WWII German 12.8cm Flak 40 Zwilling

Treehugger
So the kit comes with a large base, and also a smaller part: I took the smaller part, removed some plastic, and build a stand for it using sheet/strip styrene. Unsure how realistic this custom base is, but I was inspired by what other's have done in a similar fashion.

Best to keep the gray plastic part unglued and separated from the white styrene until after you have airbrushed all the inside areas. Then one can glue on the gray part, such that each pair of bolt ends up on the "outside" of the white styrene parts all around. I did NOT use a circle cutter (else I would have ruined the blade I think), just snipped off plastic all around the big white part, and sanded round using a metal file.

The gray plastic base, had its outer ring removed, so that it now looks like two base plates (top&bottom) are connecting, held together with bolts. I used a saw and did NOT cut styrene with a blade, because using a blade to cut styrene into parts looks too ugly/uneven.

[img1] (image upload)

Treehugger
This review has info on adding missing details: archive.armorama.com/review/12115/

Best be careful when gluing things together, because the moulds are weird. Not just flash here and there, but misalinged moulding in places. Not entirely terrible, but an unexected annoyance in some places like the breech block.

Btw, the aftermarket metal barrels fits the plastic nicely. No idea if some counter weight is ideally needed or not, haven't gotten that far yet.

Tip, for adding styrene bolts, without fiddling to much, best just glue on a piece of rod (then let the plastic harden), then snip it, and very gently sand flat so it looks like a bolt. Having said that, there are aftermarket bolt with hex shape in resin that would be nice, if you can get the precise size needed, not too small, nor, too large.