Gecko 1:16 75mm Pak 40 Build/Review

[LSP_K2]

This will be my very first ever build/review and will be an on again, off again endeavor, at least until mid-September. I’ll attempt to highlight the pros and cons of the Gecko model, as well as point out differences between this and the Das Werk kit (hereto referred to as DW), all while actually building the kit.

 

[LSP_K2]

There are but two ammo boxes (one each of two varieties), and 8 rounds (two each of four different varieties, no empties), and no ammo tubes at all in the Gecko kit. The DW kit contains 4 boxes (all the same), 8 tubes and 10 rounds (5 each of two varieties, also no empties). All are of similar quality, but I really think I prefer the Gecko stuff, despite some lame box latches. 

 

 

 

[Rick Griewski]

I have the DW kit. I would appreciate it if you would take a step back and paw through the sprues as an overview.  
Thanks so much.

 

 

 

[Smokey]

K2, I'm looking forward to this build/review.  will start mine sometime this fall.  Dan

[LSP_K2]

13 hours ago, Rick Griewski said:

I have the DW kit. I would appreciate it if you would take a step back and paw through the sprues as an overview.  
Thanks so much.

 

Yea, that's doable. 

 

1 hour ago, Smokey said:

K2, I'm looking forward to this build/review.  will start mine sometime this fall.  Dan

 

Me too, as in I'll be cranking on this hot and heavy staring in mid September. With any luck at all it'll be one of my entries in Fort Wayne. 

[LSP_K2]

Here are two sprues of interest, Nc and Re. Front (outer) shield is one piece as opposed to three in the DW kit. There are very small vertical sink marks in the front of this shield, a result of an item on the inside, which allows the moveable center shield to slide up and down. Interesting, whereas the DW has full articulation re: elevation, Gecko only allows for horizontal or highly elevated, which seems a bit odd to me. Ignore the sink marks inside the shield, as they will never be seen. 

 

 

 

Re is interesting in a couple of ways. There are two of these in the kit. 

 

 

First off, the conical bolt heads, which are very tiny, all have holes in them as they should, excellent for stringing wire for foliage addition. DW kit does not have these holes. (A friend once advised to put items like these in a large ziplock bag when removing from the sprues so the parts stay in the bag. 

 

 

Another plus here is the inclusion of screw heads on these handles, DW just depicts them blunt. 

 

[LSP_K2]

And now a look at Qc. 

 

 

The items in red and green are correct, though the red bar is a bit too beefy. 

 

 

Red should actually be castle nuts (they secure the traverse arced rack gear), but 3D printed parts are available that may correct this. Skirt, for lack of a better word (green) is way too thick. One thing I do like here though is that unlike the DW kit, which incidentally has no bolts here of any sort, Gecko has conveniently placed the pin marks where they will be covered by welded structural reinforcements, whereas the DW kit has pin marks between these members, and are therefore highly visible. 

 

 

Gun cleaning rods again appear a bit too beefy, at least to me. 

 

 

Lifting handles seem a little too beefy for the scale. The inclusion of the foot operated catch release is nice, but they're centered on the bar whereas they should be offset to the outside of the bar. Probably a fairly easy fix, but still,... 

 

 

Shovel pockets are way too thick and need to be replaced. 

 

 

Tow bar is a bit anemic, so will be replaced with DW item. 

 

 

Brake light and housing look great from this view. 

 

 

Cleaning rod brackets are far more correct than DW items, and could even ever so slightly be improved with some thin brass strip or lead foil. 

 

[LSP_K2]

Here's a look at Ra and Rd (we've already covered Re, with one exception). 

 

 

Upper and lower front shields, from both sides. Not much to say here as they both look pretty good. 

 

 

 

Where castle nuts are present, they're done very well. 

 

 

A part from Re, the muzzle brake insert, which looks just fine. 

 

 

I erred, there are two empty shell casings included. 

 

 

Slide molded but walls are way too thick and will need some serious thinning. 

 

[LSP_K2]

And an examination of R. 

