In my little corner of the world, the lastest batch ("E19") of HäT sets has arrived.
I am particularly happy about the two Skoda guns, having been lobbying for ages for styrene kits of these important guns which saw extensive service in WW1 and WW2.
The Skoda guns come four per set in a small box, which is excellent value for money as the sets cost about the same as a standard HäT figure set, or the cheapest Hasegawa or Revell kits. They are hard plastic (styrene), and come with a exploded view drawing instead of instructions. This is not a problem with the Skoda 100 mm m14 howitzer (6 parts per gun) but for the tiny Skoda 75mm m15 mountain gun (8 parts per gun) you need to check reference pictures to get everything into the right place. Wargamers must not worry since getting the whole battery together can be done in an hour or so.
The amount of detail is about the best you could possibly expect for a six part kit, better than most white metal gun kits I have seen. The gunshields are nearly translucent, they could not be thinner given the technology and material. I don't have many measurements at hand now but the m15's wheels had a diameter of 80 cm, and the kit's wheels scale out ok. They are toylike, however, and the weakest part in the two kits combined.
The crew set (no 8258) contains 32 figures in eight useful poses, see http://www.hat.com/Curr3/Bx8258AC/Bx8258AC.html. The sculptor seems to be the same who did the WW1 German Jaeger and Infantry sets, so the style is identical, with good anatomy, fair detail (although no-one carries any kit), convincing folds, but some weak areas such as very thin ankles. They are way better than the figures in HäT's German, French, U.S. or Ottoman artillery sets, but not the best figures on the market.
There is no flash to speak of and only small mould seems. The material is the same soft plastic as the Jaeger / Infantry sets, so softer than e. g. Airfix figures, but harder than the tacky, rubbery material HäT has been experimenting with for earlier WW1 sets such as the US Infantry. They have a good size for 1/72.
There is a number of extras included such as a shovel, some wicker cases, wooden boxes and, most usefully, shells of different lenght. Good value for money again, as this set is cheaper than a standard HäT set of 48 figures.
Will upload some photos when I get the time this weekend. Regards, Pat
I think there will always be room for a few more gunners!
Anyway, my sets arrived this morning and Pat's comments on the Austrian guns and crews pretty much apply to British sets as well. The crew comes with optional heads (pith helmets and caps) and I'm looking forward to experimenting with these.
Back to the Austrian guns. I will also look at the Austrian, and the Russian crew sets.
Gun detail is great given how tiny these guns are. What I am concerned about is the scale. I would very much appreciate if someone could come up with precise dimensions of these guns, especially overall length (as opposed to barrel length), and the 100 mm m14's wheel diameter.
The m14 had an overall length of 5300 mm according to my references, the model is about 66 mm, which would make it roughly 1/80.
The 75mm m15 was 3570 mm long, while the model is about 26 mm, which would be roughly in scale, as are the wheels: Their diameter was 800 mm, the model's ca. 11 mm. The model is absolutely tiny, about the size of the Waterloo1815 47mm Boehler AT gun, as was the real thing.
Figures look excellent size-wise next to Airfix German and HäT Russian. The middle figure with peaked cap is from the new WW1 Russian Artillery Crew set 8257.
The two kneeling figures are Russians as well, placed next to the m15 gun to give an idea of size. The gun commander's pointing arm is too short, and the other man's left ankle is very tiny. At least one man of the gun crew has lost most of his nose. These defects have been pointed to when HäT showed the masters, but have not been remedied. HäT have fulfilled a lot of other customer's requests, though, such as adding some extra heads (but not in these two sets), boxes, showels, etc.
Ian, what colour are you using for the wool trousers/jackets? It's perfect!
Regarding boots, British boots should be brown for overseas service, however they do darken after a while (mine are made using the original tooling etc and are 4 years old and very dark) to a very dark brown not that far off black
Just seen the box art of the WW1 British artillery crew - for anyone interested, the belt being worn by the gunner is a German belt, a popular souvenir with British troops
