HIRIART World War II German 10.5cm leichte FeldHaubitze 18 (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

Here is another new non-catalog set World War II German 10.5cm leichte FeldHaubitze 18.

 

[Obee]

The gun just didn't look right ....

but then I realised that the trails are together in the towing position !!!

Can you post another image with the trail split, so that the gunner can get in close to load and I can see the gun better ????

John

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Hi John,

You are right, and not only are the trails on towing position but the spads are up!
The German Army in WW2 did not use full metal cast wheels on their guns....(these revived old Britains Boer War Naval gun wheels would not be a correct approach.) they would have been terrible on road transport specially due to the fact that these guns we either towed by SKDZ7s or the earlier models had wooden wheels because they were horse towed, but never all metal the wear down on the metal would have been brutal, reason why they were given a pneumatic sold rubber ring..as you can see .........check the pictures of the same gun made some time ago by Frontline and you can spot the diferences...
Guess Hiriart back in Montevideo has to work a bit more on the mold.....

The gun just didn't look right ....

but then I realised that the trails are together in the towing position !!!

Can you post another image with the trail split, so that the gunner can get in close to load and I can see the gun better ????

John

 

[ucla1967]

Well, you are both right. The trails are in the towing position, the spades are up, and the wheels should have solid rubber rings. I actually have the Frontline set in my collection, but I will pass along your critiques to Guillermo.

Mike

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Cheers Mike,
Happy to have helped....
Need to visit Guillermo some day.....he seems to be a very talented entrepeneur and we have so few these days that want to face the China competition...none that I know of in this industry at this end of the Globe for sure that it is nice to see he has a thriving business.....
Luiz

Well, you are both right. The trails are in the towing position, the spades are up, and the wheels should have solid rubber rings. I actually have the Frontline set in my collection, but I will pass along your critiques to Guillermo.

Mike

 

[ucla1967]

Cheers Mike,
Happy to have helped....
Need to visit Guillermo some day.....he seems to be a very talented entrepeneur and we have so few these days that want to face the China competition...none that I know of in this industry at this end of the Globe for sure that it is nice to see he has a thriving business.....
Luiz

Guillermo is just returning from an Easter holiday at the beach and hasn't replied to my email yet. You are right Luiz about there being fewer and fewer toy soldier cottage industry businesses left any more. As you know, the trend in our hobby has been, for some time now, towards matte, 60mm, non-traditional figures from China. I too am glad that he is still able to make a living by providing glossy, 54mm traditional toy soldiers to those of us who collect them. I also appreciate the wide variety of sets he has made for the Hiriart collectors who I order for and me. Just a sample of what he is making for us on this year's order (which are not found in the Hiriart catalog) includes Russian Imperial Guard Grenadiers a Cheval, Balkan War Serbian Infantry 1912, WWII Dutch Infantry 1940, Italian Alpini with skis, WWI Greek Infantry 1914, Husares de Venezuela, Bavarian Infantry 1900, WWI Belgian Infantry and Lancers 1916, and 1st Royal Hanoverian Uhlan Regiment 1890.

Mike

 

[ucla1967]

Guillermo has already addressed the issue of the rubber lined metal wheels as shown in this camouflaged version of the leichte FeldHaubitzer 18 on display in his home. He said that he was also reworking the design of the wheels in general. However, he is not going to open the trails or change the spades to the down position, as in the firing position, because he designed this artillery piece to be towed behind a SdKfz 9 halftrack that he plans on making in the future which will include 12 seated German infantry or artillery figures. I am also attaching a historic B/W photo which shows the thin rubber lining found on some versions of this artillery piece.

