BL 6inch 26cwt Howitzer beta build

**CharlieC** · #1 12-29-2016, 01:35 AM

Another Wayne McCullough triumph.

For those who follow these things Wayne designed a 1/48 Gun Carrier Mark I a while ago but it didn't have a gun. He has been working to fix that.

I've just finished the beta build of a 1/50 6inch 26cwt howitzer which will fit
in the Gun Carrier. I've built it as a standalone piece. There are a few, very minor, problems with the model but the result is outstanding (not my build - the design).

There are more goodies with the model - a pair of wheel extensions (these were fitted for use on soft ground) - a set of girdles (wooden shoes wrapped around the wheels to handle soft mud).

For those of you artillery challenged - the 26 hundredweight (cwt) was introduced into service in 1916. It proved to be reliable and highly effective. The howitzer stayed in service until WW2 and wasn't finally removed from service until 1945. First image is a WW1 6inch howitzer.

Regards,

Charlie

**Don Boose** · #2 12-29-2016, 06:52 AM

It's a superb piece of ordnance, an excellent model, and an outstanding build, Charlie.

Kudos to Wayne for another superb translation of military materiel into paper, and to you for the craftsmanship and research.

Don

**eatcrow2** · #3 12-29-2016, 07:06 AM

Wonderful modeling!!

**kndeckhand** · #4 12-29-2016, 08:16 AM

Been waiting for this one for a long time <G>

**Tom Lapinski** · #5 12-29-2016, 09:37 AM

Great looking build!

**John Wagenseil** · #6 12-29-2016, 07:08 PM

THANK you, Mr McCullough for another wonderful model.

**John Wagenseil** · #7 12-30-2016, 07:46 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF4oEpv9JgM

Gun Carrier Mark I in action.
Starting at 1:20 there was an officer on his horse sandwiched between a Gun Carrier Mk I and an enlisted man on a motorcycle. One of the three looked out of place and kind of useless.

**Don Boose** · #8 12-30-2016, 09:17 AM

Excellent film footage, John. Good find.

Don

**CharlieC** · #9 12-30-2016, 04:23 PM

The video found on YouTube is the embed video used on the Landships II article - Landships II.

David Fletcher (Tank Museum) has commented that the Gun Carrier was a fairly useless vehicle. The performance of taking the wheels off the artillery pieces is not smart - ever tried lifting a wooden wheel - even with friends? Lifting the wheel on to a ledge on the side must have produced lots of interesting language. Carrying the ammunition in drums internally apparently was just a silly idea - it was very difficult to get projectiles out of the drums and passed forward to the gun.

I did note the gun carriers in the video travelled with one or both rear doors open - I suspect the conditions inside the enclosure would have been awful otherwise.

The French seem to have taken a more rational approach to SPGs - the Saint-Chamond and Schneider SPGs were pretty good vehicles for the time.

To return to the BL 6inch howitzer model - I'm currently building one that will fit in my gun carrier model. There are a few changes which have to be made to get the model to fit the gun carrier.

Regards,

Charlie

**douglasmarrel** · #10 12-31-2016, 10:42 PM

That gun carrier would be a fascinating model. The howitzer was cool too!