M-1978 Koksan (scratch project)

[rifleman]

out standing awesome craftmanship dam fine build

[PacificWind]

Thanks.

Today I continued my work on the anchoring mechanism. It's almost done and tomorrow I'll add the last few elements/details of it.

[PacificWind]

And here's the finished anchoring mechanism.

[PacificWind]

The M-1978 is ready for varnishing, then painting, and then, installing the last few details.
Finally! It's great to have this project so close to the end, after two years of working on it.

[PacificWind]

The North Korean M-1978 Koksan has been finished.
Two years... That's a lot of time...
But it's so satisfying to see it fully completed!


Scale 1/50

[Don Boose]

Well done, Kacper! I think this is the most complex and demanding project you have completed so far. The finished weapon looks very good.

Don

[Butelczynski]

Definitely worth waiting for.Great looking model.I don't know how you came across details of the gun but on model they look really good.

I honestly don't know how this SPG is moving about.It must be real pain to drive it with centre of gravity that high and barrel that long.

[PacificWind]

Thanks, Don and Karol.

Don, this M-1978 is in fact probably the most complex and demanding project I've completed so far. And that's because of the nature of subject. North Korea is simply not willing to tell us anything about the details of their equipment, even if it's old and obsolete. However, sometimes they supply their allies with various types of weapons and vehicles. In case of Koksan, it was Iran. As we can read on Tanks Encyclopedia(Tank Encyclopedia, the first online tank museum):

Iran received in 1987 a supply of M1978s which saw an extensive service in the Iran–Iraq War, provided with rocket-assisted rounds. With these, Iranian forces carried out harassment fire against Kuwaiti oil fields while staying well out of reach from Iraqi artillery.

And from the Wikipedia - Koksan (artillery - Wikipedia)
A number of the Iranian guns were subsequently captured by the Iraqis and placed on public display.
At least one of these was recovered by US Marines in 2008 from the campus of the University of Anbar.

I guess most of the technical aspects of this SPG are known thanks to this. However, it's necessary to point out that the M-1978 from Anbar University was modified, not original. This Koksan was armed with Russian 180mm S-23 gun.
But, if we go back to the page number 2, here in this thread, post #11, we'll see two pictures I posted in 2019. They show an Iran/Iraqi Koksan which has the original North Korean gun.


Karol, the details of the gun are done according to photos I gathered and 3D model from the link I posted on page 6(post #55). That was actually enough to recreate that gun in 1/50 scale.
I also did the test that proves the Koksan is really not easy to move about. Looks like the maximum angle it can traverse is something like 17°.

[rifleman]

fine build you have an outstanding model makes you wonder how many gun barrels have got bent ????

[Lex]

Artillery pieces is a personal preference of mine, it's great to see this project completed and the result is magnificent indeed. Congratulations