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Trumpeter
German 3.7cm Flak 43 auf Selbstfahrlafette
(Sd.Kfz.7/2) with Sd.Anhanger 52

Trumpeter 1:35 Kit #01527
Review by Terry Ashley

Trumpeter
Introduction:

The last version of the 3.7cm anti-aircraft gun produced by Germany in WWII was the 3.7cm Flak 43 which was produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig and had a marked improvement in performance over the earlier 3.7cm Flak 36/37 with a higher rate of fire, lighter weight as well as being easier to produce.

It was produced in single mountings as well as a twin gun mount, the 3.7 cm Flakzwilling 43 with most units used in mobile mountings such as the later Sd.Kfz.7/2, Möbelwagen and Ostwind built on the Panzer IV chassis. Production started in 1944 with about 930 single and 185 twin versions produced before production ended along with hostilities in 1945.

The Kit:

Along with the 3.7cm Flak 37 auf Selbstfahrlafette Sd.Kfz.7/2 (kit #01526) Trumpeter have released this kit of the later 3.7cm Flak 43 auf Selbstfahrlafette Sd.Kfz.7/2 which was only produced as the armoured cab type. The standard trailer used to carry additional ammo was initially the Sd.Ah.52 trailer as well as the Sd.Ah.56 trailer.

This kit is basically the same as the Flak37 Sd.Kfz.7/2 having the late style road wheels, tracks and armoured cab along with detailed chassis, engine and gearbox from the previous 8ton kits plus new parts for the Flak43 and different style side mesh as seen on some later Sd.Kfz.7/2s.

Due to this much of this review is the same as for kit #01526 with additional comments for the Flak 43 parts included.

The kit has about 540 parts in the usual Trumpeter light grey plastic, an additional 336 individual track links along 65 etched parts plus the decal sheet and 28 page instruction booklet as well as a colour painting guide sheet.

Vinyl tyres, copper wire and thread
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Etched parts
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The standard of moulding sees some finely executed detail on the large and small parts with a minimum of pins marks evident and those present are in areas that are unavoidable and fairly easy to deal with.

There is some fine flash on the parts especially the smaller and more intricate parts and a bit of work will be needed to clean this up. Fairly prominent mould seam lines on most parts again require a bit of effort and care is needed not to compromise the detail in the process.

There are numerous small fit issues to contend with on some of the chassis/engine/gearbox parts that sees small adjustments required to get parts to fit and quite a few of the mating surfaces also need to be smoothed out for a more precise fit. The newer parts while still having some minor flash and the mould seam lines to remove appear cleaner overall than the earlier parts.

There is some areas with excellent detail such as the lower chassis assemblies with fully detailed gearbox, engine and large winch as well as the driver’s compartment for very impressive sub-assemblies, it’s a pity much of this is all but hidden after final assembly.

Dimensionally the kit matches available 1:35 plans and data nicely apart from some notable exceptions carried over from the previous kits. The chassis is 3mm too longer than the plans indicate resulting in the wheel spacings being around 1mm too far apart on the centre sets of road wheels.

Other issues carried over from the initial Sd.Kfz.7 kit is the front fenders being too steeply angled and the outer curve too shallow. The rivet detail on the front edges of the fenders is from a restored vehicle and not the wartime vehicle and will have to be modified. The drive sprocket teeth are not offset left and right as they should but apart from those issues most other discrepancies are well within acceptable tolerances.

Chassis/Gearbox:

The gearbox is made up of multiple parts with some very well done details enhanced by the addition of 3 etched parts. One of these (part PE-WA21) has to be bent at right angles and this did pose a few problems as the metal is quite thick and it is very difficult to hold the narrow part in an etched bending tool and I had to anneal the part to aid in bending, a lot of work for a small part that is basically hidden from view and you may choose to just forget it.

The side mounted drum brakes do not fit flush to the sides of the gearbox and the fit is rather loose meaning you have to be careful to ensure these line up square with the gearbox and the front cross member (part A7).

The three gear levers have fine mould seam lines to be removed and you should be careful after assembly as they tend to stick up the air just asking to be damaged.

