I am currently working on a photography base for taking pictures of my models and would like to know if there are kits made by Academy, Revell, or Hasegawa of smaller sized AA weapons as used by the Germans in WWII for airfield defense. I would like to add something like this to the photobase, some small AA weapons in the background in my pictures would make them more interesting to look at.
If at all possible I would like to work with plastic kits instead of resin.
Could anybody give me some advice?
I need 1/72 scale AA weapons, I have a few catalogs that have some 1/72 armor listed but I don’t know which are weapons that will work for my purposes. I build mostly aircraft and don’t know the different proper German names of those AA guns.
check this place out www.milicast.com
or www.tracks-n-troops.com
I think I’ve told you about these before. I think Italeri has a flatbed truck with a flack 38 on it, maybe you could just jet rid of the truck. Revell does too. http://www.tracks-n-troops.com/italeri.htm
this is from the second websight. Look at the last listing
I now have two of the Italeri Opel trucks now I hope I don’t have to get another!
But if thats what it takes to further improve my ‘‘art’’ then so be it!
Thanks for the info.
wrbridge,
I have not yet started on the Italeri Opel Blitz truck but I have had a chance to look over the kits contents. It looks very good to me and well worth the money. The quality looks as good as the Academy ground vehicle set I just finished a week ago.
t3488g,
Thank you very much for the information about the two different sizes on AA weapons, I was well aware of the 88, but was unsure of the smaller flak 38.
If things go well tomorrow I should post some new pics of my photo/diorama.
Hope I helped you, in this forum I am the student not a teacher. I have learned so much the last few weeks by reading the contents in this forum, I mainly build airplanes and there is much I want to learn about dioramas/armor. This forum is very helpful to new guys like myself.
I just want to say thank you to all who have given me advice on helping me with my photography base/diorama project.
Thanks for the picture of the flak 38, what kit and scale is it? It helps somewhat to see what I plan on building!
I live in an area where the nearest hobby shop is a two hour drive away so most of my hobby supplies are from mail order businesses so it really helps me out when I can get good advice from the forum. There are no other modelers in my area or model clubs that I know of that I can get advice on simple matters such as my question about the German AA weapons. Those who live in areas where there are hobby shops and/or clubs are very lucky.
I don’t know if any were used for airfield defence but Hasegawa made a Wirbelwind a couple of years back. It’s a 20mm Quad mounted on a panzer4 chasis with an open turret. It was a pretty easy build and the quad 20 is a little jewel. The kit # is MT48:800 If they didn’t use the Wirbelwind for airfield defence you could probably mount the 20mm on one of them Opel trucks.
I will probably order one of those Wirbelwind kits when I order the flak 38.
It was fun making some of those ground vehicles for my photobase and even if I don’t use the Wirbelwind in my photo/dioramas it sounds like a fun kit to make anyway, I’m sure I will find a way to use it.
Tiger 44,
Later today or tomorrow I plan on posting a couple pictures of what I have been working on so you can see what my needs are for the light AA weapons I have been asking about.
As for the Wirbelwind kit, the easier it is to build the better, I am a complete novice when it comes to armor models. At this time what I need is something simple and quick to build so I can get to what I do best, painting. Hope the Wirbelwind has the dark yellow and green/brown camo.
Hi Matrixone! I think I can help out a bit. Some research I’ve done indicates that the Germans ringed their outer airfield perimeters with Flak 88’s to go after the high-altitude bombers flying over. They then mounted flak 38’s and quad 38’s inside sandbag emplacements around the inner perimeter and alongside the runways, and intersperced them with 20mm cannon and MG42 nests. These were designed to make it hot for the Jugs and Lightnings that came down on the deck to strafe parked aircraft and buildings.
It was not uncommon to see truck-mounted Flak 38’s and Wirblewinds parked at German airfields in the later War years(1944-45). Once the Allies started rocketing the emplacements to open a hole for strafers, the Germans saw the wisdom of having mobile guns around their airfields, and Goering appealed to his buddy Hitler to let him have some of the Wehrmacht’s Wirblewinds and Ostwinds to defend his bases.
Italeri makes an Artillery kit with Pak 36’s, Pak 40’s, Flak 38-4’s, and moaning minis. They also make the above-mentioned truck-mounted weapons and the Wirblewind and Ostwind. I’ve built all but the Ostwind, and I’ll try to get pics posted so you can see them. Theya re easy and well-fitting kits all around, I enjoyed building them.
Thank you very much for the useful information t3488g and Duke Maddog,
I know what a Wirblewind looks like but have no idea what the Ostwind looks like.
If you could post some pictures of your models that would great, I am looking forward to seeing them.
It sounds like I could use them after all, my airfield would would be defenseless otherwise. They should make my pictures more interesting when I am able to add them to my photobase.
