HobbyBoss 1/72 German 80cm K(E) Railway Gun 'Dora' (82911) - Demo Build

[davecov]

Another little update.

I had been awaiting the delivery of some wooden cubes to support the base. Today they have arrived:

I carried out some trial positioning of the cubes. Having them on skewers in pairs made it easier to handle them but I doubt they will stay there:

This layout of cubes is almost the one I have decided on although since taking this photo I have added a single one on the right hand side:

Before working on the two large sections, I decided to glue cubes on the small centre section on it's own. That way if it didn't work out correctly then I wouldn't have wasted a lot of time and glue:

After glueing, I turned the small section up the right way and put a heavy book on it. The supports worked perfectly and allow a bit of flexing on an uneven surface. In view of this I have decided that additional battens won't be needed:

Hopefully, the rest of the cubes will be glued to the larger base sections by the time of my next update.

That is all for now

Dave

 

[scottie3158]

Dave,
Great idea.

 

[davecov]

It has been a few weeks since my last update but things are still moving along - albeit slowly.

I have been concentrating on the base sections and once the wooden cubes had been glued to the underside, I gave the sections a coat of black paint:

I then brush-painted a first coat of grey on the "gravel". The right section:

Mid Section:

Left Section:

The mid section was masked off and the sleepers airbrushed with H110 Matt Natural Wood. The masking tape was removed from the section and re-used on another section:

Applying masking tape between the sleepers on the left section:

After spraying the left section, I started removing the masking tape:

The masking tape has been removed from the left section now:

The process was repeated with the right section:

I still have a lot of painting to do but that is all for now.

Dave

 

[davecov]

Remember this demo-build? Well, I am finally in a position to resume this build after a gap of about 10 months. I won't be devoting all of my available modelling time to it but will be making progress in-between other builds.

When I last reported on this build, I had been working on the base sections. I applied more paint to the "gravel". This is the smallest base section which will, eventually, be glued to one of the larger sections:

The first of the large base sections:

Here is the second large section:

I glued the small section to one of the larger sections and unpainted rails were fitted to the base sections and fishplates glued in place:

I will not be permanently joining what will be two large base sections, so I have cut the last eight fishplates in half:

The half fishplates were glued to the ends of each section's rails:

I still have a lot of painting and weathering to do on the base but it will be left to one side for now so that I can work on Dora.

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[Ian M]

Hi Dave. Glad to see you picking this up again.

 

[JR]

Yes good to see this on the go again
Will sit and marvel of the shear size and the amount of crew if took to work Dave .

 

[davecov]

Despite lots of photos and posts, it has taken me a while to figure out where I was when this build stalled. Then I remembered. I couldn't continue assembly without applying some decals. The "some" decals were only four in number, so I decided to apply the rest as well.

After Klearing all of the relevant parts and assemblies for decalling, I got started. These two box structures join the two mounts together:

Here, the decalling of the intermediate carriers is 50% completed:

After what seemed like an eternity, decalling of the four intermediate carriers is now complete. There is a little silvering here and there, but hopefully, I can put that right. Note that each of the intermediate carriers are numbered from I through to IV. The decal sheet and decalling profile gives all of the different Roman numerals the same number (either 1 or 10), makes it difficult to work out what goes where. I had to resort to going back through the instructions to work out which was which:

Close up of one of the intermediate carriers. I noticed that the grating has come up slightly on the top but have decided to leave it as it is:

Next it was time for the eight bogies to be done. Again, I had to work out which was which before I could apply the Roman numerals. I have only applied a few decals as I have come across a snag. Following the instructions, I glued parts to the sides of the bogies and now I find that a couple of decals have to go under the parts. Not sure whether to rip the parts off, apply decals and put the parts back on or else cut the decals to fit around the parts:

Awaiting my decision...:

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[boatman]

Despite lots of photos and posts, it has taken me a while to figure out where I was when this build stalled. Then I remembered. I couldn't continue assembly without applying some decals. The "some" decals were only four in number, so I decided to apply the rest as well.