The two full length chassis frames have crisp detail in both sides and no pin marks present but there are substantial mould seams along the top and bottom surfaces to be removed.

There are three small parts added to the sides of the frames and I had to trim the locating pins for a better fit with the assembled gearbox trapped between the two frames, but the fit is very loose and you have to ensued it is aligned perfectly level with the chassis frame, there is a small hole in the chassis that has to line up with the locating pin on the brake drums which you should align by eye.

Alignment of gearbox pin and hole in chassis side
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The cross member for the front suspension spring does not fit well at all and as this has repercussions not only for the sit of the vehicle but the fit of the large front hull/fender assembly and I deviated from the instruction sequences slightly to ensure this was glued in the right place leaving the cross member off at this stage.

The central rear chassis assembly is made up of over a dozen parts and while nicely detailed there is a bit of work involved with some parts needing minor trimming for a better fit and the usual moulding seams and some flash to remove as well as a couple of etched parts for added definition.

To fit the front suspension cross member I temporally added the front hull/fender part WA4 to ensure the cross member is in the right place as the fit is not that good and has a bearing on the alignment of the chassis.

The front suspension spring has the springs in two parts with a quite substantial central join seam to be removed which will take a bit of effort but thankfully the spring detail is free of any pin marks.

The large front suspension arm has separate linkages that allow you to make the wheels steerable and these fit together easily buy I had to open up the pin locating holes a little to allow the retaining pin (part B33) to fit better. This pin is fine plastic so don’t force it into place as it will break and you will have problems from there, a small dab of glue will hold the pin in place but make sure you don’t glue the turning bracket by mistake.

The wheel steering connecting rod fits neatly and is held in place by the rear suspension bracket on the axle so you don’t have to worry about this coming adrift and added to the chassis are the 4 small steering rods from the steering junction box to the front suspension and fitting the 4 small linkages required the enlarging of all locating holes and trimming of the locating pins to get these to fit properly which was a little tedious.

These 4 small brackets are not designed to move and after attaching the steering linkage arm (part D4) this means the front wheels are no longer steerable which sort of defeats the whole steering thing. You can make the 4 small steering linkages and steering arm workable by adding small pins but there is a lot of additional work involved?

The winch has 4 main parts with 5 additional etched parts and the thread added for the winch cable. The small etched brackets have the cable guide pins added from the copper wire provided and it’s best to solder these as super glue just won’t hold on a join such as this. Just remember to wind on the thread cable before adding the guide pins as it’s a nightmare if the pins are in place. The assembly is added to the 2 etched brackets on the chassis frame with the power take off shaft inserted into the locating hole on the back of the gearbox and there shouldn’t be any problems here.

At the back is the rear chassis bulkhead with separate parts for the large towing pintle, the compressed air outlet and tow cable rollers and guides as well as the large tow cable hook which you would attach to the cable after treading it through the bulkhead from the winch. There is also a small etched bracket with pin made from the wire supplied and the exhaust pipe is also inserted through the hole in bulkhead as you attach this later during construction.

Also added to the chassis are the two part compressed air tanks and the large fuel tank made up of 4 parts and this fits neatly to the supports included on the chassis frames plus a number of smaller brackets and etched parts.

Engine:

The Maybach HL62TUK engine provided is a highly detailed assembly made up of 37 plastic parts and a couple of etched parts with the assembled engine matching the photos in the WWP Sd.Kfz.7 book very well and includes most if not all of the smaller engine accessory parts.

Detail on the parts is very good but with the usual mould seams to remove as well as some minor flash with the fit fairly good overall but some trimming is needed to get an even fit on some and there are a few traps to look out for.

You should test fit every part before gluing to ensure no trimming is needed and all went fairly smoothly until fitting the top rocker cover with the half moon bracket on top of part E32 requiring trimming in size for this to fit.

At the front is the engine bearing part E1 and it is very important this is fitted perfectly level so the engine will sit properly in the chassis engine mounts but there is nothing to ensure the correct placement of the part and you have to align this by eye which is not the easiest when the engine is separate from the chassis.

I found it easier to leave off part E1 until you have attached the rear bell housing (part E36) which does have precise locating recesses in the engine block and then align the “legs” on part E1 to the mounting pins on part E36.

