Here’s Tamiya’s newer/old 88mm with Afirica Corps figures kit. It’s their old 88 with some new figgies and some newer sprues, but basically the same old gun. I felt like going back to the old dio in a box Tamiya kits that I started out on and practice some more on my figgies. So here she is.
Looks pretty nice! I hope they issue the figure as a separate set like they did with their old FLAK crew. My only critique is maybe a little more wash or highlight on the ammo containers to bring out the surface detail.
Decent job with an old kit. To me, the base seems to big. Also the figures holding the shells look out of place, ready to load as if action in near, and the rest of the crew is sitting around.
Looks great. Love the groundwork as well as the figgies. Just wondering, wouldn’t they have dug the gun in or maybe put some sandbags around it? Seems a bit vulnerable.
In a historical context, most pics from North Africa show the 88s emplaced like that. The surface was too rocky/hard to dig in. Sandbags were used when there was enough time. A common tactic was a hasty screen of 88s being set up without much preparation. The range of the 88 made it safe from British tank counter fire until the Grant and Sherman came in theater.
Thanks Stik. I thought too about the range of the 88mm. No need to fear Brit armor. Perhaps some arty though.
I had no idea that the surface would be so hard, but that makes sense due to the heat and aridness.
North Africa was a bloody learning ground in combined arms for the Allied armies. Most Brit arty was towed and could not keep pace in offensive operations. Until American built tanks with 75mm guns arrived, their tanks had no real countermeasure for German AT guns. The standard tank gun, 2pdr did not have an HE shell, so could only destroy any target by a direct hit with solid shot. If time was available to prepare a defensive position, that would usually consist of stacking rocks for protection. Engineer assets were needed to really dig in. The favorite German tactic was to have the Panzers out exposed, then fall back to a prepared kill sack where their AT guns would destroy attacking unsupported Allied armor attacking in a Cavalry charge type fashion.