Kit Review: 1/72 Zvezda 88mm Flak 36/37

NB Another asynchronous post! 

Compared with the rather clunky (but still fun to build) Airfix 88mm, this Zvezda kit is a terrific model. The gun itself is fantastic  - much more solid, and far better detailed - and the four crew are very nicely sculpted. It all goes together pretty easily too. For the money it's a shame they don't include any spare ammo, shell cases, etc. Nor are there either of the transportation bogeys. My recent Academy models have rather spoiled me in terms of extras.

I'd like a little battery of these. 

These guns are so cool looking. I saw one on my recent visit to Muckleburgh, and there's also the one at Duxford (see pictures of both below). I doubt I'll do much in the way of extra detailing for this, as it looks detailed enough as is. But the photos I've taken of the aforementioned museum exhibits should at least be good for painting ref. 

Still unpainted at the mo'!

Moulding quality is excellent, with very little flash, and not much cleaning up required besides the basic snipping and trimming from the sprues. You can leave the rotating parts un-glued, to facilitate movement. The fine detailing does mean that several elements to of this model are rather fragile. I have occasionally replaced such parts with metal/wire on a few models before. But I didn't feel like making the effort on this occasion.

Figures are pretty much perfectly proportioned, in very naturalistic poses. 

Here are a few of my reference snaps, from those museum visits: The Duxford example is displayed deployed, in a mocked up bombed out building; the Muckleburgh one is in transportation mode, atop its two bogeys. The Zvezda box art has the gun and crew in early war mode, with greys and grey-greens predominant. I'll probably go with a later war dunkelgelb based scheme of some sort.

The Duxford 88mm, in a light cream colour.

The Muck' 88, in tricolour camo'.

Good view of breech, and also of munitions.

And finally, here's a pic showing the Zvezda and the Airfix 88s together. Another kit I'd like is the Revell one that has the 88mm, plus the two bogeys, and a half-track... like the Airfix kit, only - I assume? - much better quality in terms of details and mouldings, etc.

Zvezda at top, and Airfix below.

Muckleborough Collection, Norfolk

My young brother Sam, posing beside Muckleburgh's T-34

A weekend or two back, my younger brother and I, along with our dad, had a short break away together, during which we visited the Cholmondeley Collection of toy soldiers, at Houghton Hall (aka The Soldier Museum), and The Muckleburgh Collection, both in Norfolk. This post is about our visit to the latter. 

On arrival, you're greeted by the V1 on its launchpad, pictured above, and a few other items, such as jet, and some artillery, including the impressive American 'Long Tom'. Once through the ticket office/shop area, there's a very cool 1/72 (or poss 1/76?) scale diorama of the Weybourne Barracks site, where the museum is situated, as it was in WWII. My dad looks it over below.

From there you go onwards through several rooms filled with weapons of all sorts, medals, unit insignia, and such like. One oddity is the life-size model of Wellington's horse, Copenhagen. There's also a small WWI trench warfare diorama, as pictured below.

Once you reach the 'main attraction' - the several rooms of vehicles and armour - it's time for the wargamer/modeller to get 'snap happy'. First hand reference of the real deal, such as is provided here, is wonderful. I find myself gradually getting more interested in the Allied matériel. Handy in this instance, as there's not that much German stuff at Muckleburgh.

Scammell...

Around about this time, I became like a vaporous feinting woman, of the Jane Austen period. I just came over all weak and woozy, and had to head for the cafeteria! In the corner of the café/restaurant, there's a lion )or was it tiger?) skin, a stuffed bear, and the firearms pictured below. Dad and Sam imagine firing this machine-gun...

After some grub and a drink, feeling suitably fortified, and recovered, more or less, from my ... well, whatever it was, we resumed our tour of the museum. There were loads of models in several rooms adjoining the café. I loved it! And was snapping away like a demented 'pap' at a Hollywood premiere.

Althought the museum is mostly about modern warfare, and armour, etc, there were some models (and even a few artefacts) depicting other eras. Above are two of the Napoleonic era models I saw on display: the popular closing of the gates at Hougoumont, and the even more ubiquitous scene involving Ewart's capture of the Eagle at Waterloo. 

The cabinet pictured below held four shelves of WWII armour and other vehicles (and a few sundries of post-war vintage. A cornucopia of small scale delights! It was fun to see how I have almost all the german vehicles represented, but hardly any of those of the other nations.

By and large single figures are not my bag. But something about Fritz, above, charmed me. I think it's the combo of pleasantly cartoonish proportions, and that winning smile. If anyone knows who made this fella, let me know! There were also two huge display cases chock-full of maritime models. Appropriate, given how close by the sea is.

After the many models, come more tanks and other vehicles. At this point the heavens opened. And drumming of the rain on the corrugated roofs was quite something! Numerous vehicles in these last rooms were ones I am either building currently, or will be building soon. So the opportunity to gather useful ref was fab.

The cramped inside of a Daimler Mk 1 armoured car.

'She caught the Katy, and left me a mule to ride...'

I've painted my 'Katy' in this sort of darker green shade.

I'm also making a Zvezda 88mm gun at home.

I definitely want to make one of these soon!

Have all the Shermans in the UK been renamed Fury!?

Having done the lot, it was time to peruse the chop. They had a very limited selection of models. But they did at least have some Trumpeter stuff, which is usually very good. So I bought the T-34/85 pictured below. I also bought the Andrew Roberts book on Churchill and Hitler (reduced from about a tenner to just £3.99... so why not?).

A kit to commemorate our visit.

I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this groovy little museum. I'll definitely be going again, at some future point, as we quite often take short breaks in Norfolk. And I'd certainly recommend a is it to any with interests in military history in general, and AFVs in particular. 

Apparently they have quite a few working vehicle, which they take out on occasion. They didn't do this on our visit, alas. But I still enjoyed myself immensely, as, I believe did Pops and Sam. Thanks fellows!