The mighty German “88″ or Acht-Acht is probably as well known as the Tiger Tank which is why it’s somewhat surprising that there are not that many kits of it available compared to some of the lesser known WWII vehicles. For many years in fact only the old Tamiya kit was available but over the past few years the selection has been padded out a little, but still not hugely.

So here is a look at the rather short list of the kits available.

Tamiya German 88mm FlaK 36/37 with Trailer :

The oldest of the available Flak 18/36/37 kits and although it shows its age in the lack of finer detail it still makes up into a very nice kit and with a little care and attention will turn out very nicely. You get the gun with full shield, the trailer wheels, a motorbike and nine figures in this kit. You can build this in either the deployed position with the trails down and wheels removed or in the travel position with the trails up and the wheels attached. The gun is also able to be moved up and down and turned on the base.

The gun itself has a reasonably good level of detail though it’s showing its age these days when compared to the Dragon kits.  The figures are older Tamiya figures so very simple in mould detail with rather dull faces, not really up to today’s standards. The included motorbike Zundapp KS750 is the old ( see HERE for more on the bike ).

Tamiya German 88mm FlaK 36 “North Africa Campaign” :

 A recent re-release of the above kit with some new parts to provide 8.8cm shells and four wicker ammo cases. You also get eight new figures dressed in DAK uniforms.

The moulds look to have been cleaned up with nice sharp mould detail. The figures faces are very well done now, the uniforms are better and up with current Tamiya offerings but still a little lacking in fold and crease detail in mu opinion. You still get the Zundapp KS750 which oddly still comes with the same rider in a greatcoat as the original kit which doesn’t really fit with the new DAK theme.

This is basically the original kit with new livery, though in this version you do lose the trailer bogeys so it can only be displayed deployed. Other than that like the original it still builds up into a very nice model and shouldn’t be overlooked.

AFV Club FlaK 18 :

The only kit available of the FlaK 18 which was later to be upgraded into the FlaK 36/37. Overall the gun has the same appearance but there are differences, most noticeably in the older Sd.Ah 201 wheel dollies which only had single wheels on the front.

This is a beautiful kit, very nicely moulded with a great level of detail. You can model it in either the deployed mode or the transport mode with the wheels removed and the trail arms down. The gun is fully traversable and can be elevated. The trail arms can also be folded up and down if you’re very careful with the glue when assembling them. The shield is moulded a slim as possible and has a great deal of detail. You get an aluminium barrel with rifling in this kit as well as metal parts for the balancing equilibrator cylinders. Also included are some lengths of chain and vinyl tubing t use as cabling.

The only negative if you want to call it one is the rubber wheels which have the usual mould seam around the middle which is a real pain to remove from rubber wheels. No figures are included but you do get a nice collection of decals.

Being roughly the same price as the Tamiya kit if you don’t have a preference between the FlaK 18 and the later model FlaK 36/37, and you don’t care about the figures, then this is definitely the better choice.

Dragon Models FlaK 36 with Crew :

Dragon’s first take on the mighty 88 and a very good one at that. This has a very high level of detail, the Sd.Ah 202 trailer bogies in particular having a lot of parts to them, the wheels alone being moulded in five slices each to get the maximum level of tread detail. The moulding are all very good and the level of detail is terrific. As with the others this can be displayed in either the deployed or travel mode.

You get three barrel options, the plastic barrel, an aluminium FlaK 18 barrel and an aluminum FlaK 36 barrel.  I always say you can never get too much in a kit and Dragon obviously agrees as you also get three turned brass shells, six live and six empty plastic shells,  two wooden ammo crates, four wicker ammo crates, a photo etch fret, vinyl tubing for use as cabling and decals for six different options.

That’s a lot of bits, and to top it off you also get a crew of six figures who are dressed in winter gear ( which may limit your options ) which are well moulded with good detail.

If you’re looking specifically for a FlaK 36 and you like the idea of the winter crew then this is the pick of the bunch.

Dragon Models FlaK 37 3-in-1 :

Most of this kit is the same kit as the Dragon FlaK 36 except in this kit you lose the crew and gain the parts to make a FlaK 37  ( the main difference between the 36 and 37 being the sighting equipment ). You also get three different shields to choose from, hence the 3-in-1 part of the kit. As with the FlaK 36 it can be displayed in either the deployed mode or in travel mode.

You still get the two alumium barrels ( a new version of the FlaK 18 one which is more accurate ) and all the extra bits and pieces that come in the FlaK 36 kit plus you get two metal empty shell cases, metal recuperators and equiliberators, and a bit more Photo-Etch. The wheels are also done differently in this kit, forgoing the multi slice approach for slide moulded ones that are equally good.

So the same level of detail and quality as the FlaK 36 but no crew with this one. If the crew makes a difference and you don’t care if it’s a 36 or a 37 then get the 36, otherwise if it has to be a 37 this is the one to go for.

Dragon Models FlaK 37 mit Behelfslafette :

Quite posibly the best to date. This kit takes the FlaK 37 kit above as the start point and then improves on it by adding a completely newly tooled cradle and a slide moulded barrel with rifling. That’s right, a rifled plastic barrel. You still get all the original bits so there is now two types of gun cradle and several barrels to chose from including the FlaK 18 and FlaK 36/37 aluminium ones as well as the new slide moulded version. Also still there from the earlier FlaK 37 kit are the working equilibrator mechanism and the authentic recoil action. There’s also a new travel lock and a few other parts have been updated as well.

You only get the pressed steel shield in this version but it can be configured three ways ( or left off completely ). Being mounted on a Behelfslafette cruciform platform there are no wheels or boggies in this kit, and again no crew. But what you do get is superbly moulded, beautifully detailed and accurate. And you do also still get all the accessories like the ammo and ammo cases.

If you don’t have your heart set on the boggies and you’re looking for a good late war variant then this is definitely the one to pick. In fact if price isn’t an option and you wanted an early war FlaK 37 I’d still buy this one and the FlaK 36 with crew and combine the two using the gun and cradle from this one and the carriage from the FlaK 36.

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NB : If you know of anything we’ve missed please let us know so that we can update the list and keep it as accurate as possible.

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