Landships II

ph0t0art · Sergeant

Takom Big Bertha

Buster95 · Corporal

Big Bertha!!! What a big news!!! Now a Paris gun.

Roger Todd · Legend

Oh this is FANTASTIC news!!!

It's on the HobbyLink Japan website slated for December 2015 release at $59.49:

https://www.hlj.com/product/TKO2035/Mil

Which is around £39 or so.

I hope Santa reads this...

MLW · Lieutenant-Colonel

Has anyone taken a close look at this model? From a modeling friend I heard that it is inaccurate. He wrote that it looks like the 3D model from Turbosquid (a site selling primarily models for computer games) and that what most of the details are wrong."

Thoughts anyone?

Regards,
Marc

28juni14 · Hero

...and I've heard the very same criticism. Appears to be a straight down-load from the game site. Like the scaling errors of the 21cm Mörser, Takom has missed again.

Roger Todd · Legend

Until I see photos of a physical model I shall reserve judgement.

Arie Dijkhuis · General

Hi Roger,

Just Google for Takom Big Bertha and you will find all the images you need.

I cannot comment on dimensional accuracy, I haven't seen the kit yet, but what I can say is that the barrel is completely wrong. This barrel seems to be the barrel of the 2 pre-production guns (the 2 guns with the wooden spoked wheels that were available when the war broke out), whereas the carriage is of the production models (guns 3-12).

With kind regards,

-Arie.

Roger Todd · Legend

Hi Arie - long time no hear! All I've seen so far are a box lid illustration (painted) and what appear to me to be views of a 3D CGI model, not a physical model. Now, it may be that that is the CGI model they're using to make the masters. Or not. But that is why I'm waiting to see photos of what is indisputably a physical model.

I take your point about the barrel, but to be fair to them it may be that they've based their kit on the large scale model at the Paris army museum, which has a prototype style gun barrel on a later style carriage. If they have based their kit on that model I'd be very happy because it's probably the nearest thing we'll ever get to a real gun as (so I'm given to understand) the model was made by Krupp.

28juni14 · Hero

My suspicions are based on Takom's 21cm offering, which clearly came from here: /www.turbosquid.com/ (my view only; 3D people often recognize one another's work.)

The Takom model repeats all the 3D artist's mistakes, and there are some irreparable in that 21cm model.

You will note this game site model maker also lists the 42cm Big Bertha (dead ringer for the Takom offering), and another weapon or two. I'm predicting Takom will also release the Skoda 30,5cm M11 down the road; incorporating the errors clearly visible on the 3D drawing.

Again, these are my personal suspicions. I've seen the rave reviews for the 21cm model; not a single criticism voiced. And that's fine for the modeler who's not stressed by detail inaccuracy or dimensional errors. I'll say no more.

T140 · Lieutenant-Colonel

It's always good for any model to be accurate, but a release with some errors is surely better than no release at all?

Roger Todd · Legend

Hi 28juni14

There are several 3D models of the Big Bertha on Turbosquid, most are very crude and bear little resemblance to Takom's images. The most sophisticated is the one by Alex Kontz:

http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/german-trench-howitzer-3d-model/346544

If you mean this one, then I must disagree. The more I look at the images Takom has released, the more I think they've used the Paris Army Museum model as their source. On the attached image I've displayed the Takom picture, two images from Kontz's Turbosquid page and a photo of the Paris model.

'A' is the distance between the front two frames of the lower recoil cylinders (or recuperators). That distance is relatively long on the Kontz model but is short on both the Takom and Paris models (and in photos of the real guns).

'B' is the end caps of all four cylinders - on the Kontz model they are hemispherical domes, on the Takom and Paris models they are shallow cones.

The Kontz model shows a late type barrel (with an extra reinforcing ring), the Takom and Paris models show the early type barrel.

Roger Todd · Legend

Examining those images from Takom a bit more, I would say it's very likely the Takom carriage is based on Alex Kontz's TurboSquid model, in that the platform at the front and the (incorrect) vertical angle of the stabilising legs at the front are dead ringers for Kontz's model. However, the angle of the legs should be easily correctable, and overall Kontz's carriage always looked pretty accurate anyway, certainly in terms of overall proportions. The Takom cradle and barrel depart considerably from Kontz, as detailed in my previous post, and to my eyes at least appear to be based on the Paris Museum model, so on the whole I am very happy with the images Takom have released so far. If the actual kit reflects them closely, it should be a damned fine one. Remember, there are no surviving guns, no surviving plans, and the Paris Museum model is the nearest we have to an actual Bertha. If Takom have had access to it and measured it up and used it as a basis, as I suspect they have, I see little to complain about.

T140 · Lieutenant-Colonel

It does look like it will be a very nice model. I'm not normally drawn to artillery as such but quite fancy doing this one as it's a bit different.