Peters Vickers Bl 8 inch Howitzer cannon of 1917 scale 11:1

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Hi,

My Grandfather served in WW1 with the 54th Australian Siege Brigade, which used 8 inch Howitzers. I visited the Australian War Memorial in the hope of seeing one of these monsters, but they only had the 9.2 inch Howitzer. Further research found there was not many around, so I decided to have a go a building one, on a 11:1 scale.

I hadn’t done any machining for about 35 years, so I had to dust off a few brain cells

I decided first to tackle the wheels. The size was right on the upper limits of my Lathe, which meant I had to invert my boring bar, & run the machine in reversed get the finished OD

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Next was to cut the strakes, & drill the holes for the rivets.

I got the angle cut on the strakes by setting the indexing head at an angle

Then it was back in the lathe to finish off the inside of the wheels

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Looking good Peter.  Please carry on and let us know from time to time as this could be a long project. There is another person building a WW1  field or Howitzer gun but haven’t seen him on here for a while.

David

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

The next step was the spokes. I decided to get these laser cut.

The angles on the ends of the spokes needed to be bent the same for each spoke, otherwise the center hub may not line up, so I made a bending jig

 

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Hi David, yes I’ve been following that post, but there has been no updates for a while.

My project has been completed, it took 2 1/2 years, I’ve only just become brave enough to share it

[renardiere7Participant @renardiere7]

Looks like a project worthy of sharing Peter, look forward to seeing the rest very much.

 

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Excellent project, and impressive work from a man who hasn’t done any machining for 35 years.   Interesting subject and the historic link adds zest.   Brits who know about WW1 and WW2 are well aware that Australia was a major partner in both conflicts, so thanks again for that!

Which version of the gun are you modelling?  (If it matters!)  The Mk1 to Mk5 8″ howitzers were all modifications of obsolete 6″ ship and coastal defence guns.   The barrels were cut short and rebored to lob 200lb 8″ shells, range up to 10,500 yards.   They were installed on 5 different mountings, also modifications of older guns.   For example, Carriage Mk2 was a modified 6″ BL P3 Naval Mounting, whilst the Mk3 was a modified coastal pivot mount.   All combinations of gun and carriage weighed close to 14 tons.

The 8″ howitzer described on the web is usually the Mk6 version.  Vickers were asked to design it in August 1915, and the first one was delivered for proof and testing in March 1916.   Formally introduced into service February 1917, no doubt some were delivered earlier.  Same shell, slightly longer range, with an improved standard carriage, and 5 tons lighter (most helpful even when a traction engine was available, and they were often moved by muscles.)   The Mk7 and Mk8 versions were developed in the same time-frame:  faster firing Asbury breech and longer range (12300 yards).   Marks 1 to 6 were all declared obsolete in 1926.  Mk7 and 8 survived until WW2 when most were converted into 7.2″ howitzers: much longer range and many other improvements.

Wikipedia says “1st Siege Artillery Battery was renamed the 54th Siege Artillery Battery on 28 September 1915.“, so the unit was probably equipped with pre-Mk6 conversion guns at first.   However, Hogg & Thurston ‘British Artillery Weapons 1914-1918’ pictures two Mk6 howitzers manned by Australian gunners on the Western Front, and maybe the battery upgraded to Mk7 or Mk8 later.  I think modelling the Mk6 is the safest bet if Inspector Meticulous is on the prowl, because the Hogg picture shows Aussies manning them.

Paint colour worries modellers who tend to assume everything military was standard.  Actually, many weapons were haphazardly rushed into service during WW1, with many variants, particularly before 1917.  I expect most big guns were painted approximately the same shades of military green and/or brown in the factory, but quickly repainted as necessary by the army with whatever was available locally – exigencies of the service! French paint if handy. Green if camouflaged in a wood;  Brown in muddy fields; White in the snow; Sandy yellow in the desert;  Grey in towns, and mixtures! Most of the photos in my Hogg book are posed in depots.   Hard to tell in black and white, but they seem to be painted in the same colour throughout, whatever it is.  Guns pictured in the front line tend to have have dazzle schemes (random splotches an stripes to break up the outline), and one features very light patches, possibly white.  Lots of mud too – deliberately filthy.  Anything to avoid being spotted; short range howitzers are highly vulnerable to long range guns.

Military gear is much more likely to be painted in standard colours in peacetime, so is the model on-parade or in action?   If depicted in action, almost anything goes!   Or in the factory, bare shiny metal is valid.

Looking forward to whatever is decided – thanks so much for sharing.

Dave

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Hi Dave, yes I’m basing my model on the Mk VI version, as that is what the 54th SB used throughout the war, & am using Olive Drab as the colour

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Next job was to make the hub, & drill & tap the holes for the bolts to hold the spokes. The bolts used throughout the project are 10BA, which are about 1.7mm diameter, so had to be very gentle when tapping

   

Then came the fiddly bit, bolting on the spokes. Getting the nuts onto the bolts was a combination of fat fingers & tweezers. Finished off by tapping in all the rivets, & making the stub axles, bearing cap & retaining pin. I decided to paint the wheels & other components as I went along. As this was going to be a long project, it will help keep the rust at bay

   

[mal webberParticipant @malwebber91786]

Very nice Peter i will definitely be following.

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Next was to do the barrel, the depth of the bore exceeded the length of my boring bar. I invested in a anti vibration boring bar, which worked a treat. I also made an extension/holder for the boring bar. I also modified my lathe steady by replacing the brass fingers with roller bearings.

I bored it oversize to allow the fitting of sleeve, as per the original, however I was fitting the sleeve from the front, not the rear like the original

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

After making the sleeve, I decided to have a crack at rifling the bore. This took quite a bit of reseach & I finally decided on a method which I thought would work. The twist rate is 1 in 15 calibres, so I welded a small bit of round bar to a pipe at that twist rate, the got a piece of flat bar with a notched hole, so the round bar runs in it

Next I made the cutting tool out of silver steel, so I coud harden it, I raised the front of the rotary table to give the correct angle to follow the twist rate, & used a 1mm slitting saw

I built a little temporary oven to heat treat the tool

Then used a press to cut the rifling

 

The finished product turned out pretty good/

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Excellent!

Top marks for attention to detail.  I’ve seen a Vickers made model that only created the illusion of rifling – straight grooves at the muzzle about an inch deep.

Breakfast treat – thanks for sharing!

Dave

 

[Alan JacksonParticipant @alanjackson47790]

Agree with Dave , Brilliant work

Alan

[PeteParticipant @pete41194]

Your rifling method looks to have turned out well and is quite convincing. Well done and very clever Peter. 👍

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

After the sleeve was rifled, I fitted the sleeve to the barrel then made the front & rear Guides

I Cut Guide groooves in both the barrel & Guide rings, & used pins to keep them aligned

[Peter Bowers 3Participant @peterbowers3]

Next was to do the breech housing & breech block. Before I got too involved I thought I would try letter stamping the rear edge of the breech. I made a Guide sleeve to go over the top, & used letter stamps & some brass strips to get the letter spacing right

   

The final Result was quite good

[PeteParticipant @pete41194]

👍👍👍

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