Resicast 8inch Gun MkII WWI Heavy Gun • Kit No. 351241
Continuing on with this two-part article involved placing the Roden Holt 75 Artillery Tractor in a diorama with a Resicast 8 inch Howitzer and populating it with some figures. When I initially began the project, I was generously offered resin figures of the Holt driver and two Royal Artillery troops by producer Model Cellar.
These figures were sculpted by Mike Good, who is one of the best in his business. It was around these figures that I planned a layout for the eventual scene.
One of the reference photos I studied showed a Holt 75 managing the transport of an earlier Mk of the 8” gun, along with some troops pushing along their bicycles along the same path. To capture the mood of this scene, I chose to have a couple of cyclists in infantry gear going by a Mk.II 8” Howitzer that was in the throes of being transported by the tractor.
The Howitzer included in the Roden Holt kit was a later Mk.VI, but I wanted to have one with the two recoil cylinders on the top, and the wider wheels as pictured in the Somme area in 1916.
RESICAST 8 INCH HOWITZER
The multi-media kit of the 8 inch Howitzer by Resicast was mastered by George Moore, and includes a limber. The etched metal sheet has spokes for the main wheels and a few other smaller details. Also included in the kit are the front and rear ramps to limit travel during the recoil, and four lifting poles to help with loading during transport. There were a number of additional small parts duplicated which I was happy to have (in case of loss or breakage) but unfortunately one of the main wheel castings was missing from the box, along with both limber wheels. Graham Seller of Resicast was prompt to respond to my request to rectify this, and sent me the missing wheels immediately after I’d contacted him.
I removed the parts from their casting blocks using a “Tiger” brand razor saw. The gun, cradle, breach and recoil cylinders were cemented together with cyano glue as a sub-assembly for painting.
The trail construction was straightforward enough, save for the etched metal frame for the front platform. I bent the parts differently for each side, resulting in a dimensional difference, and when trying to bend it correctly, ended up snapping the support for the one side. Careful use of cyano glue was needed to put everything together properly. Styrene rod is supplied for the brake mechanisms and recoil pistons, and I substituted a larger diameter rod .036” for the former ones since the tolerance was too loose in the supports supplied. The wheels were temporarily placed before painting to line up the brake shoes and cement them in position.
The construction of the main wheels has one build a specific left and right hand side. There was a slight gap on the outside rim after all parts had been sandwiched together which I filled with Aves Fixit epoxy putty.
I added a 0.4mm copper cable to the ammunition hoist mounted on the left side of the trail, and attached the pulley, hook and shackle to this. The cable was the smallest diameter I had, from Karaya of Poland. I had to add a small brass hook to secure the shackle to, which was a detail very hard to spot in any of my references.
Larger pour blocks were removed using a Tiger brand razor saw.
The main wheel assemblies consisted of both resin and etched brass parts.
The metal spokes fit the wheels nicely.
Some filler was needed to fill slight gaps around the outside edges of the wheels.
Posed against Model Cellar’s Artillery Crew, one gets a feel for the size of this gun.