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Description
EDIT, 17.04.15: added layer texture to the concrete.

This is part of a series of nine drawings made for the non-fiction book "The Fortified Region Focsani-Namoloasa-Galati" published by the Romanian Military Museum about the eponymous Fortified Line (also known in English as the "Sereth Line" and by it's abbreviation "FNG") built by Romania for defence against a presumptive Russian invasion during 1888-90.

Fourth drawing in the series, also focusing on the 5.3cm Schumann-Gruson Fahrpanzer.

I've decided to draw the first, original model of the 5.3cm mobile turret, designated Md.1888 in Romanian usage. There are no extant examples and only a few pictures exist, since this turret was almost instantly replaced by an updated type, referred in some sources as Md.1890.

EDIT- it appears a Md.1888 turret survived and is currently being restored in Bulgaria - this can only be a Romanian turret captured at Tutrakan/Turtucaia, since although the Bulgarians also purchased the Fahrpanzer, they did so only in 1892 so all the turrets they had were of the third type, not the second.

The differences between the two are minor -all the vital parts, cupola, gun, pedestal mount are identical, but the second type deletes the extension at the back of the turret and slightly widens the turret body below the armoured ring at the top so that it now lies flush with the edge of the ring, instead of creating an obvious "step".

Also, it's rather unclear how many of this early type were actually made and how many were delivered to Romania. It is known that at lest a few were used, but all the pictures that exist show the later one, especially since the pictures that exists were of the turrets displaced to guard the Carpathian passes during WW1 after their capture by the German army and it's clear the more modern design would have been preferred to the early one for this role, especially since there were more of the latter.

From a technical standpoint, the turret is pretty similar to it's smaller sister, the 3.7cm Fahrpanzer, but it was twice as heavy, weighing in at 2,502kg or two and a half metric tons.
The turret was also much larger, with a height of 1.53m and a diameter of 1,51m and much better armoured - the cupola, made out of laminated steel was 40mm thick (as opposed to 25 on the 3.7cm) and the body 4mm. Also 40mm thick was the wrought iron strengthening ring on which the cupola revolves.

The gun arcs were also identical to those of the 3.7cm turret - manual 360° traverse of the cupola, and -5° and +10° elevation for the gun. The ammunition provision was also identical - 100 rounds in ten lockers of 10 rounds each, arranged around the base of the turret.

The concrete emplacement was also pretty similar, only larger.

The other drawing in this series can be found here:

Cover, showing cutaway through 5.3cm mobile gun turret
Plate I, the 3.7cm mobile gun turret and transport carriage.
Plate II, the 3.7cm gun and ammunition.

Plate III, the 5.3cm mobile gun turret in its concrete emplacement .
Plate IV, the 5.3cm mobile gun turret in transport configuration.

Plate V, the 5.3cm disappearing cupola.

Plate VI, the 5.3cm gun and ammunition.

Plate VII, the 12cm gun and mortar armoured battery.

Plate VIII, the 12cm gun and mortar and their ammunition.

Description
EDIT, 17.04.15: added layer texture to the concrete.

This is part of a series of nine drawings made for the non-fiction book "The Fortified Region Focsani-Namoloasa-Galati" published by the Romanian Military Museum about the eponymous Fortified Line (also known in English as the "Sereth Line" and by it's abbreviation "FNG") built by Romania for defence against a presumptive Russian invasion during 1888-90.

Fourth drawing in the series, also focusing on the 5.3cm Schumann-Gruson Fahrpanzer.

I've decided to draw the first, original model of the 5.3cm mobile turret, designated Md.1888 in Romanian usage. There are no extant examples and only a few pictures exist, since this turret was almost instantly replaced by an updated type, referred in some sources as Md.1890.

EDIT- it appears a Md.1888 turret survived and is currently being restored in Bulgaria - this can only be a Romanian turret captured at Tutrakan/Turtucaia, since although the Bulgarians also purchased the Fahrpanzer, they did so only in 1892 so all the turrets they had were of the third type, not the second.

The differences between the two are minor -all the vital parts, cupola, gun, pedestal mount are identical, but the second type deletes the extension at the back of the turret and slightly widens the turret body below the armoured ring at the top so that it now lies flush with the edge of the ring, instead of creating an obvious "step".

Also, it's rather unclear how many of this early type were actually made and how many were delivered to Romania. It is known that at lest a few were used, but all the pictures that exist show the later one, especially since the pictures that exists were of the turrets displaced to guard the Carpathian passes during WW1 after their capture by the German army and it's clear the more modern design would have been preferred to the early one for this role, especially since there were more of the latter.

From a technical standpoint, the turret is pretty similar to it's smaller sister, the 3.7cm Fahrpanzer, but it was twice as heavy, weighing in at 2,502kg or two and a half metric tons.
The turret was also much larger, with a height of 1.53m and a diameter of 1,51m and much better armoured - the cupola, made out of laminated steel was 40mm thick (as opposed to 25 on the 3.7cm) and the body 4mm. Also 40mm thick was the wrought iron strengthening ring on which the cupola revolves.

The gun arcs were also identical to those of the 3.7cm turret - manual 360° traverse of the cupola, and -5° and +10° elevation for the gun. The ammunition provision was also identical - 100 rounds in ten lockers of 10 rounds each, arranged around the base of the turret.

The concrete emplacement was also pretty similar, only larger.

The other drawing in this series can be found here:

Cover, showing cutaway through 5.3cm mobile gun turret
Plate I, the 3.7cm mobile gun turret and transport carriage.
Plate II, the 3.7cm gun and ammunition.

Plate III, the 5.3cm mobile gun turret in its concrete emplacement .
Plate IV, the 5.3cm mobile gun turret in transport configuration.

Plate V, the 5.3cm disappearing cupola.

Plate VI, the 5.3cm gun and ammunition.

Plate VII, the 12cm gun and mortar armoured battery.

Plate VIII, the 12cm gun and mortar and their ammunition.