Stokesy's big honking 1/18 88mm Flak 36

[Stokesy44]

This is the 88mm Flak 36 by I Love Kit (formerly Merit) in 1/18 scale. Yes its 1/18, not 1/16.

I saw this on Hannants website back in September and couldn't quite believe what I was seeing for the price. I looked at a few reviews and thought why not? Its a subject I like, its a vehicle that should be a painter's dream given all the detail on show. It played a massive part in the war and I've never built one before.

Here she is - and she's BIG and HONKING

Apparently, Merit are / were connected to Trumpeter and you can see that in the boxing.



Not much spare room in the box! When I first got it I could barely prize the lid off.



Everything comes in separate bags, there's slide molding for the main part of the barrel and part of the recoil mechanism, nice rubber detailed tires and decals for various units and locations.

Here's the first lot of sprues - for scale you can see the Firefly in the top left corner



And the rest of it



All ready to go. Plastic looks beautifully crisp, no flash and nothing loose in the bags. As Bilbo Baggins said, I think I'm ready for another adventure.......

[Donkeywalloper]

Ooooh this is a bruiser of a kit.
I really need to get out and watch this build.
DW

[Gary30]

Oooo yeah that's lovely! I really need to build a big scale kit asap. This will be good.

[Kevthemodeller]

Oh this is going to be good

[digger303]

Absolutely jealous
Painting and weathering might have to be approached in a different manner due to the size perception by the viewer is likely to be different. Looking forward to how you deal with this.

[Tomcat64]

Count me in on this one

And don't strain anything will all that heavy lifting - there's some seriously big bits in that box

[Josebagasteiz]

Hi.

It is great news to see that you are going to build this great model. It is full of details that make it very interesting.

If I were you, I would take my time to build it. The anxiety to see a model finished is the worst enemy to build it really beautiful.

I love that anti-aircraft gun so I'm going to follow your construction with great interest.

A greeting.

[BigWall]

This is going to be great! I can't wait to see it come together!

[Stokesy44]

Absolutely jealous
Painting and weathering might have to be approached in a different manner due to the size perception by the viewer is likely to be different. Looking forward to how you deal with this.

My over-engaged mind is already bubbling with ideas. The first one that rolled off the bonkers conveyer belt was maybe doing ACTUAL paint chips. The following pretty much sums up how I feel about the kit.

[digger303]

Absolutely jealous
Painting and weathering might have to be approached in a different manner due to the size perception by the viewer is likely to be different. Looking forward to how you deal with this.

My over-engaged mind is already bubbling with ideas. The first one that rolled off the bonkers conveyer belt was maybe doing ACTUAL paint chips. The following pretty much sums up how I feel about the kit.

You know your going to have to buy a glass circle cutter.
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To stick that damn big gun through the display case.....

[ElCapitan]

Something a bit different - should be fun!

[SteelScooter]

Lovely model! Are we sure this is not actually 1/35 seeing as Hitler was obsessed with 'big is better'? This would be the 171mm Flak 72

I wonder what possessed Trumpeter to change the brand from 'Merit', a well know name that makes universal sense, to 'I love Kit' a childish name which possibly is a kitten magazine aimed at tweens.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nice project

Confucius say; "Man with overly big gun, often have little bang"

[Stokesy44]

You know your going to have to buy a glass circle cutter.

To stick that damn big gun through the display case.....

Ship's already sailed mate. Broke the window when I cycled the recoil mechanism this afternoon!

[Stokesy44]

Lovely model! Are we sure this is not actually 1/35 seeing as Hitler was obsessed with 'big is better'? This would be the 171mm Flak 72

I wonder what possessed Trumpeter to change the brand from 'Merit', a well know name that makes universal sense, to 'I love Kit' a childish name which possibly is a kitten magazine aimed at tweens.

Its actually 1/48

Nice project

Confucius say; "Man with overly big gun, often have little bang"

I really don't know what you mean Sir. Are you suggesting one may have spent all the budget on manufacturing but somehow forgot to put the powder in the cartridge?

[Stokesy44]

And we're off.

Nice long session this afternoon. It really is funny working with parts in this scale. Obviously the big stuff is BIG. But even the greeblies are enormous too.

The barrel and the recoil tubes are slide molded so they just needed a sand to remove the line seam. The rear part of the barrel was in 2 parts bit it went together nicely and only needed a good sand a bit of filler. The breach block needed some filler too.

Its a tad on the large side but here's today's progress.





Nice surface detail and the fit's pretty good











Missed a sprue gate on the recoil track (or whatever its called) but that's gone now





Very pleased with the start. Just hope the bench doesn't collapse under the weight of it

[BigWall]

Very nice! It looks like it's going to have great detail.

[DRUMS01]

Nice to one of these getting built as I have one too in kit form. Looking forward in seeing what you do with it.

