Ace Model's 1/72 Putilov 76.2mm M1900 Field Gun
 

On the Real Thing

The 76.2mm M1900 field gun was pretty powerful, considering its weight. It could fire a 6.4kg shell at a muzzle velocity 590 m/sec to a maximum range of 6,7km. In action it weighed about one ton. It actually had a recuperator system, although not a technically advanced one. The barrel was mounted on a carriage which slided backwards on top of the trail, an oil buffer in the trail acting as a recoil brake. Inside there were 40 india-rubber 'doughnuts' which were compressed during the recoil stroke and then expanded again to return the barrel into firing position. Originally it had no shield.

It was a design born obsolete, and the relative backwardness of the gun was well demonstrated in the Russo-Japanese War. Some attempts were made by the Russian Army to update it: a shield was added, but this made the equipment heavier and thus less manoeuvrable.

Officially it was superseded by the excellent 76.2mm Putilov M1902, and put into reserve stores. A number of M1900, however, appeared in the first part of the war to replace heavy losses the Russian Army suffered in the opening battles of 1914, but as soon as new M1902’s were available, they were again withdrawn.

When not employed as a fields gun the M1900 found use in the many big fortresses, and also as a anti-aircraft gun, or to be more precise, as a anti-airship gun. (The chance to hit a fast and small aircraft with a gun of this type was practically nil (despite what the box art says), but it had a small chance to hit one of the big and slow-moving Zeppelins, that the Germans employed with some success on the Eastern Front in 1914-1915.) In the anti-airship role the mobile Ivanov Mount was used, which consisted of a cradle for the wheels, mounted upon a pivoted platform that sat on the ground.

After 1917 the newly formed Finnish Army took control of some 20 M1900’s, and they used it in the Winter War and actually also in the opening phase of the Continuation War in 1941.
 

The kit comes in one of Ace's nice, well-illustrated boxes. As with its sister kit, of the 76.2mm M1902,  you realise at once that this is a model intended for a big market. This is also a polystyrene plastic kit, of the standard type we all know so well. The plan is excellent.

The kit doesn't only contain parts to build the gun, and the Ivanov Mount, but also a limber, and some ammo - which is all in all good value for money.

The kit is moulded in a soft, light grey plastic, typical of Ace. The moulding is very good, but as this kit is done with so called short-run technique, the details are a bit soft here and there, and you need to trim some parts, like the spokes of the wheels, carefully with a sharp knife. But as the material is polystyrene plastic this is easy work.

Some of the details are small and fiddly, and the job of trimming can be time consuming. The fit is good, although dry-runs of the different parts is recommended.

Of special note is that the kit comes with a special PE fret, to be used on the seats for the gunners (on the front sides of the barrel, and used during transport). This is an excellent idea as it gives not only details that should have been tricky in any other material but also almost scale thickness! Super use of PE frets!

The accuracy of the Ace kit is good, and can be built pretty much straight out off the box. There is one omission, however, that you have to put in there yourself, in order to get a good likeness. For some reason ACE missed the barrel elevation device, on the right hand side, just in front of the breech. In the photo below marked 5.

Another things you might want to add yourself is (again refer to the photo above): 1. Lifting handles, 2. Sighting device, 3. More details on the breech, and 4. Handles for the gunners, when riding on the seats. Also missing is the short lanyard. (or all these details, refer to the photos and place an the top of the page.)

The Ivanov AA Mount is easy to build, and as far as I can see accurate. The same goes for the limber.

You can get this kit from most good suppliers, like Hannants.
 

Verdict

Although some details are missing this is a very ine kit, that can be built either as-is, or given a lot of additional details, depending on how picky you are. The inclusion of a PE fret is especially note-worthy, really enhancing the look of the gun. A very good buy, considering that you also get a limber!