M1938

A Subject of Mortars in Miniature.com
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	The Kit: This is a 1/35 scale offering from the joint Italian and Russian firm of Italeri/Zvesda and is molded in styrene plastic. The moldings are typical of these manufacturers, and was quite an enjoyable build. It did however require more detailing to complete. Lacking any substantial reference on this weapon, I basically took an educated guess as to how this weapon might have appeared in Soviet World War II service.

	The Details: To begin with, on the tube, baseplate and bipod, I added 25 additional parts. The majority of these parts being bolt and rivet heads made with the Historex punch set. I also added a length of Builders In Scale chain to the bipod legs.
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	The Baseplate: This required some filling as there were two rather large sink holes. One each at the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions. This was difficult to fill, but it filled up rather nicely after a couple of coats of Squadron filler. In doing so, I damaged the rather poor weld beads on the plate so I went ahead and re-scribed them all with the tip of a #11 X-acto blade. The lifting handles were replaced with wire rod.
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	The Ammo Crate: This was a real mess. Hardly any detail at all. If you decide to show it in the open position, you'll have to do some work to it. I added 58 parts, mostly in the hinge areas with bolt heads added along with the two locking latches. I also added the rope handles, made from Amati ship rigging and I beefed up where they went with small strips of Evergreen styrene, beveled. I also scribed and re-scribed the wood grain.
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	Base and Groundwork: The groundwork is Sculptamold and to this was added stones, Verlinden Static Grass, Hudson & Allen Tall Grass and some dried flowers for the bushes. The base is cut from oak and is 3-1/2 inches in diameter, stained with a natural stain and sealed with multiple coats of Polyurethane. The edge was routed with my Dremel Tool.

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. Dry brushed in part with PollyS/PollyScale Metalline series Acrylic Paints. PollyScale Acrylic Flat Coat was then applied overall to the finished subject.

General Info:
6-120mm mortars were assigned to each Soviet Infantry Regiment.
Soviet Wartime (1941-1945) production for all models of the120mm mortar totaled: 46,600 units.

Quite an effective and popular weapon, this weapon was captured, copied and deployed by the Finnish Army as the Model 1938 and remained in Finnish service well after WWII had ended.

This weapon was also used in large numbers by Chinese Communist Forces during the Korean War. Lacking any substantial artillery support during the initial invasion across the Yalu River, the ChiCom forces relied heavily on the M-1938/43 Mortar for fire support.


Actual Data: Caliber: 120mm Length of Barrel: 1.862m Length of Bore: 1.536m Weight: 280.1kg Elevation: +45º to +80º Traverse: +/-30º Bomb Weight (HE): 16kg Maximum Range (HE): 6,000m
	Soviet Field Manual Courtesy of Mr. Vesa Toivonen	Finnish Field Manual Courtesy of Mr. Vesa Toivonen	Soviet Field Manual Courtesy of Mr. Tom Bebbington

Shown below, the same Italeri/Zvesda kit of the M1938/43 being towed by the T-20 Komsomolyets kit from Toga. I built this combination a number of years ago, well before I decided to build this collection of mortars, and I thought that I would include it here. The Komsomolyets being of World War II Soviet vintage. I have no reference stating that it might have served beyond that period of time. In fact, at the time I built this combination, I had no reference to go by at all.

The trailer is basically out of the box with some straps made from strips of drafting tape added to secure the mortar and there is a dust cover applied to the end of the mortar's tube. This being made from tissue paper and diluted white glue.

As you can probably tell by the wear and tear of the nameplate, this model has been entered into a number of competitions. Better the damage being done there vs. having the judges touching up on the model itself. I have since found out that by spraying the nameplate with a generous coating of Future Floor Wax, straight out of the bottle and applied by airbrush, will prevent any damage or tarnishing. I am a firm believer in mounting all of my models on bases.

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Mortars in Miniature, Created and Maintained by Kevin Robert Keefe, Copyright © 2001 - 2008.
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	Soviet 120mm Mortar, M-1938/43 Comments, suggestions, additional info?
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