German WWII railway siege mortar

[John Ashworth]

Tom is building a model of a WWII Morser Karl-Gerat 040/041 (60cm/54cm) self-propelled German siege mortar, with railway transport, from a plastic kit. Here are a couple of his photos of the work so far.

Photos by Tom Macrery July 2008

[Nathan Berelowitz]

Looks like a mjor operation going on with all the tools!

[Tom Macrery]

This is what it is supposed to look like. ...... Maybe, with some luck, I'll get it.

[John Ashworth]

Looks like the German army were no different from any other railway operators - there's always a couple of blokes standing around doing nothing but watching. But where are their high-vis safety vests? There can't have been a Rail Safety Regulator around in those days...

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

I think labor was cheap?!

[Tom Macrery]

Almost finished. See here all the parts assembled and almost fully painted. From left to right, in front, mortar carriage, mortar (54cm), small shell loading tray, upper hull assembly, lower hull assembly (with tank tread), the two booms which carry the mortar on the railroad cars. Behind the two booms are the 60cm mortar barrel and two 60cm mortar shells. In back, the two railroad cars with the boom supports in place. Note the size of the box it all came in. There were more than 1200 parts on 30 sprues, plus about 25 metal photo-etched parts. The scale is 1:35, which is larger than O Gauge.

[Tom Macrery]

Finished, I wonder if I'll ever do that again?

[Nathan Berelowitz]

Incredible Tom. Well done. I know exactly where to fire the first salvo too!!

[John Ashworth]

Well done, Tom. Now you only have to build a diorama for it - realistic scenery, a locomotive maybe, ammunition wagons, a few road vehicles standing around, figures in interesting positions, etc...!

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Congratulations. Mine has sat now for a year waiting to be painted! And the error I mentioned corrected!

[Tom Macrery]

Yes, I will have to see if my hobby shop has 1:35 accessories and figures. Also Kevin told me that the loco (called the 'kreigslocomotif') does exist in 1:35, I have seen it in a smaller (by about half) scale.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Well Tom the BR54 is available locally - costs around R1100.00.

It is a big kit - some 3 feet long and 5 1/2 inches tall.

In the pipeline, but not yet out, is a diesel - a German WR 360 C12 Locomotive. Should be here in a couple of months. Will obviously be a smaller kit, and probably more appropriate for a rail gun - diesels were used more often to move rail guns in and out of the tunnels they often used as cover.

[Tom Macrery]

Kevin, I'm interested; available where? Tom

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Have sent you a PM...............