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Yeap Mike,
That is correct! The rubber ring is key, not the dry metal wheels....Now what Guillermo then cannot offer is the piece with soldiers loading as you had on the first Picture for then it would be wrong....
I look forward to see the Sdkfz 11 halftrack a 3 ton light towing wagon...not the 9! The Sdkfz series 6,7,8 and 9 were the 10 to 18 ton big beast used to haul big divisional guns, being the 9 the biggest with a lenght of 8.32m....Please let him know! Seems funny but the lower the number designation the bigger the size of the artillery tractors as we would call them.....
He needs to check his data before he fields it....
Cheers
Luiz

Guillermo has already addressed the issue of the rubber lined metal wheels as shown in this camouflaged version of the leichte FeldHaubitzer 18 on display in his home. He said that he was also reworking the design of the wheels in general. However, he is not going to open the trails or change the spades to the down position, as in the firing position, because he designed this artillery piece to be towed behind a SdKfz 9 halftrack that he plans on making in the future which will include 12 seated German infantry or artillery figures. I am also attaching a historic B/W photo which shows the thin rubber lining found on some versions of this artillery piece.

 

[ucla1967]

Yeap Mike,
That is correct! The rubber ring is key, not the dry metal wheels....Now what Guillermo then cannot offer is the piece with soldiers loading as you had on the first Picture for then it would be wrong....
I look forward to see the Sdkfz 11 halftrack a 3 ton light towing wagon...not the 9! The Sdkfz series 6,7,8 and 9 were the 10 to 18 ton big beast used to haul big divisional guns, being the 9 the biggest with a lenght of 8.32m....Please let him know! Seems funny but the lower the number designation the bigger the size of the artillery tractors as we would call them.....
He needs to check his data before he fields it....
Cheers
Luiz

Well, that all depends on one's viewpoint as to if he can or should offer the set with the loading figures. I am always reminded that I collect toy soldiers with the operative word being "toy." If Hiriart was a connoisseur manufacturer that would be one thing, but since he is not, I am a little more forgiving when a set isn't exactly correct. I like it anyway and have already placed it on next year's order.

I am not sure if Guillermo is going to produce a SdKfz 6 or a SdKfz 11 half-track to tow the le FH 18 howitzer. The 5-ton SdKfz 6 was originally designed specifically to tow this medium howitzer and came in two versions: One with four rows of seats for assault engineers and an artillery version where the fourth row of seats was replaced by an ammunition locker. About 3,000 were produced before it was replaced by the SdKfz 11 which grew to be a more capable 9-ton half-track in its later versions. About 9,000 SdKfz 11's were produced.

I have attached some historic B/W photos of the two half-tracks. The first two are artillery versions of the SdKfz 6. The third shows the difference between the artillery and assault engineers versions. The four is the SdKfz 11 towing a leFH 18. I am not sure if I don't prefer the SdKfz 6 version as being more interesting looking since it has the open sides for the rows of seats.

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Yeap....Got the point...if we look at it as "toy" then all is valid and one chooses what to add to his collection...
I get what you mean as having the bigger Sdkfz so as to have more bench space.....The sheer size of the model even at a reduced scale I assume will be the biggest set he has ever produced! Good look to him and look forward to seeing the final product.
Cheers
Luiz

Well, that all depends on one's viewpoint as to if he can or should offer the set with the loading figures. I am always reminded that I collect toy soldiers with the operative word being "toy." If Hiriart was a connoisseur manufacturer that would be one thing, but since he is not, I am a little more forgiving when a set isn't exactly correct. I like it anyway and have already placed it on next year's order.

I am not sure if Guillermo is going to produce a SdKfz 6 or a SdKfz 11 half-track to tow the le FH 18 howitzer. The 5-ton SdKfz 6 was originally designed specifically to tow this medium howitzer and came in two versions: One with four rows of seats for assault engineers and an artillery version where the fourth row of seats was replaced by an ammunition locker. About 3,000 were produced before it was replaced by the SdKfz 11 which grew to be a more capable 9-ton half-track in its later versions. About 9,000 SdKfz 11's were produced.

I have attached some historic B/W photos of the two half-tracks. The first two are artillery versions of the SdKfz 6. The third shows the difference between the artillery and assault engineers versions. The four is the SdKfz 11 towing a leFH 18. I am not sure if I don't prefer the SdKfz 6 version as being more interesting looking since it has the open sides for the rows of seats.

 

[ucla1967]

I received two photographs on Thursday of Hiriart's latest version of the WWII German 10.5cm leichte FeldHaubitze 18 which includes five gunners on a limber as part of a horse drawn artillery gun team.

 

[lancer]

Really neat set. -- Al