When fitting the bell housing (part E36) you will need to trim some plastic off part E21 to ensure the bell housing sits flush with the engine block as it will be at an angle if you don’t compromising the fit of the engine to the chassis.

Also the rear fill plate on the bell housing (part E19) does not fit flush inside the housing and you will need to trim this for a better fit which again effects the overall alignment of the engine/chassis fit.

While the engine is quite detailed and complete there are no pulley belts supplied and you should add these from thin paper or tape to finish off the front fan/pulley assembly and there are two radiator pipes added to the engine which mate to locating holes in the radiator when attached and you may want to leave off these pipes until the radiator is added to align these more easily?

The large air cleaner is attached the front body/fender part later in step 19 and this has to mate to the top of the carburettor and depending on the fit of the engine/chassis join some trimming may be needed to fit the air cleaner pipe to the carburettor. The full exhaust pipe and muffler is also added in step 19 and the pipe mates to the exhaust manifold on the left of the engine and again some minor manoeuvring may be needed depending on the fit of other parts.

Running Gear:

The front wheel hubs are in two halves and feature very well done rim/spoke detail that includes the moulded on valve stem with a separate central hub cap, the wheel also represents the later style with the central hub extending slightly further out than on the earlier wheel. The inside of the cast “star” hub is correctly hollowed out as it should be for a good representation of the front wheel.

The vinyl tyres are from the Sd.Kfz.7/1 kit and feature the correct WWII tread pattern as well as extended around the shoulder and this fits easily to the wheel hub, the only issue here is the rims stick out a little from the tyre sidewall but there is little you do about this as the vinyl tyres make adjustments difficult.

The outer road wheels are the late style wheel hubs along with excellent stamped rim detail but there is a little flash in some of the lightening holes which is minor and easily removed.

Note there are different inner wheels for the idlers (parts B25) with longer axle mountings with the outer wheel the same as for the road wheel stations 1, 3 and 5. For stations 2, 4 and 6 you obviously don’t fit the outer wheel until adding the wheels to the axles as they intermesh with the central wheels as is normal for German half-tracks.

The drive sprockets are quite detailed being made up of 5 plastic and 1 etched part each but there a number of issues here unfortunately.

There is considerable flash in the sprocket lightening holes and this will take a bit of effort to remove and the central drive roller ring is in two halves that fit together but for some reason the outer roller detail is only included on the rollers that face the inside when attached with the outer roller being just plain plastic devoid of detail?

When gluing the drive roller discs together you have to ensure they are as tight together as possible as this will affect the fit of the track links later if not a snug fit.

One roller disc has small brackets included that fit into the corresponding recesses in the outer drive sprocket half but note as one of the brackets is half the size of the others and this must be aligned with the grease point on the sprocket to fit correctly. Unfortunately the instructions don’t tell you this and if you try and fit the roller disc any other way it will not fit properly.

The sprockets include the central bolt head detail and the separate covered bracket (part B41) and there is also the circular foot step with tread plate included as an etched part that has the bent to form the circle before adding to the bracket. Annealing this part by running through a candle flame will assist in bending the step and this adds a nice touch to the sprocket hub.

Another issue is the drive rollers are not offset as they should be but are located centrally on the outer sprocket facets which are very noticeable on these larger sprockets and given the way the drive roller discs are attached to the sprockets a bit of work is required to correct this? See Modification guide here.

The drive sprockets on all German half tracks feature “teeth” in the form of small rollers that intermesh with the track links, the drive sprockets themselves have flat facets sections around the sprocket that the track links “sit” flush on as the pass around the sprocket. The rollers are not located centrally on the flat section but offset towards the front of the facets to allow them to mesh with the tracks better and this means the sprockets are not interchangeable between left and right.

There should also be bolt heads around the inner sprockets rims but these are very difficult to include with current moulding technology and you may want to add these for greater detail but with the incorrect drive roller position it may be a wasted effort? Another issue with the sprocket hub is there are 7 engraved segment lines on the sprocket disc face but these should not be there and unfortunately it’s very difficult to fill these given the angles and recessed sprocket face.

