The Modelling News: Preview: Two teutonic terrors due in October from Trumpeter

Trumpeter has been working over time, with two more October releases showing the backlog of kits coming after the recent pause in manufacturing. We have boxart, colours, decals, plastic and metal parts all on display in our preview today...

Preview: Two Teutonic terrors due in October from Trumpeter

German Gneisenau Battleship

Model kit no: 06736

1/700th scale

Product Link on the Trumpeter Website

Gneisenau was the second ship to bear the name of August von Gneisenau, a Prussian general. A design change midway through construction caused the battlecruiser's construction to be delayed. She was a treaty ship with a displacement of less than 35,000 tonnes. After realising that her low profile was bringing too much water on her deck, she was sent back for refitting immediately in winter 1938; the problem was solved by installing a new bow on the ship.

The colour profile included in this kit

Gneisenau was attacked by the British Royal Air Force at Brunsbüttelkoog on 4 September 1939, but was not damaged. She was then sent to the North Atlantic to attack merchant ships carrying vital supplies to Britain. In 1940, she took part in the seaborne invasion of Norway, which included an inconclusive duel with the British battlecruiser Renown. On the 8th of June, she launched a surprise attack on the British task force centred on the carrier Glorious. Her last major engagement was in March 1941, when she and her sister ship Scharnhorst destroyed 14 ships (22 total for the task force) on a raid against British shipping.

The decal sheet included in the kit

In 1942, Gneisenau participated in the Channel Dash, a German fleet daylight movement from the French coast back to Germany (Operation Cerberus). She was able to make it to her destination of Kiel, but she was damaged by a mine en route. Although she had survived a number of mine and other battle damages before, this time she was not as fortunate; while still in the shipyards, she was attacked by aircraft on 26-27 Feb 1942 and was so badly damaged further that repairs never completed. Her guns were removed for shore-based batteries in Denmark and Norway, and the hull was eventually sunk in Gotenhafen harbour to prevent Allied usage of the port within.

Model Length: 335mm / Beam: 43mm

Total Parts 280+

Metal anchor chain

Total Sprues 12 sprues , deck and hull

The sprues of this kit

-Contains display stand and engraved name plate

-Photo-Etched parts included

- hull made from multi-directional slide moulds.

-Deck wood pattern finely rendered

German 8.8cm Flak 36/37

Model:02359

1/35th scale

Product Link on the Trumpeter Website

The German 8.8cm (3.46 inch) Flugabwehrkanone (flight defence cannon, or FlaK) gun is one of the most famous guns in the world. The Wehrmacht requested a heavier gun than the Krupps/Bofors developed 75mm and so Krupps designed the 8.8cm FlaK 18.

The colour profile included in this kit

It entered production in 1933. The Flak 18 was a large gun with a long, one-piece barrel mounted on a pivoted cruciform carriage with two axles. This arrangement allowed for a rapid deployment in which outriggers were lowered to support the gun and the wheel trailers were removed.A more robust transport carriage was designed. A multi-section barrel was introduced which allowed faster barrel changing after heavy use, as only the worn section of barrel needed to be changed. The FlaK 18 gun was tested in the anti-tank role in Spain, and was definitely being used in that role during the Blitzkrieg against Poland and France. It’s major drawback as an anti-tank gun was its size, the 88 had difficulty operating from concealment, particularly on a mobile battlefield.

The decal sheet included in the kit

Though their extremely long range and high rate of fire let them pick off opposition from a safe distance. The FlaK 36 was the backbone of German anti-aircraft defence, and accounted for a large bulk of Allied aircraft shot down by anti-aircraft guns.

- The kit consists of over 470 parts

Model Length: 225.4mm / Width: 148.7mm

Metal gun barrel , copper tube