10cm

A Subject of Mortars in Miniature.com
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	The Kit: This kit is from Mini Art Studios, manufactured in the PRC, and is also in 1/35th scale. Cast in a creme colored resin, this kit also includes their versions of the 5cm GrW 36 and 8cm GrW 34. This is the first subject that I have built from this manufacturer, and I was pleased to find that the casting was done fairly well. However, there were some minor problems encountered during the build-up. Nothing that a little extra work wouldn't resolve.

Kit Construction:
With this being another resin kit, care must be taken to remove the flash and pin holes of which there were some to deal with. Careful filling and filing along with some very light sanding will result in a real nice representation of the NbW 35 tube.
I did however find that it would be better to replace the bipod legs and details with brass rod and styrene bits. I also found that on the baseplate, that there was an area that was rather thinly cast, so I beefed up that one area with Squadron putty in order to prevent any break-through and sanded flush. A few other parts were replaced with Contrail styrene tubing, Evergreen styrene rod and Grandt Line Eyebolts along with some bolt heads punched out of Evergreen styrene.

The Details:
Other than the few bits and pieces added to the overall construction of the kit, the only other items added to the scene were the ammo shipping canisters made up from Contrail styrene tubing and Evergreen styrene rod with any gaps being filled with Squadron putty. Normally, German mortar bombs came in wooden crates, but I do have a photo of the NbW 35 with what appears to be cardboard tubes laying a short distance form the firing line. Perhaps these were for the smoke/chemical munitions.
The bomb came with the kit and this also required some minor clean-up. It appears to be an HE type bomb.

Base and Groundwork:
The groundwork is Sculptamold and to this Verlinden Static Grass was added along with some dried flowers for the bush. To stay consistent with this collection, The base is cut from pine scrap and again, is 3-1/2 inches in diameter, routed with my Dremel Tool and stained with a natural colored stain then sealed with multiple coats of Polyurethane.

Painting, Weathering and Finishing:
PollyS/PollyScale Acrylic Paints were used throughout. Winsor and Newton Oils thinned with Loew-Cornell Odorless Brush Cleaner and Thinner were used for the washes. Weathering was accomplished in part by using Berol Prismacolor art pencils. These pencils were also used for the 'stenciling' on the bomb and bomb canisters. PollyScale Acrylic Flat Coat was then applied overall to the finished subject, and then PollyScale Acrylic Gloss Coat was applied by brush to simulate the slushy mud effect.

General Info:
Virtually a scaled up version of the 8cm GrW 34. Development started in 1934 with production running from 1939 to 1941. Initially issued only to 'Nebeltruppen' (artificial fog and smoke units), it was later issued to other formations as a heavy mortar, using conventional HE type ammunition. In Nebeltruppen units, this weapon was replaced by the 15cm rocket equipment.

The Nebelwerfer 35 could be broken down into three man-packed loads and carried by its crew of seven, (team leader; three gunners; and three ammunition handlers). For movement of the mortar and ammunition over longer distances, small hand carts were issued. The three components of the NbW. 35 were:

It usually took three rounds to zero in the weapon, the first rounds were best fired at high elevation to settle the baseplate firmly on the ground.

Actual Data:
German designation: 10cm NbW 35.
Caliber: 105mm.
Method of operation: Muzzle loaded, percussion fired.
Crew: 5
Length of barrel (L/13): 1344mm.
Length of bore: 1207mm.
Weight traveling (3 loads): 11kg.
Weight in action: 105kg.
Weight of Baseplate: 37.65kg
Weight of Bipod: 33.1kg
Weight of Barrel: 32.66kg
Traverse: 28°.
Elevation: +45° to +90°.
Muzzle velocity: 193m/sec.
Ammunition: (Bomb Weight)
Wurfgranate 35 (High Explosive): 7.26kg.
Wurfgranate 40 (Smoke): 8.62kg.
Maximum range: 3025m.
Rate of fire: 10-15rpm.
Barrel life: 15,000 to 18,000 rounds.
Method of transport: two-wheeled hand cart.
Original designers: Rheinmetall-Borsig AG.

British Training drawing
Courtesy of the
Johannesburg, South Africa
National Military Museum
via Lt. Col. William Marshall

References:
"Weapons of the Third Reich", Terry Gander and Peter Chamberlain.
"Second World War Combat Weapons", E. J. Hoffschmidt and W. H. Tantum IV.

Dr. Leo Niehorster - The Netherlands
Mr. Michael H. Pruett - United States
Mr. Jon Bailey - United States
Mr. Dave Potter - United States
Mr. Ville Kosonen - Norway

Unless otherwise specified, all models built, painted, photographed and are owned by the author.
Mortars in Miniature, Created and Maintained by Kevin Robert Keefe, Copyright © 2001 - 2008.
All Rights Reserved.

	German 10cm Mortar, Nebelwerfer 35 Comments, suggestions, additional info?