There is a bit of flash and the mould seam lines to be removed from the suspension parts but they assemble easily although the locating surface for the rear suspension units (parts S3/A4) need to be trimmed flush but the locating points are quite large making for robust assembles.

I also had to shorten to locating pins on the rear springs (parts B18) to fit the chassis locating holes better and you should ensure the front springs (parts B36) are aligned evenly with the chassis.

There is also substantial mould seams on the idler mountings to be removed and you should not glue the idler mounts in place but leave these free so you can adjust the idler position when fitting the tracks later while adding the twin axle to the bogies is very straightforward without any problems.

The tracks are individual working links and are the later style with only one hole on each side of each link and different cast detail on the link face. These assemble in what is now standard for this type of track and follows how the real things are joined with each link fitting into the next and held in place with the rubber track pad.

Dimensionally the real track links are 360mm wide equalling 10.3mm in 1:35 scale and the kit links measure 10.3mm to be spot on and the separate track pads are in two parts, the rubber section and lower attachment plate. This take a little longer to assemble the pads before tackling the track links proper but results in very good detail definition on the pads.

There are three small sprue attachment burs to clean from each track link but other than that assembly is straightforward as you simply fit one link into the next and glue the track pad in place, just ensure you don’t use too much glue and they will articulate easily after the glues dries.

Fitting the track to the drive sprockets will depend if you have fixed the roller offset, if not the links do not sit flush to the sprocket facets leaving gaps which is noticeable but if corrected the tracks sit nice and flush around the sprockets.

Late style track link parts and simply assembly
comparison with the earlier style track to show the different details

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Fenders/Engine Compartment:

The front fenders are moulded in one piece with the front body and tow hitch included but there are a couple of issues to address with the first being the three large rivets with bolt heads on the lower front edges which are not wartime fittings but were added to the museum vehicle. The bolts have been reduced in size but should still be removed along with the mould seams round them and leave just the flat round rivet heads as seen on wartime half-tracks. There should also be fender brackets on the inside of the fenders which is what the rivets are for if you wish to add this additional detail.

Another issue is the angle on the inside of the fenders is too upright and should be more angled but this is rather subtle from some angles and very difficult to remedy and some may choose to overlook this on the finished model? The height of the fender curve is also too shallow but may not be that noticeable on the finished model, see comparison review of the Sd.Kfz7/1 kits for details.

At the front of the part is the forward tow shackle bracket with what seems like a large mould seam along to top above the tow bracket but this is in fact the metal plate edge on the real vehicle and should remain in place. Added to the tow shackle is the large pin and you could add a bit of fine chain to enhance the detail here a little.

The lip around the bottom of the fenders is a little rough and requires some sanding to smooth out and the heat exchanger pipe is added under the right fender and you just need to drill out the end of the pipe that exits the side lip of the fender to improve the appearance.

The large radiator housing has the front louvers and mesh moulded as one closed unit and not open but we are yet to see this feature rendered correctly in any half-track kit so can’t single this out for any more comment than the others. At the top is the “KRAUSS-MAFFEI” name plate embossed and a separate radiator cap added to the top. But all this detail is hidden when you add the large V shaped armour plate in front of the radiator so isn’t an issue at on this kit.

Inside is the radiator coaming and the radiator housing fits neatly between the fenders without any problems. The side steps are separate parts with etched tread plate panels added as well as other smaller items best left off until later in construction to avoid damage. These include the two large head lights with clear plastic lenses, the two fender mounted width indicator posts which are a little on the thick side and the Notek light with etched mounting as well as a rear view mirror on the left fender.

The two side compartment panels have the closed louvers moulded in place with separate securing T latches and grab handles for a bit of detail definition, these panels fit neatly to the sides of the radiator housing and rear fender floor panel. Added to the side panels is the compartment hood which is cleanly moulded and fits without any problems but you need to open up the holes for the pioneer tools carried on the hood with this vehicle and care is needed to open up the correct holes.

Cab/Rear Bed:

The main engine bulkhead has detail included on both sides with no pin marks to compromise the detail along with additional perforated braces added on both sides, these needed a little cleanup along the edges and some minor flash from inside the lightening holes. The fit to the bulkhead was good as were the other smaller instrument panel brackets and other items added to the bulkhead as well as the later war round style Bosch horn.

