TAMIYA BRITISH 25PDR GUN

It first arrived as the Ordnance Q.F. 25Pdr Mark 1, which was an adaptation of the trusty 18Pdr, to fulfil the requirement for a longer-range weapon firing a 25-pound shell. By 1936, the British Army needed a more modern piece with greater range. So the Mark 2 was born. Unlike its predecessor, this was not a conversion of an old design. It combined a humped box trail with a 360 degree platform & a new gun. First used in Norway in 1940, by 1944 12,000 guns were manufactured.

It was rugged, dependable & handy & doubled as an anti-tank gun too, particularly in the North African campaign. In this role, it had telescopic sights fitted. The 25Pdr had a range of 13,400 yards (12,253m) & a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute.

Tamiya’s kit (Ref: 35046) is old with heavy detail, simplified wheels & a crew of Mr. Blobbies. Having said that, the sprues do date from an ancient era of modelling.

At the time we constructed this kit, today’s selection of Bronco & Dragon models of the same gun simply didn’t exist.

So we set about refining the model. We sanded down the worst offender, the over-thick gunshield, & then reattached the details. Otherwise, that was about it. With the shield done, the kit looks much better. The only weakness we never cured was the filled-in limber compartments – which could be drilled out for a much better result.

We then painted gun & limber in Bronze Green enamels & washed & weathered them. A lot of metal wear – common on field guns – was represented with drybrushing using Xtracolor Oily Steel enamel.

Undoubtedly, it isn’t up to modern standards, but if picked up cheap, it isn’t beyond repair & looks satisfactory if tweaked.

We’ll be seeing more of this old model in a forthcoming tutorial video soon.