AFV Club 8.8 cm L/71 Ammunition (AF 35086) and 8.8 cm L/56 Ammunition (AF 35087)

by Cookie Sewell

Kit No. AF 35086; 24 pieces of brass; price US $13.98
Kit No. AF 35087; 18 brass pieces, 3 aluminum casings; price US $13.98

Advantages: excellent renditions of German ammunition rounds; turned cases function like originals; variety of ammunition will be appreciated by Tiger fans
Disadvantages: cost prohibitive for anyone wanting to provide a full unit of fire for a model!
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all German and artillery fans

One of the latest "upscale" accessories for armor kits has been the use of turned aluminum or brass ammunition for guns or tanks. AFV Club has been doing it for some time now, and these are their latest products.

The L/71 set is for the later model "long" 8.8 cm guns and will compliment the Flak 43/41, Elefant/Ferdinand, Tiger II, or Hornisse/Nashorn kits. The package provides 12 casings in turned brass and 12 different projectiles – 3 each of four different styles, which apparently include HE-FRAG and AP or APCBC type projectiles.

The L/56 is for the Flak 18 and 36/37 or Tiger I kits. It comes with 9 brass casings and 3 aluminum casings and 9 different rounds – three each of HE-FRAG, APCBC, and HEAT.

The rounds are excellent and only lack the "one upsmanship" feature of DML kits – namely, the etched base with headstamp production data for each round included.

The only drawback is the cost of fully equipping a model with this sort of ammunition – a full up Tiger I would probably add some $142 to the cost of the model!

Overall, it's a nice set and sure to be popular.

Thanks to Miin Herng Tsueng of AFV Club for the review samples.