushing. I am content that there is detail as a character seems to be readable.

The limbers have good mold, like the main body.

Feel of the material of equipment, such as the mat, improved by washing and drybrush.

The right of the top rounded shells is anti-concrete shells (Gr.19 Be). The left is standard ammunition for soft targets (Gr.19).

The painting of this equipment was unexpectedly taken a lot of time. It’s a good combination with the firing position cannon.

I displayed size AA batteries for an actual feeling of the size.

I thought the cannon had not had so many appeal points compared to a tank model. After all, I took a lot of photographs after completion. The outward appearance was quite remarkable. I like it very much. It’s the fact that it was tough to assemble. It would be perfect if I made the remaining gun crew figure.
(30-November-2015)