Putting aside gunplas and figures aside for now. Behold, the 1/144 scale of Dora, one of the biggest artillery gun ever produced in history.
This is a completed and pre-assembled model from Soar Art, which is essentially a completed version of FUJIMI's model kit. Even for a 1/144 scale, the size of this thing is still something not to be overlooked!
Side view
Side view with flash
Base of the gun platform
View of the pivot and the breech (sideways). Minor rust and weather effects can be seen as well
Breech of the gun as well as the loading area
Back of the Dora gun, showing the elevators for loading the shells from the ground
Accessories are 2 80mm shells and loading unit
Shells and loading unit placed
Gun elevated. Maximum angle of elevation is said to be 48 degrees.
Gun elevated
A comparison of Dora with (from left to right), Stuka divebomber, Tiger I tank, Panzer IV, Panzer III, Panzer 38(t), and Panzer II
For those who are curious about how tall a mobile suit stands next to a Dora, here is a HGUC 1/144 Zaku II for comparison
Last but not least, a 1/144 Dora shell with a 1/144 German soldier (which comes from my other 1/144 military collections). For your information, the German soldier in the picture stands 12mm (millimetres) tall.
For more information about Dora (and Schwerer Gustav), you can read more about it from Wikipedia, or this blog post here.
Having looked for this for years, I must say I am really glad that I have finally managed to have my hands on this, especially a completed and painted one too. For a 1/144 scale, the amount of details is very impressive already, with a lot of delicate railings and visible metal flooring.
It is perhaps still pretty crazy how the Germans have managed to build two of these things (namely "Schwerer Gustav" and "Dora") in the first place. Even though they contributed very little to the actual war (Dora was apparently never got to fire in anger), their architecture and size will definitely remain in the minds of like-minded people who miss the old days of big guns and the 'art' of conventional warfare weaponry.
Given that guided missiles are now the future of long range artillery, it is very unlikely that we will get to see guns of such size already, which is also the case with battleships too like the Iowa class battleships. Everything needs to move on eventually, but these guns would prove to be a legacy in one form or another.
It's a MS dolly with a big cannon!!
ReplyDeleteYou should have put the zaku riding on the cannon just for kicks (assuming that it wouldn't damage the paintjob)! It would be surreal!
Those guns are big, but not as big as a mobile suit...
ReplyDeleteTom, but I'm pretty sure it's enough to take one out :O
ReplyDeleteIt IS crazy to think that the German's had these things and couldn't find an effective use for them. Lucky for the rest of the world I suppose. I watched a special the other day, and I guess Hitler sanctioned a TON of top secret weapons research.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool model though, it looks very real!
@ gundamjehutykai:
ReplyDeleteA Zaku riding the Dora? Is it just me, or that there are something sexual being implied there as well? ^^;
@ Tom:
Not as big as a mobile suit? Given that this was what the Germans were capable of making more than 60 years ago (and on land too, not on water), this is a quite a piece of weaponry already (and still one of the biggest in history), although the Germans did plan on making something bigger...
@ AstrayP03 (Zhe):
Agreed. If something took a direct hit from Schwerer Gustav or Dora the consequence would be dire, even for a Gundam IMHO.
@ Apt-1B:
Many of Germany's fascinating weapons had very little impact on war, some were proabably even ahead of their time. From what I have read, apparently Hitler actually gave quite a lot of approvals on what were to be developed rather than sanctioning them. The only reasons some of them barely reached prototype stage at the end were lack of resources and higher priorities with other existing equipment to keep up with the war.
Heck, there really are a lot of interesting stories for WWII; I guess can make a weekly article of them should I really want to!
But yes the model does look very nice indeed. Military miniatures always fascinate me, and they tell a lot about the stories that they were originally from! One can really learn a lot from them!
@Q: You said it man, Not me!!! I was thinking more along the lines of that famous scene in a movie (I forget which one) where a guy was riding on a bomb as it was dropping, waving his cowboy hat wildly.
ReplyDeleteNothing sexual about that! Nothing at all!! Seriously!!!
A guy waving a hat while riding on a bomb? Sounds like Pickens as Major Kong in Mr Strangelove to me. Now I get your idea... Perhaps I have faced too much sexual jokes in the recent days ^^;
ReplyDeleteWait a second, I just realized something.... This is the Hildolfr's great grand father isn't it?!
ReplyDelete@ SpeedStriker:
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting comparison you got there. The big guns sure go back to WW2 era (and even earlier), and Schwerer Gustav/Dora sure is one of the grandest examples as you can't get any bigger than that. Hildolfr, while having the big gun mounted on a tracked chasis like a tank / self-propelled gun hybrid, does seem to have some of that idea drawn from history.
Speaking of Hildolfr, I have yet to build my 1/144 model. Hopefully I can get it started next year ^^;
I <3 it..
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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