Smooth-Bore Muzzle Loading (SBML) Mortar

I had located and purchased this model from an on-line auction and as expected, it arrived already assembled and painted. After a close inspection,  I decided to disassemble and strip all of the paint and glue off as I felt that this was required to turn this into a better miniature.

The Details:
Additional work was necessary to bring this model up to my liking. 53 parts were either added from scratch or were kit parts that were replaced...

• The base stiffener ribs were made from styrene. (Replaced kit parts) 

• The bolt heads were replaced with parts punched out of styrene. (Replaced kit parts)

• The four lifting handles were fabricated from aluminum rod bent to shape and pressed into drilled out holes. (Added)

• The three brass eye pins were snipped from a cheap pair of pierced earrings. (Replaced kit parts)

• The elevation and traverse guy wires are fashioned from solder. (Replaced kit parts)

• The turn buckles are made from styrene tubing. (Replaced kit parts)

• The turn buckle handles are cut from .035 inch styrene rod. (Added) 

• The guy wire collar was made from styrene strip. (Added after above photos were taken.)

• The firing mechanism is a chopped down resin Lee-Enfield rifle from Model Cellar Productions. (Replaced kit part.)

• The lanyard is a length of  Amati model ship rigging and the trigger ring is made from fine electrical wire. (Added)

• The tube's bore was partially drilled out to .172 inch in diameter. (Improved on the indentation cast in to the tube.)

The Extras:

The Base:
The base is cut to 4-1/2 inches square x 3/4 inches thick and is scrap oak. Routered and sanded, the wood was then stained with an oil based penetrating stain and then sealed with multiple coats of Polyurethane. I applied lo-tak drafting tape to mask off the wood from the groundwork mix and paint.

The Groundwork:
The groundwork is my usual mix of Sculptamold, wood glue (aliphatic resin glue) and water. This was applied, working quickly to the contours desired with pressed in boot prints and allowed to dry thoroughly for a couple of days.

Verlinden Static Grass was used sparingly and applied over a thinned white glue (PVA).

Painting, Weathering and Finishing:
Acrylic paints were used throughout and applied by air brush and hand brush. Winsor and Newton Oils thinned with Terponoid Odorless Brush Cleaner and Thinner were used for the wash effects. Berol Prismacolor colored pencils were sparingly used to aid in the weathering and various shades of Bragdon Enterprises pastel weathering chalks were dusted on as well. Dry brushing was also done in the acrylic paints. An acrylic flat coat was applied overall and as a final 'weathering' step but, prior to fixing the balsa wood ammo crates to the base.

The alignment stripe on the tube is a SuperScale decal from the spare decal drawer.

The Final Touches:
The name plate was made from shined K&S Engineering brass strip measuring 1/2 inch wide x .010 inch thick. The lettering is from Letraset and was applied with a burnishing tool. Once the lettering was in place, the brass was cut to length and to protect the brass and lettering from fingerprints and wear, I applied a strip of  Avery Self-Adhesive Laminating sheet. As the final step to this vignette, the nameplate was attached with double-sided tape.

There are four self-adhesive felt pads and the date of completion marked to the underside of the base.

Actual Data:
The 6-Inch mortar was also produced in the United States and was originally accepted into service as the Mark I and would eventually evolve into the Mark II and Mark III upgrades. Data listed below is for the U.S. Mark I. (Note the obvious differences between what is being shown here from the model.)

General Info:
In British Commonwealth Service, the 6-Inch Mortar was classified as a Medium Mortar, bridging the gap between the Light 2-Inch Mortar (replaced by the 3-Inch SBML Mortar in 1917) and the Heavy 9.45-Inch Mortar. By the end of the war, there were 12 medium mortars assigned to each division.

Conclusion:
I can not verify if this particular version of 6-Inch mortar was actually a reality. If so, there is some question as to whether the 'Toffee Apple' chemical/gas bomb being depicted here was ever available as a 6-Inch munitions. (It was common for this type/shape of bomb to be used with the British WWI 2-Inch Mortar.) Also, the HE bombs included appear to resemble French WWI Pneumatic Mortar Bombs more than the typical 6-Inch Bombs. There is also the question as to whether the Firing Mechanism being shown here on this model is correct or not for this mortar. The firing device that is being shown here was however, typical of the Newton-Stokes method of firing a mortar where the bomb is dropped down the tube and a blank cartridge is fired from the modified rifle that in turn ignites the charges attached to the bomb fins. British mortars were in some part, hurriedly placed into production for the First World War (very few mortars of all types were in the inventory at the outbreak of the war), and perhaps varied as far as any standardization might have gone. I have no means to verify any dimensional information and the only hand drawing of a British 6-Inch Mortar known, varies slightly from what this kit depicts.

However... this was a fun model kit to build and the rarity of this model makes it an interesting addition to this collection.

References:
"America's Munitions 1917-1918" Copyright 1919.

On-Line References:
The 6-Inch Mortar
WWI Heavy Weapons