France

155mm Howitzer mle 17C

The 155mm Howitzer by Schneider, was the principal heavy howitzer piece of the French Army during the Great War. It started as a private enterprise, the design being made by Schneider to get a contract to equip the Russian Imperial Army with artillery. The gun itself proved to be an excellent piece, and when the War broke out in 1914 it was soon accepted by the French Army as well, who needed these types of modern, heavy howitzers - they had put too much faith in their cherished "75". The first model, the mle 1915, employed brass cartridges for the charge, which was seen as a drawback, and a new model, the mle 1917, eventually superceded the first. The only difference between the two was some alterations to the Breech. There were five different types of Grenades for this gun, including HE, Shrapnel and Gas. The soundness of the design was soon proved by the fact the the Americans adapted it, to equip it's Expeditionary Army in Europe - their copy was called M1917A1. It was still in both French and American service at the outset of the Second World War. (It was also used by a number of other countries, including Finland, who employed the piece with good effect during the Winter War.) My model comes from a nice kit made by Cromwell, mentioned in the Review section. The details are good and sharp, but there are a lot of them missing, not least on the area around the breech. For example, there are no elevating wheels to be found, a prominent feature in the original, the attachment points for the arc dente - under the cradle - are gone as is the mechanism for securing the cradle to the trail when moving the piece. And on the leftside lower front of the shield there should be a cranking wheel etc. All these details have been added. The fitting of the shield is rather tricky, and required a number of dry-runs, and also an additional set of braces, holding it firmly in place. (Click here for another picture of this model) Click on the thumbnails below to see more photos of this model:

---

Gallery | Reviews | Disclaimer |Kitlist
Guest Book | Vote! | Search | Back to Index | Contact