When I fall in love ....

If you know me IRL or have been following this blog a little longer than most (or if you're a co-worker and you hear my daily obsessive rambling), you probably know that once a though is stuck in my head, there's no removing it. If I set my eye on a kit that I really like, I tend to make statements like "I'll buy it as soon as I finish a few more models." Rest assured, it rarely takes that long. I start worrying the kit will be nowhere to be found if I wait a few years, so I start looking around.

Without further ado : guess what the UPS-guy brought all the way from South-Germany?

Trumpeter's 1/35 Mörser Karl - Gerät 040/041, the early version (different suspension in the later version, among other things) - WITH the rail transport carrier - now takes a prominent place in my stash.

30 sprues contain 1.300+ pieces. Nice details, no flash and - if my few experience with Trumpeter holds true - a beauty to assemble.

3 boxes hold the lower and upper hull, vinyl tracks, 2 photo-etch frets, some metal rods and springs and the railroad-sections we already know very well from the Panzerjägerwagen I'm currently building.

A 44-page booklet will guide me through the process. The railway cars buildup looks very familiar. It will get tedious at some points, assembling many identical sub-assemblies many different times, but I'm looking forward to it.

There are many options, like a 60cm or 54cm barrel, or the option to pose it in transport (suspension lowered, gun lowered, no loading tray) or firing position (suspension raised, handrails raised, all kinds of panels folded out). Deciding which to show could be a tough decision, as both present a beautiful model.
Well, if I wanted to show it in firing position, I shouldn't have bought the version with the railroad cars.

I'd say "stay tuned", but it may take a while before this one gets tackled. Stay tuned anyway.