Not they need to have a gun crew to add to it!

Ben

[digger303]

You know your going to have to buy a glass circle cutter.

To stick that damn big gun through the display case.....

Ship's already sailed mate. Broke the window when I cycled the recoil mechanism this afternoon!

AND people say I'm physic....

[ForeverPlasticKits]

At this scale each detail is visible, nice built!

[Tomcat64]

Great to see it underway - that really looks like a belter!

Just be careful if you pick it up and turn around - you'll end up wrecking the Christmas tree!

[Stokesy44]

More done last night and a bit this evening.

Added the gunner's position to the main mount on one side and some sort of measuring equipment (I have no idea tbh) on the other. Just loving the detail.

I assume this is the gunner's side as there's a sight bolted on....





The other side - if anyone knows what all this boxy stuff is I would love to know



Gun shield added and I've started work on the platform



What I'm really pleased about is the kit can be broken down for painting. The shield comes off, the gun and recoil track can be removed and it all comes off the chunky cylindrical base (which will be glued to the quad platform). I should then be able to paint it in 4 parts, the gun and tracks, the main mount, the shield and finally the platform. Probably just as well given the size of everything.

[digger303]

Take a look at this utube vid at about 12.55 time point. To me looks a bit like the firing mechanism the schematic diagram is in German so not for me to understand. Your kit parts don't look exactly the same unless there were different versions...dunno.

[BigWall]

Amazing detail on the gun! It's going to be another great looking model.

[Stokesy44]

Nice video. Even on photos of surviving examples the gunner's position and sights vary. A lot of photos show 2 sets of instruments mounted on the side of the gun cradle that mine doesn't have. Its a shame because they would have looked good. They look like instruments for when the gun was used in its flak role as opposed to anti-tank. I guess like any mass produced gun over that length of time it would have changed in certain ways.

This photo from Wikipedia pretty much replicates the kit save for there is no gunsight, looks like its been removed. Using this I'll be able to detail the kit with the hosing and also detail the front of the 2 dials. Its these dials that you dont see in a lot of pics as they show the 2 sets of instruments instead of them as I mentioned above.



I cant seem to show it full size but if you click on it you'll see what I mean

[Stokesy44]

Amazing detail on the gun! It's going to be another great looking model.

Thanks mate. Its been good fun so far.

[digger303]

Nice video. Even on photos of surviving examples the gunner's position and sights vary. A lot of photos show 2 sets of instruments mounted on the side of the gun cradle that mine doesn't have. Its a shame because they would have looked good. They look like instruments for when the gun was used in its flak role as opposed to anti-tank. I guess like any mass produced gun over that length of time it would have changed in certain ways.

This photo from Wikipedia pretty much replicates the kit save for there is no gunsight, looks like its been removed. Using this I'll be able to detail the kit with the hosing and also detail the front of the 2 dials. Its these dials that you dont see in a lot of pics as they show the 2 sets of instruments instead of them as I mentioned above.



I cant seem to show it full size but if you click on it you'll see what I mean

Yep able to full size it and I could see the detail that you were speaking of. Some of it is going to be hard to see under the gun shield, never the less will look good once you add them as the viewer will see those disappearing down and around. The dials look like they will take some time.

[Stokesy44]

Yep able to full size it and I could see the detail that you were speaking of. Some of it is going to be hard to see under the gun shield, never the less will look good once you add them as the viewer will see those disappearing down and around. The dials look like they will take some time.

The dials themselves have little connecting lugs at their base for the cables and they are replicated on the unit at the base of the gun. I just need some cabling now.

I've also found some nice thin plastic card for the dial covers but the really cool find is I have some circle masks that are the perfect size for the covers. They're wheel masks for a Pz4 and they're fractionally bigger than the dials which is perfect. The plastic is thin enough for scissors so the circles should be nice and neat. The rest can be done with plastic rod and some spare sprue.

I'm rubbish at scratch-building but I reckon I can manage the above. Famous last words.

I want to finish the main construction first which means the final leg of the platform then onto the wheels - which look like model kits on their own!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Definitely looking the business
Really a well detailed kit, not needing much scratch building

[Stokesy44]

Got stuck into working on the platform yesterday.

All nice and straight forward. The flat to flat joins need a fair bit of sanding but beyond that, no dramas.



Carried on today and got it all fitted together. More sanding and some filling but I think its pretty much there. Still some detail bits to go on at this point.







All finished with the detail bits added.



Now its time to get started on the wheels.

[DRUMS01]

Its looking good Stokesy.

Ben

[BigWall]

Very nice work!

[Tomcat64]

That really does look like a superb bit of kit.

Lovely, tidy work mate!

[Kevthemodeller]

It's really coming together and so quickly

[Stokesy44]

That really does look like a superb bit of kit.

