Schwerer Gustav
A diorama of Schwerer Gustav in Sevastopol

Jens Andrée
Ok, so it's about to happen - a humongous diorama based on Schwerer Gustav in the battle for Sevastopol!
I've been toying with the idea ever since the beginning of the summer and now I've acquired most of the kits I need to get started!
The Hobby Boss Dora kit came with a straight dual track which is of no use in a diorama since the a railway gun has to be put on a bent track in order to aim it, so I had to buy two sets of curved track and two sets of straight tracks in order to reproduce the photos from Sevastopol.
They only used diesel-electric trains to move the railway guns in order to avoid the huge smoke stacks that would indicate where they were long before they could aim and shoot, and I've chosen one WR360 for this task.
I was also going to include another track with an armoured train and a flakwagon, but it's on hold at the moment because of size.
There are going to be plenty of armour and figures representing I. Flakkorp and also the gun crew and engineers.

This is going to be a HUGE diorama and it'll probably take a year to complete so don't expect to see the finished result in spring, but I'm really keen on getting started! Just need to setup a new modelling area first because this beast will require a fair bit of space to build, and a bucket or two of paint😉

The barrel pieces in the kit look really silly and it's hard to believe that they actually built two of these monsters - and used them in battle?!

The bonkers of all bonkers kits! 😄

Derek Huggett
Insane project...love the concept! 👍 Good luck Jens, I'll take a seat (if there is room!) if I may? 🙂

Ingo F
Sounds and looks really interesting. I am definitely in. Anyone popcorn and soft drinks? 😄

Jens Andrée
Cheers guys! 😄
Plenty of room for spectators, but you might want to bring a sleeping bag and some more food than popcorn because this project isn't going to be done in a weekend😉
I'm also building a display cabinet in wood and glass to house the diorama and I'm not exactly aiming for IKEA style here - quite the opposite actually, with a"German flair" if there's something called that?

I would also love to add electronics, i.e. lights, to the diorama but in real life they would probably have strict light discipline during nighttime so there wouldn't be any lights on, would it?

The cabinet will be lit though by discrete led strips.

Anyhow, I hope to get started soon and I will promise a well update photo album to go with the build! There's also an external page about the build in more detail. More about that when I get started!

Many thanks for all the comments - and if you at any point think I'm taking a bad design decision, please let me know because it's easy to get blind when building away... This is why I've cut the armour train out of the diorama, for now at least...😉

Alec K
I am in to for this one. Very ambitious project 👍

Derek Huggett
Jens - Display cabinet? More like a small greenhouse or conservatory! 🙂 I will park my mobile-home/camper van outside if that's okay!

Jens Andrée
Hahaha Derek! 😄
You are probably correct because the base will almost be the size of a door, and some height is also required...
And of course you can park your camper van here! I could probably do with some help finishing this build😉

Wim van der Luijt
count me in for this huge project too, how big is the gun in 1:72?

Sebastian Meyner
Big plans for a big gun! Looking forward to see it come together! 👍

The display cabinet "German Style" but not IKEA?! Sorry Jens but these days IKEA could pass as "German Style"...trust me I'm German and we love IKEA 🙂

Udo Browarczik
Curiosity might kill the cat, but count me in.... Good luck!

Jens Andrée
I haven't built and measured the gun yet but the model is ~120 cm long so the gun should be almost 1 meter long!

I've got a surprise in store for the cabinet, hence the "German style" and not IKEA😉

The plan is to build the type of diorama you see on a picture and think "I wish I had one of them" but secretly knowing it would be too big and possibly a bit silly, and that's why I'm doing it!
We're not getting any younger, not me anyway, so I'm going full bonkers and will have a lot of fun getting there! 😄

Cheers for all of your kind and supportive comments! 👍

Sebastian Meyner
Lots of luck for this monster. See you in about a year! 😉

Speaking of monsters...you put the other one (Entwicklungsserie...) on hold? Don't tell me I have to struggle alone on that on!

Jens Andrée
Sebastian, No, the Entwicklungsfahrzeug Sammlung is in full swing but I tend to have more than one build going on at the same time😉
A few of the tanks in the Entwicklungsfahrzeug Sammlung are going to be built as group builds next year so I can't start them yet, but I've made good progress so far but just doing similar tanks, one after the other, gets boring - as will the Schwerer Gustavs 400 wheels or so to make, so that's why I'm starting this project at the same time!
I'm retired after an accident so modelling is pretty much all I do nowadays and that's why I can churn out so many models. At least I found one benefit of breaking my spine and pelvic bone!
I need to get better taking photos but the new modelling area is going to have better lights so taking photos should be much easier!