Trux 1/76 60-Pounder BL Mk I Field Gun

The 60-pounder was one of the most modern guns used by the British at the outset World War One. It had been introduced in 1904, after bitter experience during the Boer War had showed the British the need for a heavy, long-range support weapon. The design was pretty standard, except that the gun and cradle could be pulled back onto the box trail, to distribute the weight more evenly during transport. The 127mm gun could shoot a 27.3kg shell (shrapnel or HE) some 9.4km. It was the Divisional Heavy Batteries that were armed with the 60-pounder.

The performance of the 60-pounder was also improved over the years. This was done mainly by using better munitions, e.g. more aerodynamically shaped shell. This improved the range up to 11.2km. (In 1916 a new barrel was designed, that was both longer and could be elevated more. This was the Mk II. The alterations made the gun heavier, but increased the range even more, now up til 14.1km. This model did however not see service in World War One.) Also both the carriage and especially the wheels were altered during the war, improving the maneuverability of a pretty heavy gun. (it's weight was 4.47 tons.)

The general soundness of the design is showed by the fact that it was used well into World War Two.

  For more photos of this gun, click here!
  

Contents of the kit:

Click on the picture for an enlarged version!

The kit comes in a zip-lock bag and is made in very light greenish resin. It comes with a basic but perfectly usable plan. The moulding is first rate: very sharp, with no air bubbles to be found, the quality is almost Al.By.

The kit itself consists of some 25 parts, including parts for the limber. This is the the best 60pdr kit available now, better than the the offerings of both Matador and Exokit. The reason is both the better mouldings and sharper details, and simply that this is a complete gun: you get all the important parts that was there in reality, including dial sight, elevating and traversing wheels, rammer, ranging pole, omvement pole, trail handles etc. You also have the option to model the gun in transport position. This is all both unusual and excellent! My only complaint is the gun barrel part, which is rather uneven and of a bit strange shape.

There is only one snag, and that is that the kit portrays the 60pdr in its Mk2 WW2 guise, with modern rubber wheels. If you want to do it you have to backdate it, replacing the rubber type wheels with the spoked tree variety used in the Great War. As these are pretty unusual in shape, I think that the best bet is to take them from the Exokit or Matador kits. 

This kit can be bought through Trux themselves.

If you forget the barrel, this is actually a good artillery kit, almost on par with Al.By:s offerings. In general, the best Great War 60pdr is probably done by kitbashing this kit with some details taken from the offerings by Exokit and Matador.