Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $34.95 Website: www.griffonmodel.com Review sample supplied by: Dragon Models USA www.dragonusaonline.com I would like to thank Dragon Models USA, Griffon Models, and IPMS/USA for providing this detail set for review and for allowing me to review it. It is extremely unusual for me to build a German subject and my reference library is proportionally slim. I do however like (large) towed artillery and having seen the size of the update set, I thought it might make a healthy project -- there never being an equivalent effort for Allied artillery. This set is used for either the Trumpeter #2304 15cm SFH18 Field Howitzer or #2305 10.5cm SK18 Cannon -- both used the same mount, carriage and limber but different barrels. I'll not discuss the Trumpeter kit unless I need to. My fellow reviewer, Randy Colvin, has already done that in his review on IPMS . For those of you with the Dragon sFH18 kit (also reviewed on IPMS ), Griffon has an equivalent update set, #35015. The two update sets have 5 common photo-etch frets (A-E), then a 6th unique fret (F) plus other items -- the Dragon update contains a turned metal barrel. This review won't discuss the Dragon kit/update but with this much common material, you can get a pretty good idea of you will get. A word on notation -- Trumpeter sprues and Griffon frets use the same letter-number scheme. To avoid confusion, I will preface all kit part numbers with a "K" (ie, "KA1") and leave the Griffon parts un-prefaced (ie, "A1"). Contents The Griffon set comes in a three-sleeve package. Each sleeve has a heavy cardboard divider. Frets and parts are taped on to either side of the cardboard -- virtually indestructible packaging. There are 6 photo-etch frets of three thicknesses. You also get short lengths of copper wire in 3 diameters and ABS rod in 4 diameters. Most of the photo-etch is detailed on one side only. There are fewer fold lines than I would expect, but there are lines to mark where parts are glued together. The attachment points are thinner than the parts, so it looks easy enough to remove. I think I'll have to use my Hold n' Fold a lot to get really crisp bends.

There are 7 pages of instructions, in several colors. Wow, are they packed with info ! The good news is that the drawings are at the right perspective to best illustrate the operation and there are a fair number of call-outs to explain the more complex folds and assemblies. The instructions appear to be in the same sequence as the Trumpeter instructions so it should be a matter of following the two along without a lot of jumping around. I do wish the after-market folks would annotate their instructions with kit steps, etc, just so we all know we're in sync. I counted some 340 numbered parts and there are multiples of some parts so I think we're somewhere near 500 pieces of photo-etch, etc. Add to that some 270 kit parts and the carpet monster should be well fed. Note this isn't like one of those 500 piece tank kits where 300 are just track parts. This is a big and complicated undertaking. The Trumpeter kit I have referred to a review above and I have done some separate research. Ignoring comments about the instructions, cleaning and fitting of parts, ejector pin holes, etc, which the Griffon set cannot address, there are still concerns about the accuracy of the kit that are important to the review. The kit instructions only cover building the kit in travel mode, which is what the box-art shows. The 2305 kit is the same way, even though the box art shows it in firing position. Absent any other guidance you are on your own to figure out how to correctly place this in firing position, particularly in the small details. Of course, since Trumpeter provides no shells or other appurtenances you are really starting from scratch if trying to put this in firing mode. If assembled by the instructions, the model will not be in the correct travel mode. War-time photos show the gun is run out of battery when in travel mode. The rod connecting the recuperator atop the mount to the breech block would be disconnected at the breech end. I don't know if this is a dual recoil system, with another in the cradle, but if so it doesn't appear to be visible and thus not necessary to worry about. Terry Ashley claims the axle (KB45) is 5mm too wide and the base (KB1,KB2) of the carriage is also too wide and not of the correct profile. I probably would not have spotted this, but from drawings and pictures I've studied, I suspect that he is correct. It isn't fixable by mortals and I'll have to wait until this is assembled to see if it is visually significant. On