WWII British Blacker Bombard with scenic bases 1-56 scale 28mm

This model represents the British WWII post Dunkirk spigot mortar developed by Lt. Colonel Stewart Blacker affectionately known as the Blacker Bombard. Desperate for replacement weapons after the Fall of France this design found favour with Churchill and over 20,000 were made, though only a few saw active service in North Africa before supplies of new 3" mortars phased it out of service with front line units and relegated it to a purely home service role.

This model began as a request from a regular customer of our printed models. He explained he was wanting to do some Home Defence themed dioramas in 1/30th scale and did I have files for the Blacker Bombard. Helpfully he sent images and a link to a great website article on the weapon. Unable to find the model as a digital file on the web I offered to attempt to create the 3D files myself. Scaling was an issue but I did get some accurate measurements from various WWII era documents. There was an excellent diagram in one of the wartime training manuals specifying the dimensions of the emplacement required for the concrete plinth.

The resulting model is close to historical measurements but there is still an element of designing by eye and my software skill limits kept the shield simple in comparison to some images I found.

The various emplacements are not intended to receive the standard 28mm wargaming figure. In order to keep the whole emplacement having a relatively low concealed profile I have assumed you will convert your crew figures to be mostly removed below the waist.  I have provided the cruciform ground mount used by the bombard if you want to organise a crew lying down hoping their foes won't spot them.

As is normal with GSP you will receive files for both plastic and resin printing. Those intended for resin also come pre-supported.

All the bombard pieces do print well in resin but I did have to go through a number of test attempts to find out where to locate the supports and which parts of the model simply refused to be supported. This has resulted in the electric ignition wire hugging the shield far more tightly than wartime photos showed.

The gunners handles to position the gun do print well but need a lot of care when clipping the supports away, as does the twist grip to lock the bombard in position. Be very sensitive removing supports from  the middle of the weapon forward.

I have included as accessories the mortar round in its various stages. These are small at 1/56 scale so be patient in cleaning support material off and printing. Expect some failures at the printing stage.

The client who prompted the development of this model has received his 1/30 version and has left very positive feed back

These models were designed by Neal Bowskill Copyright July 2022, no printing for commercial gain permitted.