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First Look Review
135
German 88mm
German 88mm L71 Flak 41 Anti-Aircraft Gun with crew
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by: Darren Baker [ CMOT ]

Introduction

The German 88mm must be the most well known artillery gun with offerings from most manufacturers in various scales. Bronco now steps into the fold with a German 88mm L71 Flak 41 Anti-Aircraft Gun with crew. One of the things that make this model more desirable is that it is an anti-aircraft gun rather than the more usual anti-tank version. I believe that this is the only model of the 88mm flak 41 currently available.

Contents

The kit is packaged in the standard slip-top cardboard box which should be strong enough to ensure the kit reaches you as intended and contains;

• 12 light grey sprues.
• 1 photo etched fret
• 1 decal sheet
• An A4 glossy instruction booklet.

Review

At the very start of this review I should mention that if you are looking for a towed 88mm gun this is not the kit for you as the parts included are for an emplaced gun only. The 88mm gun in this kit is specifically for an anti-aircraft gun in a fixed position and is provided with a six man crew produced by Dragon Models Limited, a link to a review of the figures by Nathan Phelps is at the end of this review. The Flak 41 went into service in 1943 and featured a longer barrel and larger breach to accommodate a longer shell in order to reach the allied bombers that now flew at higher altitudes. The 88mm flak 41 had a 12 man crew, this 12 man crew all came from the Luftwaffe.

Construction of this model is covered over 40 stages using the line drawing format. No stage is overly busy, but the model does have quite a high number of very small parts that will put your skills to the test and also means taking measures against the carpet monster.

This model is started by constructing the cruciform base; this area of the build is covered over six stages and surprisingly does cover assembly of cruciform in transport position as well as deployed. All of the parts are cleanly moulded as can be seen from the pictures and exhibit no obvious issues for the modeller to overcome.

Moving on to the barrel and breach of the model; the barrel has been cast using slide mould technology which results in one piece barrel lengths, that other than a very light seam are as good as any barrel I have seen. The seam on the barrel lengths should be removed easily with the lightest of sanding or scraping with a blade.

The gun cradle is the area of the build that will test your ability the most, with a large number of sub-assemblies and small parts that need to be precisely placed. Great care will need to be taken to prevent moveable parts becoming fixed before they are in the desired position decided by you.

The remaining construction areas are straight forward and should not present any problems for you. Included with this kit are three types of ammunition which are supplied with storage cases (two types) and include photo etched cartridge detail of the percussion cap with markings. Finally there is an R36 rangefinder and its storage case which allows you to decide if you want it depicted in use, in its case with the lid open, or just the closed case.

As mentioned earlier there is a six man crew included with this product from Dragon which are all of a good quality. I would have liked to see a full crew of twelve with this product, but six is a good start. The only other thing missing that I would have liked to see included with these figures is some decals, a step that Bronco has now started to take.

Conclusion

This is another good kit from the Bronco stable that should more than keep fans of the 88mm in all its guises happy. The kit is, in effect, a “diorama in a box” with the crew and equipment being included, the only people who may not be so happy are those that like to depict their artillery models on the move. This is, however, not a model aimed at the novice who I suspect will struggle with some aspects of it.

Reference:
New Vanguard 46 - 88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 and PaK 43 1936–45 ISBN 9781841763415

DML Flak Artillery Crew review
SUMMARY
Highs: I believe that this is an original version of the 88mm gun which will fill a hole, and with the parts and crew included with the kit you have a diorama in a box.
Lows: The only low that comes to mind is that decals for the crew have not been included and according to my limited ref on this specific variant it should have a crew of 12.
Verdict: This is a very well detailed model of this specific variant of the 88mm gun that went into service in 1943 and I believe fills a gap. Highly recommended for those with the needed modelling experience.
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: CB35067
  Suggested Retail:  £33.99
  PUBLISHED: Jul 04, 2012
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 87.04%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 87.97%

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About Darren Baker (CMOT)
FROM: ENGLAND - SOUTH WEST, UNITED KINGDOM

I have been building model kits since the early 70’s starting with Airfix kits of mostly aircraft, then progressing to the point I am at now building predominantly armour kits from all countries and time periods. Living in the middle of Salisbury plain since the 70’s, I have had lots of opportunitie...

Copyright ©2021 text by Darren Baker [ CMOT ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Bill the set has 9.5 pairs of arms, 7 pairs of legs, 8 heads, and 6 torso's, with another set of these figures or similar dressed set there should be plenty of scope for six more figures. the L41 also appears to be the correct gun and shield to be placed on a Panther chassis for an original build of that Panther.
JUL 05, 2012 - 08:40 AM
Hi, here you'll find a drawing showing the positions of the 11(!) crewmembers: http://zweiter-weltkrieg-lexikon.de/index.php/Geschutze/Flugabwehrkanonen-FlaK/88-cm-Flak-41.html HTH Ralf
JUL 05, 2012 - 09:05 AM
That's good news, Darren. I have the FlaK 36 that figure set was originally released with and I don't recall it having that many heads and arms. Ralf, that's very helpful. I thought I might translate it into English, but was bedeviled by some technical terms like Seitenrichtmaschine.
JUL 05, 2012 - 10:07 AM
Until someone can translate it better, i'll try: K1 and K10 : elevation setters K2 : azimuth setter K3 : loader K4 and K5 : ammunition K6 : fuse setter K7 : takes shells from ammonition numbers and puts them into the fuse setting mechanism K8 and K9 : ammunition GF : Commander the "K" means Kannonier against ground targets the K2 fires the gun HTH Ralf
JUL 05, 2012 - 10:39 AM
Bravo to the Platt-Deutscher! And Darren, can you construct it without the splinter shield? That's hardcore Defense of the Reich.
JUL 05, 2012 - 10:44 AM
Hi Bill: The only time I've never seen a photo of an 8.8cm Flak 41 w/o the shield -- even the Krupp Versuchsflakwage (VFW) had it in place. I think it's just a coincidence of crews wanting them, and the gun maker providing it as integral to the design (unlike the earlier Flaks 18/36/37)
JUL 05, 2012 - 11:11 AM
Thanks, Roy. Most stationary FlaK battery photos and newsreels I've seen show the earlier models without the splinter shield.
JUL 06, 2012 - 01:54 AM
This is one artillery kit I simply MUST have. It looks impressive. I have to say that I really like all of these Bronco artillery kits. They are always a bit challenging to build (I'm working on their Pak 36r at the moment and is a PITA to put together) but, in my opinion, after completion, I feel like a much better modeler for having gone through the experience. And the details they pack in each kit are second only to resin and/or PE accessories (not that far from those actually). Rob
JUL 06, 2012 - 11:46 AM
Well, it looks like future Bronco kit 35114 WILL have the trailers so if you want a mobile version, wait for that, though I imagine it will be pricey.
JUL 07, 2012 - 03:48 PM
   
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