88mm Flak 37

The second diorama I made is a scene in central Europe, with an eighty-eight bringing it's guns to bear during a demonstration/bombardment, during the pre-world war 2 arms race. It was a very fun but rushed build.

The 88mm FlaK was less effective against low-flying aircraft than the 20mm FlaK, less effective than the 128mm FlaK against high-altitude bombers; less mobile than the 7.5cm PaK, which could take out almost as many different targets; less powerful than the 15cm K, the standard artillerypiece of the german military. However, it was one of the only guns that could do all three, earning the name AAA or "Triple A gun" (Air, Armor, Artillery). And unlike larger guns, like the 128mm FlaK, it could move quickly, and could still do massive damage to most targets.

Good full view. You can see the rear bogey, or wheel-sets.

It was originally devised in 1918, as a medium air defense gun; as tanks were not yet common, and artillery pieces were being built larger and larger, not worrying about mobility. 

From here, you can see the front shield. It was very thin, designed not to stop direct hits, but deflect shrapnel and small arms fire.

During WWII, the Germans put the 88mm gun to great use, first as a AAA gun; then they adapted it for an anti-tank role; then put that in a tank.

By the end of the war, almost every country involved had their own version of it: the Russian 85mm gun, the U.S. 90mm gun, and many more examples which I can't think of as of now.

Disbanded!

I have officially disbanded my 2nd Diorama, the one in France, and placed the Jagdpanther and Sherman in a seperate Micro-Diorama, with the Jagdpanther rolling victoriously past an evidently dead Sherman.
As for the Universal Carrier and brick walls, they are staying; but now the UBGC is single-handedly facing a Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) and 9 Panzergrenadiers. Although 3 infantry and a Universal Carrier w/ possible air/artillery support versus 9 infantry and a light tank is a fairer fight then 3 infantry and a Universal Carrier and a knocked-out M4 Sherman w/ possible air/artillery support versus 6 infantry and a immobilized Jagdpanther.

I actually really like my combination of Universal Carrier vs. Panzer 38(t). IT's sort of a show-down between mechanized infantry; if only I could add some Russian desanteers!*











*"Desanteer" is my term for Russian infantry involved tankoviy desant, or just desant. Desant is when a group of infantry will dismount (or "descend") from the back of a tank, usually a T-34.

My aerial scale model collection of two.

So far, I have an impressive number of aircraft models: 2. That includes one F-15 Eagle, and one A-10 warthog. I will say a couple things about each.



Those large pod-things under the wings ARE NOT BOMBS.
They are external fuel tanks, so this plane could fly further without refueling.

 First, the F-15 Eagle: a profficient fighter, mediocre air-strike, and not very good bomber. I can't name very many technical stats about it off hand (unlike the A-10), but I do know that it was a very excellent fighter when it was made, and has, since then, turned into a low altitude strike aircraft (Not to be confused with an attack aircraft).




From here, you can see 5 of the 6-8 air-air missiles.




Second, the A-10: A terrifyingly excellent attack plane, built around its main gun, not its thousands of pounds of missiles/bombs. Its main gun, however, probably posed a huge problem in its inception: you can't just mount a 7-barrel, 35mm chaingun on anything. That said, it had its advantages, like being able to provide close air support and blow up tanks, hence one of its nicknames, the tankbuster. The only plane that followed the same principal rule (if it can have a larger gun, put one on; if it can't, put on more guns/rockets/missiles/bombs) was the Henschel He-129, used by Nazi Germany during WWII. The He-129E (experimental) had four 20mm machineguns, but that was not sufficient, so the He-129A had four 30mm machineguns. The B and C versions just had upgraded mechanisms for the machineguns. Later though, they decided that a 30mm round couldn't take out very many types of tanks, so they put a single, nose-mounted 75mm self-loading cannon.



Here is the A-10, showing off its impressive armament.

Look at all the bombs! (Left to right: two 500lb bombs then three Hellfire missiles).



Russo-German Diorama

This is a post just to help catch up to speed.

I finished my first diorama, and have recently just finished writing a situational report (background story). Here it is:

6:17 am, November 21, 1942 – 27 miles Northwest of Stalingrad

Forces: German Sixth Army VIII Corps vs. Russian Twenty-Fourth Army

            In late August, the German Sixth Army, under the command of Field-Marshall Paulus, invaded Stalingrad. On the way in, Paulus decided to leave his VIII corps behind to defend his rear. Shortly thereafter, the Russians, who had vastly superior numbers, attacked straight through the VIII corps, and cut off the entire Sixth Army. This scene depicts one of the battles which may have taken place along a small road leading into Stalingrad.

