The BL 8-inch howitzer Marks VI, VII and VIII (6, 7 and 8) were a series of
British artillery siege howitzers on mobile carriages of a new design
introduced in World War I. They were designed by Vickers in Britain and
produced by all four British artillery manufacturers, but mainly by
Armstrong, and one American company. They were the equivalents of the
German 21 cm Morser 16 and in British service were used similarly to the BL
9.2-inch howitzer, but were quicker to manufacture, and more mobile. They
delivered a 200 lb shell to 12,300 yards. They had limited service in the
British Army in World War II before being converted to the new 7.2-inch
calibre. They also equipped a small number of Australian and Canadian
batteries in World War I and by the US Army in that war. They were used in
small numbers by other European armies.
Early problems of stability on very hard or soft ground became apparent with
the Mk VI, leading to the recoil system not functioning correctly. A
Commission went to France to investigate, and a special level "Vickers
platform" was adopted, to which the wheels and trail were secured for
accurate shooting. A major change in the line of shooting required the
platform to be relaid. Setting up and adjusting the platform was labour-intensive.
The kit
provides five fairly thick sprues plus the 'body' of the gun and the vinyl
wheel treads. Molding is excellent and the kit appears to be fairly easy to
build. There is a small p.e. fret that is basically placards.
Instructions start out having you assemble the two
main wheels. This includes the wraparound tread. There is no indication as to
what should be used to attach this. It could be that this is flexible styrene so
one simply needs to experiment.
Then one builds up the gun and the recoil mechanism.
The various azimuth and elevation wheels are included in this and it is also
where your p.e. will be attached. With that done, the chassis for the gun is
constructed.
Much of the rest of the build
is to build up the caisson and the Vickers platform. This platform can be built
either all folded up for transport or assembled in firing position.
These guns were towed around by Holt tractors or large
trucks. I believe that Roden does one of these tractors
Instructions are well drawn and provide Vallejo paint references.
There is also a parts layout diagram, but it is spread out over several pages
and that's why I did not include one. There are no decals included as none are
needed. You can either paint yours overall dark green or in a two color
camouflage using olive and black.
