Vickers Bl 8 inch Howitzer cannon of 1917

Hello all , going to have a go building a model of the Bl 8 inch Howitzer cannon not everyone's cup of tea but there maybe some that are interested, these cannons were built from 1917 to the mid forties made in the U.K and later made in the U.S ,the cannon served in WW1 and early days of WW2 ,there were a few small differences in the builds but the main thing was the barrel length, going to try snd build this model in a 2 inch scale or thereabouts no build plans just pictures and a operators manual with some good drawings in it all of the net .

here are a couple of pictures of were i'am at, going to build chassis first and work it out from there .

Thanks Mal.

Very good, i will watch with interest.

Hi Mal,

You have made a good start so far, looking forward to see the rest of your build.

Thor

Thanks Mal for posting different model's but how do you go about creating such items like the trail hitch is it a casting or is it made by fabrication for instance. Great work, keep the pictures coming.

David

Thanks for posting something out of the ordinary Mal, it's looking good.

Brian

Hello all

Thanks for the interest in the build, this is a first for me to build a model with no plans so lots of mistakes will be made no doubt ,David no castings will be made for this build has i have not got the expertise in any sort of casting or pattern making, the trail hitch in the picture is made from 4mm flat plate with some fabrication to make it look a bit like a cast peace which is on the full size Howitzer.

Thanks Mal.

Glad you have started a build thread on this Mal, I will follow with interest as its nice to see something different.

Ron

Mal,

That drawbar looks excellent, is it a fabrication?

Paul.

Looks good, the sort of model I want to tackle some day!

Neil

HI Paul thanks for the interest it is fabrication out of 4 mill plate and i tried to make it look like a casting.

Mal.

Good start Mal. Looking forward to seeing the work on the barrel.

Well you have nailed that! Very nice work, looks every bit like it is cast. Well done.

Paul.

Have you looked for original drawings ? Maybe the Imperial war museum or the Tank museum in Bovingdon could help ?

Thanks Ronan did not cross my mind to look for plans from a museum, think i have enough info of the internet to go on at the moment but will bear that in mind if I get stuck on something.

Thanks Mal.

Hello all , little bit more done on the trail for the howitzer cannon ,no machining work for a while but plenty of fabrication work to be done, so made some brackets that rivet on the side of the trail that the spade or thrust plate bolt on to, didn't show how these were done as its just a bending of some steel with holes drilled in to them .

Thanks Mal.

Hello all.  thought I would keep the pictures coming no matter how small the progress is , so bit more done on the howitzer chassis, limber rubbing plates done and riveted on and cross beam [ the limber is the cart that was towed in between the howitzer and the vehicle that would be towing the cannon and these plates are for wheel rubbing on sharp turning , there is a rear cart as well for the firing platform , any way holes drilled on top plate ready for rivets and the wood blanks for under foot grip.

Thanks Mal.

Edited By mal webber on 12/12/2018 23:02:06

Edited By mal webber on 12/12/2018 23:02:44

Mal

Great work, how are you going to make the breech interrupted screws?

Rich

More difficult in the breech ring than the plug, I'd think... >

Hello all ,small move forward on the trail chassis for the Howitzer, hope those who are interested don't mind small update progress ,but like I said I'll keep the pictures coming ,well some rivets done [some false some threaded rivets due to angle and not possible to do so in places,plus not necessary ] any way photo 1 added spade holder, photo 2 is the next part to be fabricated marked out in the circle, next couple of photos is how I wen't about it.

Thanks Mal.