The cabin floor has fine tread plate included with separate small brake, clutch and accelerator pedals plus the steering column with the steering wheel having hand grip detail on the underside and two etched column supports to be added with the column fitting through the recess in the floor for precise location of the lower steering box to the chassis.

To fit the floor you have to feed the three gear shift levers from the gearbox through the floor openings while at the same time manoeuvring around the steering wheel column with the engine bulkhead restricting movement of the floor which is all quite tricky.

The instrument panel is the later or “mid” style for want of a better word as it has additional dials from the earlier design on the separate dial cluster panel with again the dial faces and small data placards provided on the decal sheet. Behind the dial cluster is the additional mounting bracket and a small etched bracket that needs care when bending to shape.

The crew seat has the lower bulkhead that has the two shovel brackets from the prime mover and these should be removed and this includes the new square profile fenders.

The seat cushions are smooth without the heavy texturing of the earlier kits but the lower seat should be in two segments, the driver’s seat and ¾ length passenger seats not the full width seat as provided and a bit of work will be needed to remedy this.

Probably the most prominent feature of this kit apart from the 3.7cm Flak gun is the large armoured cab and this is provided as a single large moulding with separate side entry doors and top hatches.

There are two different style of armoured cab fitted to these vehicles, one with two bolted panels on the sides and doors and one with single piece curved side panels without the middle row of bolts used on the bolted version.

Unfortunately Trumpeter has mixed the two types with the curved profile panels but also the middle row of bolts from the bolted version and you will need to carefully remove the two rows of bolts at the curve line with a sharp #11 blade. See the detail images for a guide on the bolt heads to be removed.

The fit of the armoured cab to the lower floor and engine bulkhead is very good not requiring any trimming on my kit. I also found it easier to fit the engine bulkhead to the cab before fitting to the lower floor as opposed to fitting the bulkhead to the lower chassis first as per the instructions.

The large rear bed moulding has nice tread plate texture included with additional mounting brackets added to the undersides along with the spare wheel.

The fold down sides provided for the rear bed has plastic frames with etched brass mesh which features small perforations and not the usual slats with this style of mesh seen on some later armoured cab 7/2s prior to the use of the wooden sides.

The rear panel has finely moulded folding steps that again requires care removing from the sprues and these can be positioned raised or lowered depending on the position of the mesh panel. Also added to the side mesh panels are the pioneer tools that have their attachment clips and brackets moulded on and again these will probable be provided in the etched update sets to come.

At the front of the bed is a fold down wooden crew seat that has nice wood grain effect but still missing altogether are the six racks for the crew Kar98 rifles usually fitted to the rear of the cab bulkhead and these will have to be found elsewhere.

3.7cm Flak 43:

This gun is all new for the kit and is nicely done overall with most of the major features of the gun mounting included although there is scope for additional detail to improve the final appearance.
The gun parts are virtually free of any pin marks apart from the large plastic shields which have quite a few large shallow pin marks on the inside faces to be removed.  

Dimensionally the gun measures up well against the available plans in the Panzer Tracks No.12 Flakpanzer and Nuts and Bolts Vol.13 Flakpanzer IV with the barrel being the correct length. The flash suppressor though is very basic with none of the neck or cone holes fully opened out and again the better option is to replace this with any of the available 3.7cm Flak 43 metal barrels. For this exercise I have used the ABER metal Flak 43 barrel (set #35 L-10) as this has the correct sized flash suppressor with very thin cone and fully opened up neck and cone holes and is probably the best of those available presently.

The gun receiver is in 7 main parts and has excellent detail definition with separate top cover and rear detail which all fit together neatly without any problems and added to this are the gun shield mountings with the front cross member attachment with the front curved shield in plastic.

The main gun mounting is in two halves with two separate parts for the rear section which has excellent embossed details included. There were no problems with the fit and added to the mounting is the two part circular rotating gun mount which is fitted from either side of the main mounting allowing this to rotate and again there were no problems but be careful with the glue.

