Small Scale Military Headquarters

So my brother in law got me a DAK tan 21st toys 1/18 88mm flak cannon for Christmas. The amount of detail is so overwhelming on this thing that I found the instructions on how to unhinge the stationary cannon from the carriages confusing. What are those arrows even pointing at?! I know the box says ages 5+ but that's very liberal, it should have said ages 17+ or something because I'd never let a reckless child touch this thing. It seems fragile.

At any rate, after finally figuring out how to disconnect the carriages I noticed that for some reason the gun refuses to elevate and I don't know why. The gun on this particular model elevates right? I thought it was suppose to or at least I thought I had seen pictures of it in an elevated AAA position in the past. I don't want to force it because I just now I'll end up destroying it. Maybe there's a clear plastic band I missed (only god knows how many they packaged with the thing, it's like they wanted me to break it getting it out of the box, such a hassle!)

lancelot wrote:I know the box says ages 5+ but that's very liberal, it should have said ages 17+ or something because I'd never let a reckless child touch this thing. It seems fragile.

For the record, the age ratings on these products are for compliance with safety regulations, I don't think they have any bearing otherwise on age-appropriateness.

lancelot wrote: At any rate, after finally figuring out how to disconnect the carriages I noticed that for some reason the gun refuses to elevate and I don't know why.

I wonder if it is paint-locked at some joint somewhere? If so, you will have to determine where and free it perhaps with an exacto knife?

I agree with Corey. Either overspray from the painting is causing the gun to stick, or worse, they got a bit of glue in it... You will want to use an exacto knife or gently apply force to the elevation mechanism.

The 88mm Gun certainly is a complex and detailed piece, certainly not a toy!

I've busted so many pieces off of my 88 recently - and I'm 34 so your suggestion for age range of 17+ still seems conservative I can't even figure out where a few remaining pieces go back on.

In terms of the elevation, mine sticks quite a bit even though sticking paint is no longer the issue. It takes a scary amount of force on mine to elevate. My only suggestion is to look at the place underneath where the barrel attaches to the mount - there is a cog-like circular piece with "teeth" on it. Those teeth are what elevate the gun one click at a time. Gently push the teeth away from the plastic they are catching on - that helps it elevate more smoothly on mine.

The 88mm cannon is one of the seven wonders of the 1:18 world, but it comes at quite a fragile price.

I've busted a good number of pieces of mine too.

I disassembled one, painted it, detailed it, reassembled it, took pictures of it, disassembled it, mailed it to Australia and reassembled by the buyer and it never lost a part!!

ahah! I got it to elevate! It just required a little bit of leverage from the right spot. I'm surprised that the cannon elevating feature is rather jerky due to the "teeth" Parrish was talking about. I thought it was stuck because I assumed the cannons elevating feature would be alot more smooth. How durable are those "teeth" I'd hate for them to break just because I moved the gun up and down to many times.

Jnewboy (Jon) did a great job on my 88 and I really love it. It arrived here in Australia in perfect condition. I still dont know why the manufacturer didn't make it in colours other than the Africa Korps one, as I am sure they would have sold a lot more if painted in Normandy colours.

CanberraPaul wrote:Jnewboy (Jon) did a great job on my 88 and I really love it. It arrived here in Australia in perfect condition. I still dont know why the manufacturer didn't make it in colours other than the Africa Korps one, as I am sure they would have sold a lot more if painted in Normandy colours.

that's just another mistake in a long sad list of mistakes made by that company.

lancelot wrote:

CanberraPaul wrote:Jnewboy (Jon) did a great job on my 88 and I really love it. It arrived here in Australia in perfect condition. I still dont know why the manufacturer didn't make it in colours other than the Africa Korps one, as I am sure they would have sold a lot more if painted in Normandy colours.

that's just another mistake in a long sad list of mistakes made by that company.

To me the DAK color was a good choice because it serves as a good base for many camouflage patterns for who ever wants to custom paint one.

CanberraPaul wrote:Jnewboy (Jon) did a great job on my 88 and I really love it. It arrived here in Australia in perfect condition. I still dont know why the manufacturer didn't make it in colours other than the Africa Korps one, as I am sure they would have sold a lot more if painted in Normandy colours.

Thanks Paul! I agree a winter/white washed version or a tri-color Normandy version would have been good although I understand why they did the DAK version, it was in Africa that it was first widely used for a "tank killer" as the wide open expanses aloud the gun to really show its ability to knock out armor at far distance unopposed. This strategy was latter used allot in Russia, in fact some historians argue that if the men/equipment/supplies/resources that went into the DAK had instead been added to Barbarossa it could have been enough firepower to get the Germans to Moscow before the winter enveloped their progress.

Here is a pic of Paul's 88mm I did if you missed it:

I'm just glad we have Jon and others on this forum that have the great ability and skill to do such customs as they are much superior in my opinion than the factory made ones. I for one dont have the skill or ability to achieve such impressive work, and I can only wish I did.