Preview: Some-tin special? Border Models new 88mm FlaK 37 & crew in 35th scale (Limited Edition kit)

Border Model is upgrading its new 88mm FlaK 37 & crew in 35th scale kit into something more, with a metal box or tin the model comes in, along with several extras. We add to the regular version study with the extras in this limited edition kit in our preview...

Preview: Some-tin special? Border Models new 88mm FlaK 37 & crew in 35th scale (Limited Edition kit)

German 88mm Gun FlaK 37 

W/6 Anti-Aircraft Artillerymen

From Border Model

Kit No # BT-013

1/35th scale

Photo-etch & Rubber tyres included.

Price: TBA

Expected in June 2022

The Subject: The German 88mm Gun Flak 37:

The German “88” was the most famous and feared artillery weapon of World War II.  Krupp company designers, working in Switzerland to avoid post-World War I treaty restrictions, developed the gun in the late 1920s.  The famous “flak” gun got its name from the German word Flugabwehrkanone, meaning aircraft defence cannon.  

During the Spanish Civil War, German troops fired the guns at oncoming tanks and fortified bunkers with very effective results.  This success in combat led to versions of the 88 mm equipped to engage ground targets that were in view or barrage enemies from long range.  The gun’s high muzzle velocity and heavy projectile made the “88” particularly effective against heavily-armoured vehicles.  The weapon was rugged, hard-hitting, and adaptable.

Across Occupied Europe during World War II, 88 mm guns were often employed to fire at high-flying Allied bomber formations.  The heavy gun could propel its 20.25-pound high-explosive shell to altitudes beyond 30,000 feet at a rate of about 15 projectiles per minute.  When an “88” shell hit directly, it often completely destroyed a bomber.

The updated German 88mm FlaK 37 guns added a rather sophisticated (for the time) fire-control data display unit. This anti-aircraft gun initially was to be used in the defence of the homeland, although 90 FlaK 37s were sold to Finland for defence against Soviet air raids. And nearly 200 of the guns fell into Norwegian hands when the Germans departed that country.

The Kit from Border Model: Border Models new 88mm FlaK 37 & crew in 35th scale (Limited Edition kit)
1/35th scale FlaK 37 88mm anti-tank gun is a newly tooled kit from Border Model, designed by Jason Studios. At first, this kit reminded us very much of the older Dragon kit #6260, however, that kit is the FlaK 36 version. So this version will have that fire-control data display unit.

The Limited Edition kit will have some nice extras, like a metal box and a metal barrel for the main gun.

The first thing many of you might notice in this special edition is the metal box or tin that the kit is packaged inside.

And the sides of your new cake tin!

Instruction introductions are on the bottom of the box.

After you make the model, more places to store all the stuff you should be selling or throwing away!

The box sides, showing the markings of the kit...

Talking about markings, here are the decals for the three choices in the box.

The gun - there are a few modes you can construct the gun in - Full travel mode, to be hooked up to your schlepper of choice...

...or in firing mode, with the wheels set (a bit further) to the side. This would be the typical gun attitude for anti-tank and vehicles or direct fire.

In AA mode is also of course possible

The boxart is from Jason Wong, the gun comes with photo-etch parts, and vinyl tyres for the mobile platform. The ammunition is included for the gun, we think in new and spent cartridges. There is also a metal gun barrel with a rifled muzzle included in the limited kit

The crew of six are depicted in the box in winter gear. Border is promising these to be something special, made with a new moulding technique...

A closer look at the soldiers - first they are constructed here and undercoated...

Then shown with paint in detail and from the back, then the front. Six figures in all and very nice indeed!

This limited edition will fight for a place on the shelves of your local hobby store soon enough. Check out the Border Models website for more information...