Thought a new question would get replies similar to mine. If I had to choose only 1 kit to build & display I would with out a doubt choose the 1/35 scale Dora. I know the thread title has changed again and side tracked from the original topic… heh that is the fun of starting a thread!
Trust me fellas if I was single with a dedicated hobby room I would order that model kit in a second!
I have the Fujimi 1/144 scale kit 3000 miles away, approximately 20% completed. Once again with that build I became bogged down in scratch building. The simulated plastic wood planks on the 4 flat cars was sanded off to be replaced with… wood. The gun is ready with a 1/4" aluminum tube drilled inside the plastic barrel. It is for 1/144 almost a perfect match for the bore I.D. In fact the kits shells can be shot through it like a blow gun. The kits handrails are chunky and only kept as a guide, I hope to find suitable PE handrails for the kit when I get to finish it.
600$ for the 1/35 scale kit sounds high, I paid 80$ for the 1/144 on a 40% off sale. Interestingly enough I have the issue of FSM from the mid 80’s where a fella scratch built the Dora & the assembly crane in 1/35 scale.
Dare to dream… Does 'Continental USA’ include Canada for shipping? Frank there may be a Fed-X delivery showing up that needs extra postage to ship north…
Is this the Soar Art 1/35 kit you’re referring to? You didn’t provide a link so not sure how to answer your questions about Contintental USA…but that usually doesn’t include all of N. America when you are considering freight costs. Canada and Mexico usually get different rates due to customs, taxes, import regs, etc. HTH!
If you are talking about the Soar Art kit, the price was right around $600 when it was released. There are problems with it even for that price though. There are no markings included (the real thing was covered in stencil data), and the gun barrel is the incorrect length (too long). Shipping for the kit is going to be high, as it weighs about 55 lbs or so. One of these days I’m gonna build mine - well at least I plan to build it, eventually?
On a similar note, Hobby Boss is just about to release a 1//72 kit of the Dora, I think it will be around $275ish or so. Haven’t got to take a look at the kit yet though, so can’t tell you much more about it.
Yes I am referring to the Soar Art 1/35 scale Dora that is advertised in the right margin of these forum pages.
Barrel too long? That is a easy fix, missing stencils? I am sure the AM will provide a sheet or ten.
Now Hobby Boss is releasing a Dora in 1/72 scale? That is a great compromise, yet it leaves me wondering why not in HO (1/87) train scale? Would in not be cool to pull the beast around with working locomotives?
This brings up another question and thought…[^o)]
I searched for 1/87 & 1/144 scale armor for a battle of Kursk diorama, other than popular German vehicles there was very limited selection. 1/87 scale was worse, the few resin kits were excellent quality yet priced outrageously high. The idea was for a full out scene with several vehicles engaged that took up a small footprint of space for impact.
Anyone else look into there scales for Russian & German WWII armor and give up due to the selection?
There ar several guys that have started a blog on this, but few have finished…
Good luck!
From the aforesaid blogs, it seems that the gun was broken up into several dozen loads, to be transported to a pre-prepared site where 2,500 men would take 2 weeks to assemble, & it seems it only fired 39 shots in combat. The shells were made in Dresden btw…
There is a special solvent cement for ABS at any hardware store that sells ABS plumbing supplies. Double check as PVC uses similar solvent cement but the two are not compatible. It has a heavy chemical smell and lots of ventilation will be needed. Also the can comes with a applicator brush built in, for modeling you will need to get a better applicator.
Q:
The entire kit is ABS or just the barrel assembly? The author in FSM who scratch built Dora in the mid 80’s used plastic plumbing pipe for the barrel as well.
For people like me who are into german stuff and dont care about small inaccuracies, this kit would be incredible- It’s a depiction of the largest gun ever built, and it’s in my favorite scale. I doubt it would take long to complete if you’re not ueber picky, as most of the parts would be large and easy to clean and handle. It would be soo much fun! Maybe when I’m rich and famous and I have an extra 4x4x6 foot display case. Or I could write to Oprah and see if she’ll buy me one. JK.
No it isn’t. It’s not just a matter of cutting the end off to the correct length. Cutting the end off will result in the barrel then being the wrong shape / taper. I just think that for the cost the basic part of a piece of artillery should have been correct, and again for the price you shouldn’t have to buy AM decals (which are available).
While I think it’s great that someone undertook the Brobdingnagian task of molding this in 1/35–and that there are people willing to build it–I would never get one. Hell, I"d need a new apartment just to display it!
I saw one built up at SYRCON two years ago, (or was it a K5 Leopold?) and it was, well, really kinda thrown together. The gun barrel was drooping from their weight. It appears that they may need some reinforcement to stay straight over time?
The bore of the real Dora was 800 mm, conversion to 1/35 scale would = 20.3 mm +/-
For everyone else the ID. of the barrel is just over 3/4"! Now realize a actual 1/1 scale .50 BMG has a bore of 1/2"
I do not think you seen a Dora Doog, most likely the Leopold, the barrel would not sag over time. Actually it would be a easy item to scratch build out of aluminum tube.
I have 2 of the Soar Art Doras (just call me mad) and when the barrel and breech are together it is the correct length. No need for any fixes.
It is a huge kit when built and the ABS plastic can be a problem with the small parts as ABS plastic is tough to cut so I would recommend a pack of various sized needle or dentist files.
There are no decals but a polish company have produced a set for the kit look for Norland Models. They have a website and you can order direct using Paypal etc ( I think).
For those Artillery chaps amongst us I would reccommend this model despite its size (you do need a large bench and a large display area) and occasional build problems as sometimes the instructions are not quite clear but experience and lateral thinking solves this and at the end of the build with aftermarket details, a few crew figues for scale and a good paint job (panzer grey overall was the original colour) produces a case stopping kit which will have dinner guests gawping at it.
I’m considering getting out one of the kits and continuing from where I left off and maybe doing it in the late war 3 colour camo.
ABS cement available from 5 star adehsives in the UK under the name Poly Weld - good stuff at a resonable price in a bottle well packaged and posted out same day as ordered. I would reccommend a well ventilated room and sacrifice several different sized paintbrushes for application. Don’t worry about the glue drying on the brush after one use as dipping it into the glue will soften the brush and you can continue.
NB - The kit does come with a railway bed and metal rails in the box - about 6 foot of it in sections!
lets see some pictures of your Dora(s) James, I do not consider you mad for owning two of the coolest releases in the history of plastic scale models. In fact I would say you border on the verge of genius!
Legend has it the Soviets have in storage the barrel of Dora, I would put that on a must see stop if in Russia.
Let me see what I can do. My bench & everywhere else is full of 1/16 tiger I & II parts and the rest of the room looks like the luftwaffe just raided it.
At the moment I have 2 Trumpeter 1/16 Tiger II full interior tanks, A new 140 week Hachette Partwork of the Tiger I full interior tank (2 of them) and I think that I need also to make room for their next partwork which could be a 1/16 full interior stuka all in brass and metal. The german websites which are covering the stuka build (140 weeks) show that it is built up just like the factory did it with all the frames, spars etc.
Almost forgot the 140 Week 1/32 AVRO Lancaster as well (which due to all the small detail parts turning up on a weekly basis is going into a box until the series is complete then I can plan the build properly!
I will get round to bringing the dora(s) back to my workbench - sometime!
Like the other models I’m building they are limited edition collectors kits and even though space may be tight and the odd thing incorrect on the kit (remember there are limited pictures and nothing that you can walk around of this huge railway gun) it is still worth having one just for the experience and boast factor!
In actual fact I can only remember ordering one but ended up with two of them!