Added to the mounting is the large forward guard moulded nice and thin without any pin marks to contend along with the left side ammo feed tray and the side mounted ammo box made up of 6 parts that fit together perfectly without any gaps but mounting this on the cradle will need care as the mounting points are quite small.

On the right side there is the traverse and elevation hand wheel mounting which has two very small star fasteners included and care is needed when cleaning up the mould seams to avoid damaging these. The two hand wheels have excellent details included and match the real items well.

Included is a nice representation of the Flakvisier 40 gun sight but as with the Flak 37 kit it lacks the eye guard or the additional telescopic sight used for sighting ground targets. Also included are two alternate sight support arms, one to fit the Flakvisier 40 gun sight to and other with sight attachments included only if you wish to build the kit without the fitted. This is a nice option as the fight was only fitted while the gun was action and stowed away while travelling or at rest.

There is a small connecting rod between the gun mounting and the sight arm and both the arm and rod can be elevated or depressed along with the barrel to keep everything aligned correctly. Just note the sight arm and connecting rod are not actually glued and just sit in place which means they can fall out easily and it may be an idea to glue these when you have decided on the elevation required for the model.

The gunner’s seat is in 4 parts and quite nicely detailed although there should actually be two crew seats on the Flak 43 mounting but only the one is supplied and you will have to scavenge or scratch the second seat.

The side spent shell exit chute is supplied in two quite thin plastic parts with embossed recesses and care is needed when gluing these together as well as fitting due to the thin plastic, the end result though is nicely done.

The lower gun platform has a separate embossed central plate although this is a little chunky it’s but all but hidden after the front shields are fitted so not really a problem. One issue with the platform is the small U shaped bracket on the right side is moulded on the underside of the platform arm and it should actually be above the arm. It’s a fairly easy job to cut odd the bracket with a shape scalpel blade and re-glue on the upper side. Also including is the gun travel lock that can be positioned in travel or firing mode depending on your choice for the model?

Lower gun platform showing the bracket to be repositioned
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There are five 8 round ammo clips provided and these can either be stowed on the ammo rack or two fitted to the ammo feed slide if the gun is displayed in action, the detail on the clips is nicely done with all having the AA 37mm round.

There are additional small details added to the platform including the gun travel lock that can be positioned in travel or firing mode depending on your choice for the model?

Additional details added to the cradle are the gunner’s controls with two hand wheels, three part gunner’s seat and foot rest/firing pedals (as an etched part) as well as

The main gun shields are in three plastic sections only with this kit and are moulded fairly thin but most importantly are of a uniform thickness which adds to a better appearance when fitted to the gun. The thickness of the shields may be slightly over scale but not overly noticeable due to this uniform thickness.

The central multi angled section is nicely done and the overall size and contours matches available plans and data quite well with separate sight aperture doors that can be attached open or closed as you wish. There are as mentioned above quite a few shallow pin marks on the inside faces of the three shield sections but these are very easy to remove by shaving with a #11 blade for a nice flat finish.

Assembly of the shield sections and two small clips for the outer folding sections is very straightforward with a good fit and you can either have the outer sections in the action or folded mode depending again on your preferences.

The tricycle outrigger base is moulded in one large piece with additional outrigger brackets and lower “feet” as well as some additional etched detail parts and this again goes together very easily with the pin on the bottom of the gun platform fitting snugly into the separate turntable on the base. Note that the pin is just sits unglued in the turntable to allowing gun rotation unless you decide to glue it permanently in place, but the fit is quite snug and should stay put unless you wave the model about after assembly.

The outrigger “feet” fit neatly to the locating pins included on the tray bed and it’s probably best to leave the gun off until after all painting in complete to make things easier and avoid damage.

Sd.Ah.52 Trailer:

As with the Sd.Kfz.7/2 Flak 37 kit you also get the ammo trailer usually towed to provide additional ammo and for this kit you get the larger Sd.Ah.52 Trailer, references indicate this was used as well as the larger Sd.Ah.56/57 Trailer with quite a few photos available showing both in use.

Unfortunately Trumpeter has again mixed up the details between the Sd.Ah.52 and Sd.Ah.56 trailer with the trailer chassis/frame being that of the Sd.Ah.52 while the trailer box and wheels is that of the late model Sd.Ah.56 trailer. It should also be noted the early Sd.Ah.56 trailer had a flat top while the later type had a rounded top as included in the kit.