            Because of the vast space the VIII corps was instructed to defend, their troops were not very densely grouped. The Germans I have modeled are a section ordered to secure a small road, and have decided to defend it at a natural narrowing point, where it intersects with a small stream. There they set up a Pak-40 anti-tank gun, and built a small group of trenches.

            When the Germans had first arrived, before they had captured this bridge, they encountered a small Russian platoon. After the Germans attacked and killed a large number of them, the Germans allowed the Russians to retrieve their dead and wounded, but only if the Russians immediately retreated. The Russians agreed, but due to their lack of men and strength, they had to abandon most of their helmets and rifles. The Germans, out of respect for the Russians, did not move the helmets, except for one, which had been moved the night before the Russians attacked. The Germans had been drinking the whole night, and the machine gunner bet the soldier with the Panzerfaust that he could not put a Russian’s helmet on top of a tree; loser has to carry the rest of the team’s equipment.

            The Russians attacked early in the morning, and caught the Germans by surprise, but the Germans managed to defend their position, but the soviet’s T-34/76 medium tank managed to gain ground fast enough to get within 100 meters of the Germans, before slowing down to let the infantry dismount. Due to the poor lighting, it being 6:00 am in winter, the Russians failed to notice the German antitank gun. The darkness also meant that, after 15 minutes of fierce fighting, no soldiers had been injured.

And some photos:

Full View of the diorama, plus a bit of my camera's strap.



A close-up of the PaK-40

The T-34 and riders.

Just to clear things up...

Throughout this blog, I will be refering to my models as either dioramas, micro-dioramas, and singles. I define dioramas as large displays with multiple model kits/sides (ex: Germany vs. Russia).
I define micro-dioramas as smaller scenes, only containing one main centerpiece; a focus for the scene.
Micro-dioramas are usually based on pictures.
I define singles as, well, single kits without any scene.

"Please read through all instructions before assembling model..."

Scale plastic modeling has never really appealed to me, not until a couple months ago. I have, however, for the past couple years, been a military fanatic. When my Grandfather, who served in the Canadian Air Force, suggested that I go into modeling. Then, my mother bought me a kit for a model USS Kittyhawk, an American naval aircraft carrier for us to do together. That got me hooked. We then bought a Model F15 Eagle which we did together, and then we bought a model A10 Warthog, the last of the models we did together. But we did buy another kit, for a PT-109 patrol boat, but we lost the instructions soon after its opening. (While I have never found the instructions, I have managed to build some of the more intuitive things, like the deck piece going on top of the hull piece, with some help from the image on the box.)

After that, I was alone in the modeling world, and so decided to move to something more affordable: LEGO! I spent years of my life Lego-ing, but eventually, right after my birthday (That was about the only time I would save up enough money to buy anything good) my dad suggested that I go down to HobbyHouse to blow my money on models. So I did. And I bought a model T-34 Russian tank, some Russian infantry to go with it, a WWII German anti-tank gun, and some German infantry, which all totalled about $100. When I returned to my house I realized I had no paint, glue, or brushes with which to make my model; they had all been lost during the time I was absorbed with Lego. So I went to a closer store, Michael's. There, I found the paint brushes, glue, and paints. But all the paint bottles were mixed up, not in the sections they were supposed to be. The Silvers were in with the oranges, and the Matt Blacks were in with the Olive Drabs.

After quite some time trying to find the colors I needed, I came across a label (Covering the color listed underneath it, of course) that said "50% off*" or something like that. So I grabbed all the paints I needed, and went to the checkout line. My Train of though:

Paints regularly cost $2.50. But they are 50% off. And I have about 40-45 of them.

$2.50 x .50 = $1.25

$1.25 x 40 = $50

So I was feeling happy that I had saved some money. However, when I got to the front of the checkout line, the cashier said that the 50% off only applies to a few of the colors, and that my bill was $100. Annoyed, I complied and paid the bill.

When I finally got back to my house, I started the model. the first group of kits took a little over a week to build and paint, and the diorama took about 5 weeks (Paper mache' takes a long time to dry, and so does the paint I used). In the end, I was left with the need for another model to build. But, that shall be another post.