Lovely, tidy work mate!

Thanks matey, I can’t tell you how impressed I am with it. For the price it’s a stunner. I’d recommend it to anyone.

Other than seam removal (which is a doddle) and some basic filling, it’s a cracker to work on.

[Stokesy44]

It's really coming together and so quickly

Cheers Kev, really enjoying the build so far.

[aur0ra145]

This is a very cool build!

[Stokesy44]

Thanks guys

I started on the wheel sets before Christmas. I didn't get far, just the axel and wheel frame. Working steering linkage which is kind of cool. I also checked to see if the connectors for linking to the platform worked. They did and there's a locking mechanism built into the frame so the kit can be shown in the towed and deployed positions once completed. I dont have to choose a display option during the build.





This was the start of business today.



This was about halfway today. I'm going to get some proper wire for the spools to add realism.





One set completed. Tons of detail and it should look great when painted









Close of play today. Plan for tomorrow is get the second set done so I can start on the detailing on Tuesday.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looking good

[BigWall]

There's some amazing detail going on here. I can't wait to see your finished work!

[Stokesy44]

Looking good

There's some amazing detail going on here. I can't wait to see your finished work!

Thanks Gents. I'm hoping to finish wheels version 2 today then its off to the hardware store to see if I can get some cabling for the spools and maybe some fine chains for the ties. Chains is a bit of a long shot but other than replacement chains for sink plugs I cant think of what else would work.

I need to settle on a painting plan too. I'm thinking grey primer then German grey followed by field applied desert camo.

[digger303]

Looking good

There's some amazing detail going on here. I can't wait to see your finished work!

Thanks Gents. I'm hoping to finish wheels version 2 today then its off to the hardware store to see if I can get some cabling for the spools and maybe some fine chains for the ties. Chains is a bit of a long shot but other than replacement chains for sink plugs I cant think of what else would work.

I need to settle on a painting plan too. I'm thinking grey primer then German grey followed by field applied desert camo.

Craft store Stokesy should have light chains....jewelry making/ paper craft /sewing type store should have exactly what you want.

[Kevthemodeller]

Those wheel look great mate

[Stokesy44]

Craft store Stokesy should have light chains....jewelry making/ paper craft /sewing type store should have exactly what you want.

Thanks mate. Many of our non-essential stores are shut at the moment due to the restrictions. I'll see what's around.

[Kevthemodeller]

Those wheel units look great mate

[Stokesy44]

Those wheel units look great mate

Thanks Kev,

Finished the second set of wheels. It went quicker than the first one as I knew where everything went this time





I then glued the mount to the platform and took the gun off so I could see if it all fitted together. The linkages have to be locked from underneath so it would have been a nightmare if I hadn't removed the gun.

Nothing else to add from the kit box. No wasted parts. I still cant believe the quality and size of the kit versus the price but it is what it is. Thank goodness I saw the kit advertised otherwise I would never have considered searching for it.

One thing to note. The gunner's seat and footrests should be folded down when the vehicle is being towed but the kit doesn't allow for that. What that means is you can't raise the folding leg on the gunner's side to the full raised position so the kit cant be displayed in its true towed configuration.

This is how far they go, they should be vertical for travelling.





However, no drama, according to my research the gun was often fired whilst still on its wheels. Apparently it took about 2 minutes from coming to a stop to being able to fire. The folding legs would be extended, the gun travel lock taken off, the gunner's position raised back into position and the various travel locking pins removed. I think the pics below show how I'll display the kit.















Detailing work up next then its painting time.

[Kevthemodeller]

Oh yes, looks great mate Shame about the seat and foot rests, but as you say often fired still attached to the wheel units. Really looking forward to the paint

[digger303]

Looks super nice, complicated and it hasn't even been painted yet. Doesn't need PE either....

[Stokesy44]

Oh yes, looks great mate Shame about the seat and foot rests, but as you say often fired still attached to the wheel units. Really looking forward to the paint

Thanks Kev

Looks super nice, complicated and it hasn't even been painted yet. Doesn't need PE either....

Thanks mate. You could argue, given the size, the kit would benefit from PE for things like tool attachment clips but that would make it a different build experience and also push up the price.

This is a kit I would recommend to anyone with a bit of experience under their belts. You have to be a bit careful with the instructions and you need patience when it comes to the ubiquitous mold seams but what you get for the price is nothing short of amazing. I still think its a pricing error but I've checked other suppliers and they have it under £50gbp too. Staggering.

[digger303]

Retails for about 38 bp's here as well Stokesy.
Stupid name for a company though "I love kit "...I wonder if the other merit kits will be repriced too although I haven't seen any evidence of that yet. I wouldn't mind their 1/35 Russian torpedo boat way over priced and under detailed last I looked.