German Artillery Emplacement WIP

Something you might want to do if you're showing the 8.8cm Flak in position -- you should put the stakes into the slots at the end of the base's arms.  Crews pounded these into the ground to keep the FlaK in place.

Well, three days later, I've all but finished most of the plastic I purchased. I still need to weather the guns and finish painting the figures and trailers, but construction is just about done.

Here's some shots of the sprues:

Now here's the PaK, finished:

Here's the FlaK:

Here's some figures and accessories.

All in all it's been an extremely enjoyable and trouble-free weekend build. While not exactly up to modern standards, the detailing is more than adequate. I judge detailing by showing it to a non-modeler, and if they say it's pretty detailed, it's good enough. These models definitely drew impressed looks.

Agree with Bish.  A Kettenkraftrad would be SERIOUSLY underpowered.  The 7.5cm  PAK 40 was over 3100 lbs.  The Kettenkrad itself weight only 3400 lbs.  One of the pitfalls of modeling 1/35 stuff is we lose sight of the actual magnitude of these weapons.  In the 1/35 world, a Pak 40 is seen as a small or even easy modeling project.  If you've seen an ACTUAL Pak 40, you'll grasp the awesome size, weight and killing power of one of these guns. It's more than 20 feet long!

The typical vehicle assigned to haul a Pak 40 was the SdKfz 11 3-ton rated tractor.  

Kettenkrad towing a PaK 40, now that would be different. I know they were used to tow aircraft, but that was on a concrete airfield. Not to sure how they would manage towing an AT kit over rough ground. Can't say i have ever seen a photo of it.

Well, i guess some people just don't bother reading the discription.

I think I might actually buy a Kettenkrad to tow the PaK-40, as I've been told that that was technically possible. Also, where might I find those Tamiya kits with header cards and bags instead of boxes?

Another thing: One of my biggest pet peeves is when people on Amazon review model kits based on accidental purchases for 7-year-old kids.  They always say stuff along the lines of "This isn't what I expected! I wanted a plastic toy tank and I got about 100 parts with no glue included!" or "These are not army men! They're tiny little arms and legs that aren't even painted!"  So, I found an excellent metaphor in another review: "Complaining about buying a model kit that has to be assembled is like complaining that your steak tartare is undercooked."

Have nothing to add ... what Bish said is right on.  One thing to note about the Tamiya instructions for the Flak gun.   Somehow it says that the 8.8cm Flak 36 is the AA version while the Flak 37 was the anti-tank version or vice-versa. That's total bunk.  Both were fully functional as AA, anti-tank and normal artillery cannon.

I guess it wouldn't be impossable. But keep in mind that the two guns would be used by different types of units. The Flak 88 by AA battalion and the PaK 40 by AT unit. Also, if you wanted to keep it realistic, the two guns would be spaced very far apart. This would be a huge dio in this scale.

How about the PaK 40 with the MG set up close by. And another Dio with one 88 in place and another being towed past.