 

 

Bottom reinforcement frame for gun carriage. No weld seams, so those would need to be added, if so desired. 

 

 

Upper portions of same (two pieces sandwiched together), with the snubbers nicely done. 

 

 

Hydraulic tank and lines. 

 

 

Tow bar apparatus. 

 

 

Cross bridge ratchet, which looks a little too beefy, though at least it is included whereas the DW kit does not. 

 

 

Foot pedals, which I believe are for locking the trails in position, or possibly for hydraulic brakes, I'm not really sure. 

 

 

Parts of chassis. 

 

 

Trail locking latch for towing configuration, molded as one piece. The DW kit offers this as a two-piece affair, allowing for fully latched, fully open or anywhere in between and I like it a lot better than this. 

 

 

Reflector for backside of lower shield. I assume this works in conjunction with brake light. I've never seen an image of this on a real gun. 

 

 

Shovel stops, way too thick and I'll replace mine with thin brass strips. 

 

 

 

[LSP_K2]

Continuing my review here while I also begin work on the kit. There are only one set of wheels/tires included and I don't really like the style (plus I think they're a bit wonky), so I'll be replacing them with DW items. 

 

 

Shovel looks OK, if not somewhat plain. 

 

 

Shovel clamp (item 3) is a bit too chunky, but other small parts look pretty decent. 

 

 

The DW wheels/tires I'll be using on this effort. 

 

[LSP_K2]

An overall examination of sprue P. 

 

 

Gun slide looks pretty cool, though I've yet to check for specific details. 

 

 

The few breech components here look good, with a drift pin in the shell ejection handle and the top of breech having the correct offset to port of the apparatus in red. 

 

 

Unlike the DW kit, the Gecko kit has no connecting arms that move with the elevation of the central gun shield. This probably makes sense, as the kit is designed for horizontal barrel or raised, whereas the DW kit allows for full articulation here.  

 

 

Three (total) muzzle brake options are provided in the kit, the only noticeable differences between #6 and #8 being the two small slots in #8. 

 

[LSP_K2]

And Nd. 

 

 

As stated previously, three muzzle brake options are provided, three front faces and two rear bodies. 

 

 

The two muzzle break bodies are slide molded, eliminating later seam issues to be dealt with, a real nice touch. 

 

 

 

[LSP_K2]

Elevation and traverse gears are both provided, but elevation gear is a solid piece (as on the DW kit) whereas it should have a U shaped cross section. 

 

 

Elevation and  traverse hand wheels look great.

 

 

Breech components that I've checked so far look excellent, the shell ejection handle even having the appropriate drift pin depicted, if not somewhat large. 

 

 

Recoil absorbers are only configured for elevated and horizontal positioning, whereas DW allows for a full range of vertical travel. 

 

 

 

The tail end of the breech mounted cylinder has the correct offset to the hex not. 

 

 

 

[LSP_K2]

And one more, this time the N sprue. 

 

 

I can find no fault with the inner gun shields and castle nuts look excellent. 

 

 

Gun barrel brush housing looks a wee large to me, but is probably fine to use as-is, though the latches themselves are a bit clunky. 

 

 

Gunner side guard apparatus looks good, if not devoid of any weld marks, which I may or may not add myself. 

 

 

Central inner gun shield looks quite excellent. 

 

[LSP_K2]

Last up, sprue Pc. 

 

 

Gun elevation support structure. Some nice weld marks where there were none on the DW kit, but could still use more. This kit is supposed to be an "early version", and as such has a hatchet and another tool mounted on the right side of this apparatus. To be honest, I've only ever seen this arrangement on one gun and it had completely different wheels than those provided here, leading me to conclude that the mix and match nature of this gun offers virtually lots of options, which is exactly what I intend to do. 

 

 

Floor of gun cradle support. Looks pretty good, but may get a few small refinements. 

 

 

More details. Some of what I see here is a bit soft when compared to the same details of the DW kit. 

 

 

This sighting scope mounting gizmo is really nicely done, though no sighting scopes (there can be two) are provided in either kit, only the range finder scope.