Category:Britains Anti-Aircraft

The Britains range of Anti-Aircraft Unit models appeared through 1938-1939, and were some of the most distinctive pieces that the company produced, with lots and lots of play value.

The Underslung Lorry (the lorry equivalent of a railway bogie well wagon)) was a very nice articulated vehicle whose playablity was further enhanced by fitting the low-slung payload section with a swivelling searchlight, anti-aircraft gun, or a heavy winch for a barrage balloon (which Britains also produced).

The anti-Aircraft gun and searchlight were particularly intricate, having couplings for attaching to the back of a vehicle (and to each other), swivelling axles, pull-out stabiliser legs, lots of height-adjustment screws to lift the item off its wheels ... and this was before one considered the authentic tilt-and-swivel action of the gun or searchlight.

... in addition to which, the gun actually fired, and the electric searchlight actually worked, if wired up to a battery.

Post-war

The smaller anti-aircraft pieces reappeared when production restarted after WW2 (typically 1946), but the Barrage Balloon set, which was only produced pre-war in 1939, wasn't made again.