Vickers Bl 8 inch Howitzer cannon of 1917

Hi all , thought I would give the front tow hook a go today as pictured below, this hooks up to the carriage which carries the firing platform for the Howitzer,not totally pleased with the finished part looks like the hook is worn out ,but not trying to make this look new it will do . Mal.

Edited By mal webber on 26/01/2019 23:49:33

As it looks a bit skinny, but also a bit thick (if that makes sense) why not heat it up and "tap it wiv an 'ammer" a few times? Might bring it closer to the profile?

Neil

Hello all, small progress on the Howitzer build does not look like much but it's been one step forward and three backwards, the hole on the inner of trail in the pictures below took quiet few times to get close to it looking like it does in the pictures, just a drill hole in the metal didn't look right so tried rounding the hole with a hammer and a bit of heat which came out even worst and distorted the part, so came up with a sort of combination on dies knocked  up in the lathe which stretched the plate a small bit at the time cold , so loads of hours spent and the result was worth it i think. Neil i did reshape the towing hook with heat and it looks a hole lot better thanks.

Mal.

Edited By mal webber on 18/02/2019 23:56:43

Edited By mal webber on 18/02/2019 23:57:21

Edited By mal webber on 18/02/2019 23:58:01

Edited By mal webber on 18/02/2019 23:58:33

Perfect your attention to detail does you credit.

David

Edited By David George 1 on 19/02/2019 10:57:34

Very nice quality of work. It's nice to see something a little different from time to time. I enjoy the updates regardless of how much progress has been made.

Hi all , give myself a break from the fabrication things and have some time out on the lathe to make myself a new paper weight, this is my attempt at making a Howitzer Bl 8 inch projectile in 2 inch scale , on the internet search they are 24" long without fuse and on the manual it states that the projectile is 28" long inc the fuse so this is made or as close as to the manual size , not a 100% happy at the shape but the more file work i did in the lathe the more i was making it to the shape i didn't like but i'll be making a bunch of these at the end of the build and will have them spot on by then.

Thanks for your interest Mal.

Edited By mal webber on 21/02/2019 23:57:40

Well bit more done on the Howitzer trail {chassis},made the other inner side with corners riveted in so not many more big fabrication parts to be made on the trail it's self , quiet a few holes to be drilled and rivets to be done but I think the trail is starting to take shape and a bit of weight to it now ,there's a lot of parts that attach to the trail so I won't seal the trail up in till all parts are made and line up ,couple of pics how the I went about making the inner part of the trail nothing special just some bending of some plate.

Thanks for the interest Mal.

Nice shell - how did you fit the driving band?

Got to say I'm impressed! And thanks for showing how some of it was done - I've learned summat.

Dave

Beautiful work and great skills on show here. Seriously impressed

Mal, the shape of the nose of the shells is either 1 x diameter or 2cr . sometimes referred to as Krups no 1 or Krups no 2. Now of course we use bottle nose shells with thinner walls.

Have to get up early to catch Mal, I reckon his shell is exactly 2CRH (calibre/radius/head)

While I'm in rivet counting mode, I think a simple 2CRH shell may be historically unlikely for a 1917 gun. Under pressure of war to improve range and accuracy, shell designers made rapid progress with streamlining after 1914. A 2CRH shell is right for earlier marks of the gun, but suspect ammunition fired in 1917 would be been made with a sharper Compound CRH.

Does anyone know?

Dave

Thanks for the interest and comments guy's. just had a quick read up on the shell and in 1917 or around that time it reads in the manual. The common steel shell had an ogival head struck with a radius of four calibres , so will have another go at getting it wright.

Thanks Mal.

Hi Mick ,the bottom of the shell is all brass with a steel collar press on to give the impression of a brass band.

Thanks Mal.

Mal

Nice shell. Here's a 12.5 inch RML paperweight I have been making.

Regards Rich

I'm enjoying this thread

This thread has taken me back to when I was nine or ten. I had a toy howitzer just like this. Probably by”Britains”. It had proper traction engine type wheels, a controll to elevate it, breech loading, and could lob a one ounce shell about twelve feet! Probably couldn’t sell it now. Happy days!

Maurice

Yes, I had one o' them - it was Britains Ltd., called itself an 18" howitzer, and it could indeed knock out an Airfix Panther across a 12 ft. landing. Bit of backlash in the elevating handwheel IIRC...

Hi Rich, looks like you got the shape to that bang on nice work , just had a little read up on this and as you know and i think it is a 800 pound shrapnel shell fired from a 38t gun the howitzer was a 200 pound shell obviously a hole lot smaller,are you going to but the brass coloured plugs in it that pick up the rifling.

Thanks for the interest Mal.

Mal

Its an 800lb palliser shot copied from the dimensions in the handbook. Yes i will black it put in the brass studs and then make a little shell barrow. Just for a bit of fun.

Regards rich.