8.8 cm Deck Gun

for the Trumpeter kit

Eduard BRASSIN, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 BRASSIN 8.8 cm Deck Gun is available online from Squadron.com

The 8.8 cm SK C/35 was the standard deck gun mounted forward of the conning tower in Type VII boats, although a few substituted a high-angle 8.8 cm SK C/30 naval gun for anti-aircraft defense.

The SK C/35 was designed for the prototype VIIA boats of 1935 with a nominal ammunition allowance of 220 rounds.

During the early war years, these guns were used to encourage surrender of independently routed merchant ships or to sink ships damaged by torpedoes.

Some of these guns were later removed from U-boats for mounting aboard minesweepers and submarine chasers after unshielded deck guns proved impractical in action against defensively equipped Merchant Ships and escorted trade convoys.

The 8.8 cm SK C/35 gun weighed 776 kilograms and had an overall length of 3.985 meters with a vertical sliding-block breech. The gun fired a 9.5 kg projectile 88 mm in diameter, and the barrel is sometimes described as 45 caliber.

A 2.82 kg propellant charge produced muzzle velocity of 700 m/s with nose-fused high explosive and high explosive incendiary projectiles, with or without tracer. Useful life expectancy was 12,000 effective full charges per barrel.*

Eduard has released a 1:48 scale multimedia kit of this deadly naval gun. Being in Eduard’s BRASSIN range, the main assemblies are provided in resin, supplemented with a small photo-etched fret.

The kit comprises 39 parts in grey resin with a further 22 detail parts on the photo-etched fret. Casting quality is perfect on my sample, and detail is truly excellent.

The kit is broken down relatively simply but with no compromise in detail. The barrel and recuperators are cast in a single part, as is the main gun mount. Raised and recessed details are crisply cast in place. Hand wheels, controls and other smaller parts are crisply detailed and free from resin flash.

Although this set is ostensibly designed as a replacement for the Trumpeter gun on their 1:48 scale Type VIIC U-Boat, this little resin gem would also shine as the centrepiece of a separate vignette.

This is a lovely model of the naval 88, whether you plan to use it on the Trumpeter kit or as a standalone display.

*Historical summary adapted from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.8_cm_SK_C/35_naval_gun

Thanks to Eduard for the samples and images.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2017 by Brett Green
Page Created 28 November, 2017
Last updated 28 November, 2017

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