After Klearing all of the relevant parts and assemblies for decalling, I got started. These two box structures join the two mounts together:

Here, the decalling of the intermediate carriers is 50% completed:

After what seemed like an eternity, decalling of the four intermediate carriers is now complete. There is a little silvering here and there, but hopefully, I can put that right. Note that each of the intermediate carriers are numbered from I through to IV. The decal sheet and decalling profile gives all of the different Roman numerals the same number (either 1 or 10), makes it difficult to work out what goes where. I had to resort to going back through the instructions to work out which was which:

Close up of one of the intermediate carriers. I noticed that the grating has come up slightly on the top but have decided to leave it as it is:

Next it was time for the eight bogies to be done. Again, I had to work out which was which before I could apply the Roman numerals. I have only applied a few decals as I have come across a snag. Following the instructions, I glued parts to the sides of the bogies and now I find that a couple of decals have to go under the parts. Not sure whether to rip the parts off, apply decals and put the parts back on or else cut the decals to fit around the parts:

Awaiting my decision...:

That is all for now.

Dave

Dave how did you glue the parts on with super glue ? if so sqirt some superglue remover an then remove the parts an fit the decals on then refits the parts is this possible ?
chrisb

 

[davecov]

Chris, I am not worried about the way I remove the parts - it is just a case of whether I can be bothered to or not.

Dave

 

[minitnkr]

You're on a roll w/decals, why take a chance on killing your mojo, roll on big guy.

 

[davecov]

Another little update of what was many hours of work. It was a good job that I delayed the decision on whether to remove parts from the bogies or not. I was finding it very difficult to get the decals to fit as HobbyBoss had suggested so I referred to my "Deutsche Eisenbahngeschütze. Rohr-Artillerie auf Schienen" book. There were three or four photos showing the stencils on the bogies and they differed both in position and in some cases were completely different.

Here are two bogies. The top one is how HobbyBoss would have the decals placed. The bottom one has had the decals rearranged to better match the photos of "Dora":

The third, fourth, fifth and sixth bogies have all been done now:

They were followed by the first, second, seventh and eighth fourth bogies:

That is all for now. Work will resume at the weekend.

Dave

 

[JR]

Massive undertaking Dave, but will be an incredible model at the end.
Keep going.

 

[scottie3158]

Excellent work mate.

 

[Jakko]

Deutsche Eisenbahngeschütze. Rohr-Artillerie auf Schienen

Is that by Gerhard Taube? I didn’t know it existed, but looking it up just now, for under €14 (plus postage) for 184 pages, I couldn’t just leave it

 

[davecov]

Yes it is, Jakko. It has over 100 photos of "Dora" as well as lots of information on other railway guns.

Dave

 

[davecov]

Back home today and was able to get a little more work done.

It very near the time to join the two mounts together. First of all, I had to glue the bearings in place. Note that the end of two bearings are male and two are female so that they can join together:

The other bearings:

I am not sure what the technical name is for these boxes but they have been glued to one mount:

They will be left overnight before I join the two mounts together. Then I will have a huge structure to manhandle around the modelling bench:

That is all for now.

Dave

 

[boatman]

Is that by Gerhard Taube? I didn’t know it existed, but looking it up just now, for under €14 (plus postage) for 184 pages, I couldn’t just leave it

HI Dave the gun is comin on lovley nice work an the book about the dora is there a english vershion ? an where can i get one an all up price please as id love to see all those photos of dora
chrisb

 

[davecov]

Chris, I couldn't find an English version of the book so I had to buy the German version. Not that it matters too much to me as the photos are still worth buying the book for. That book is not just about "Dora" though, the other pages are about other German railway guns. I have been on AbeBooks and a second-hand copy is for sale for £14.17 plus postage. New versions are £90 or more. I feel lucky I got my second-hand copy for £9.63 + £2.80 p&p.

BTW, another book specifically about "Dora" and also written by Taube is for sale at £182.78 plus almost £40 postage - and that is a used copy! There are new copies slightly cheaper though.

Dave

 

[boatman]

WOW Dave well thanks for the reply but at that price an cant read it i think i'll give it a miss an just look forward to seein your model come to life
cheers sir an jen an i hope you feel better
chrisb an jen

 

[Jakko]

For a modeller, there are definite advantages to having learned German both in school and IRL