I needed some heavier anti tank weapons for my German Army in Normandy and you cant really be without one of these famous 88mms. I don’t think Zvezda call it an 88mm, its something like a heavy flak gun or similar. Anyway the Zvezda kit is an awesome model and very easy to put together. I picked it up at around USD 5.50 from the Ukraine, so pretty reasonably priced. It goes together very easily and has good detail, perfect for my needs. I think on a par with the Hasegawa 88mm (which I will show in another post sometime). The Zvezda gun comes with a base and crew, but I wanted something a bit more exciting. So I made a square MDF base that would fit the gun plus some room for the crew. This was textured with PVA glue and sandy dirt from my front garden. I replaced the Zvezda crew with a much better crew from AB Figures, except for the gunner who was part of the original crew. I glued the crew onto the base in some modelling clay to blend them in, and also added some shell casings and live ammo boxes to add to the scene. The crew were painted in my usual peadot plane tree whatever SS camo scheme, which is getting better, and more time consuming, the more I do it. The 88mm gun was primed black, sprayed dark yellow and then given a wash in chocolate brown/black. After a highlighting in a lighter sand yellow the gun was glued onto the base with the crew. I found it much easier to place and paint the crew once they were attached to the base, and then add the gun afterwards. I added some green flock to the base and hey presto we are ready to rock and roll.