This combination results in the trailer box being off centre with the rear overhang being too great resulting in the centre of gravity being out of position.

The large trailer frame is the same as used for the towed 3.7cm Flak 36/37 with the ammo storage box added and the U shaped frame is moulded in one piece including the forward triangular bracket. There is a large mould seam around the frame that will need to be eliminated with this being the only cleanup needed and added to the frame are the suspension springs, wheel fenders with additional etched brackets and the two rear mounting assemblies. The main wheels have the tyre and rim in one piece with a small rear insert and axle stub designed to allow the wheels to rotate after fitting to the axles.

Assembly here was straightforward with good part fit not requiring any trimming or filling making for a quick and easy job.

The large trailer box has the floor section to which is added three internal bulkheads that ensure the remaining side panels are all located precisely and perfectly square and again the fit of the side panels and roof was spot on resulting in a perfectly square box with not gaps or other trimming/filling required.

There are additional small etched latches added to the side doors and while the etched parts don’t have any bending lines they are quite thin and easily bent to conform to the latches without any great problems. The fully assembled ammo box also fits perfectly to the lower frame and actually holds in place without glue should you want to separate these at some stage for a diorama setting.

Instructions:

These are the usual exploded view drawings which in most cases are easy to follow and there shouldn’t be any problems?

You should study the sequences carefully and test fit the parts before gluing given the number of parts requiring some form of trimming to get a good fit as mentioned above.

Decals:

The small decal sheet is well printed with good colour register and has just a selection of instrument dials and data placards but no actual unit markings or vehicle number plates.

The colour painting guide has 5 view illustrations of a single vehicle in three tone cam scheme and this represents probably the most common photo of the Flak 43 7/2 seen in various reference books which has all the features as depicted in the kit.
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Conclusion:

While this kit again carries over some accuracy issues such as the drive sprocket roller offset, the chassis length and fender profile it also includes excellent details in the engine/gearbox assemblies as the full compliment of driver’s pedals and decals for the instrument panel.

But as with the Flak 37 kit what makes this very attractive is the inclusion of the later style road wheels, front wheel hubs, the later style track links and the ”mid” style instrument to allow you to build a correctly configured late model 8ton.

The new 3.7 Flak 43 mounting again has some nice details and is overall better done than the Flak 37 in the previous kit. The only real issue being the missing crew seat but as with any kit there is scope for additional detail enhancement to lift the final appearance.

The mix-up of trailer features is unfortunate and detracts a little from the overall appeal but the kit still has many pluses to offset some of the minuses.

Employing good old fashioned modelling skills will result in an impressive kit and as mentioned the inclusion of the truly late features is a big bonus.

Highly Recommended. (just)

The Sprues:
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Detail Images
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References:
Sd.Kfz.7 - 8 ton Zugkraftwagen Krauss-Maffei and variants
Nuts & Bolts Volume 34
Dr. Nicolaus Hettler
Book
Halbketten Zugkraftwagen 8t Sd.Kfz.7/1/2
AFV Super Detail Photo Vol.9
Published by Model Art Co.Ltd.
Book
Flak Auf Sd.Kfz.7
Part 1

Kagero Photosniper No.9
ISBN: 83-914824-3-X
book
Flak Selbstfahrlafetten and Flakpanzer
Panzer Tracts No.12
Doyle/Jentz
Panzer Tracks
Sd.Kfz.7 in detail
Special Museum Line No.36

Wings & Wheels Publications
ISBN 80-86416-60-7
book
Flak at War
Trojca Publications
Waldemar Trojca, Karlheinz Münch
ISBN: 83-60041-15-6
book
Allied & Axis No.21
Ampersand Publishing
Sd.Kfz.7, 8-ton
KM m 11 halftrack
Book
German Anti-Aircraft
Combat Vehicles
Revised Edition
Ground Power Special Feb '08
Book
Ground Power Magazine
#66 - 11/1999

GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd.
Japan
book
Thanks to my credit card and the excellent service from Hobbyeasy for the review kit.



Page created July 6, 2009