the front of the carriage there is a small piston (KD26) that ought to have a cylinder to slide in. The slide (KF9) ought to have a lip on each side holding it onto the cradle -- this may seem nit-picky, but would you want your recoiling barrel free to go where it wants ? There are other nits to pick depending on whether you want to proceed with the kit in travel mode or want to reconfigure it to firing mode, or somewhere in between. Back to the Griffon set So, in this review I will be looking at three things -- the quality of the photo-etch and instructions, the amount of detail added/replaced, and what the update set does to correct kit deficiencies. My gut reaction so far is that we have a mixed bag. The photo-etch and instructions look pretty good, the detail is exceptional, maybe too much, but the kit problems simply aren't addressed. On the Dragon website there are 11 pictures of this set, 10 of which show a completed model or rather two -- one in travel mode and one in firing mode. Looking at them and the instructions, items 3 - 6 above aren't addressed. As for items 1-2 above, the travel mode pictures correctly show the gun out of battery with the recuperator rod disconnected - but the instructions do not address this. The firing mode pictures show the gun in several positions with an added recuperator rod, but again the instructions don't address this. The pictures show the spades stored on the side of the trails and mounted at the rear -- the instructions only show how to construct the spades, not how to use them. The pictures have left out the elevating rod/shaft because it only fits in travel mode and the instructions make no mention of how to fix that for firing mode. Lastly, the "grates" are shown stored under the limber -- in firing mode they attach to the spades (although maybe not always used?) -- again not addressed in the instructions. I did a paper-build of the limber. The instructions flag a large number of kit parts to be replaced and specify a few to be retained, albeit modified. But checking back, I found kit parts obviously replaced but not noted as such, and I found a few kit parts not addressed either way -- replace or retain -- so I have no idea, at this time, what to do about them. So some very careful study and bookkeeping will be in order. And as a reminder, any Griffon part from fret "F" is unique to the Trumpeter kit while frets A-E are common to both Trumpeter and Dragon. What to do ? This is tough. The "easy" way is to follow the kit and build it in travel mode, but correctly -- however I think that's going to hide a lot of the detail, at least on the insides of the trails. Also I have no intention of buying or building a prime mover for it -- one German subject every decade or so is enough. On the other hand, I have no real references to do firing mode correctly in all details; the kit does not provide any goodies (shells, etc) to liven things up; and it takes this review away from OOB of both the kit and the detail set. So, I think I'll defer that decision as long as I can, and make an effort to build this so it can go either way -- it'll be more "fun" and instructive. Stay tuned -- there are a LOT of parts and this may take a while ... References: I have these three books: · WW2 Fact Files Heavy Artillery, Peter Chamberlain and Terry Gander, Arco Publishing, 1975, ISBN 0-668-03898-5. Short description, some dimensions, a half-dozen photos, and a 4-view drawing. · German Artillery of World War Two, Ian Hogg, Hippocrene Books, 1975, ISBN 0-88254-311-3. More info on the ammunition used than the gun itself. · s.F.H.18 Model Detail Photo Monograph #19, ROSSAgraph, undated, ISBN: 83-89717-20-4. Pictures and drawings of the gun and carriage, but not the limber. These are museum pictures and the gun is not complete or in proper firing or traveling position. A couple good websites for photos, but they are outdoor museum pieces so of questionable detail accuracy. The You-Tube video shows a gun being unlimbered and fired and has several scenes that would make for unique and interesting dioramas! I do think a few of the scenes are out of order - for example, they appear to lift the trails off the limber before they unlock them. · Silicon Valley Scale Modelers gallery (http://svsm.org/gallery/150mm_FH18) · Tanks in Moscow, Guns, Mt Poklonnaya (http://tanksinmoscow.com/Poklon/Foto/sFH18_01.htm) · You-Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL8AOlSqeCQ) And this has been announced for May 2008: (but I think it is primarily museum photos) · sFH-18 Family, Wings & Wheels Publications #R047.

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