Kit, DML 6525, Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling 38 auf Selbstfahrlafette Smart Kit

DRAGON MODELS LIMITED


Product Specifications.

6525, Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling 38 auf Selbstfahrlafette Smart Kit. 1/35th-scale injection-molded styrene/multimedia kit. Contains: 387 styrene parts (including six clear), two bags of Magic Tracks, three DS100 parts, one photo-etched brass fret, one sheet of masking material, four decal/marking schemes and eight pages of instructions in 17 steps.


Introduction.

The Sd.Kfz.7 has long enjoyed the attentions of both modelers and kit manufacturers. Back in the 1960s, Airfix released a kit of the tractor in combination with an 8.8cm FlaK; eventually, so did Hasegawa as well as ROCO. All of these were in 1/87th, 1/76th and 1/72nd-scales. Tamiya released the tractor, followed by an Sd.Kfz.7/1 and an Sd.Kfz.7/2, in 1/35th-scale, beginning in the early 1970s. To say that 35-plus years later the old Tamiya kit needed replacement by a current state-of-the-art product would be an understatement. Most recently, Trumpeter released a tractor kit, followed by an Sd.Kfz.7/1 mounting the quad 2cm Flakvierling 38.

Now, DML has finally stepped up with what is a beautifully-engineered kit of the Sd.Kfz.7/1, making full use of 21st-century technology. Their version of the tractor has already been announced as well.


Tracks.

The tracks are typical of most new DML kits, in that they are termed Magic Tracks. Each link consists of two parts, the metal core and the rubber pad. The parts themselves are in bags and are not attached to conventional sprues. This means that little clean-up is necessary; there are just some minor mold pips to remove. If the modeler wishes to go further, the very subtle ejector pin marks seen on each main link part can also be smoothed away. The tracks will articulate when completed. This considerably eases the attachment process and also allows for authentic track sag to be very easily achieved.


Suspension System.

The actual suspension system for the track-work is based on several leaf-spring bundles as well as separate swing-arms and idler wheel tensioning axle. Two-part final drive assemblies are topped-off by two-part drive sprockets that incorporate properly offset rollers. The step-ring on the drive sprocket hub is further embellished by an etched brass strip that wraps around the outside; in this way the non-skid texture can be properly represented. The road-wheels are conventionally-rendered as inner and outer halves, with superbly-crisp details.

The front wheels consist of a hard styrene hub as well as an inner tire segment. The major portion of the tire is produced using DS100 soft styrene (this reviewer still wonders why folks insist on terming this material as being vinyl; it is NOT). This material can be glued with standard styrene plastic cement, something actual vinyl will not allow. Furthermore, DS100 material, being flexible, can be pulled from a steel mold while still retaining detail that hard styrene will not allow. In this case, the tread detail on the tires contact surfaces can be rendered in almost precise detail; after-market tires are not necessary.

The front wheels rest on a multi-part axle and leaf spring assembly, complimented by a separate part for the steering linkage. As designed, the wheels will not steer, but a clever modeler will be able to modify the parts to do so, if desired.


Chassis Frame and Engine.

The engine consists of multiple parts that represent the Maybach engine quite well; of course, wires, pipes and hoses can be added by the detail-oriented modeler. A nicely-detailed separate firewall is embellished by various accessory items including a horn and structural members. An inner radiator face, air filters, more hose segments and braces finish the area.

The transmission is a four-part assembly, while the winch and the power take-off shaft consist of another five parts. There is no cable or hook in the box to finish the unit. A two-part fuel tank, air cylinders, exhaust muffler and mounting frame plus various other components complete the details in this area.

The chassis frame itself is based on a slide-molded main part to which all of the above details are mounted. The rear face of the frame is a separate multi-part affair, which included articulating tow coupling, winch cable guide rollers and other detail parts. Above and behind this is the rack for the spare wheel and tire; this is attached to the underside of the guns platform.


Superstructure, Drivers Compartment and Gun Platform.

The nose section incorporates the front bumper and fenders in a single, well-detailed slide-molded part. A tow pintle, various fillets and width indicator stems are all separate parts, while the conventional head-lamps include clear parts for the lenses. The Notek lamp is a two-part styrene assembly that gets fitted to an etched brass mounting bracket. Other etched brass parts are included to add non-skid plate details where appropriate. The final items are multi-part rifle racks for the pair of Gen2 Kar98k rifles. The racks can hold a total of six rifles, but only two are included; the modeler will have to raid the spares bin to have completely-filled racks.

The outer radiator grill has the manufacturers logo (Krauss-Maffei) molded in place while the water filler cap is separate. The hood panel is separate as are the two side access panels; the latter includes crisp cooling slot details molded in place on the outside. Tiny, separate lift handles finish off the panels, which do not have any cooling slot details on their inner sides.

Working further aft, there are three panels that make up the outside of the drivers compartment; one top and two sides. The side panels have the hand-grips cut out of them; these can be filled in and replaced with the handles provided, but marked as not for use, to make another variation. Running lights and a small search-light dress up the sides. The insides have frames molded in place and no ejector pin marks. The floor panel has four out of the six items seen in reference photos (one lever and one pedal is missing). Fortunately, these are very easy to add. The windshield frame and glass panel is one clear part that is complimented by etched brass wiper blades and adhesive masking material to ease painting. It is not movable, but can be fixed in the up or down position.

Several other panels make up the remainder of the compartment and these are complimented by nicely-textured seat cushions. The dashboard consists of two main panels and is mounted onto the rear face of the engine firewall panel. Braces, an auxiliary fuel tank, steering column and wheel complete the section. No decals are provided for the instrument panel dial faces.

Heading further aft is the main load-bed. It features separate supports underneath it and it in turn is mounted on a single-piece track-guard unit. Separate frames are provided for the hinged side platforms; they are not workable and must be fixed either raised or lowered. These are embellished with etched brass mesh, which, due to limitations in the process are necessarily flat; this reviewer would be quite interested in seeing anyone do better without creating parts that will cause brain injuries! Separate tools, various steps and braces complete this area.


2cm Flakvierling 38.

This is a completely new molding and owes nothing to any of DMLs previous iterations of the single-tube 2cm FlaK38. The gun tube/receiver group of each of the four individual weapons are
single parts, produced using a slide mold. This allows for an open receiver as well as pre-drilled muzzle. The muzzles flash suppressors have the proper cooling slots and perforations, while the receiver covers are separate two-part affairs. Separate recoil buffers are also provided, as are the proper 20-round ammunition magazines. The two mounting plates for the four gun tubes are also based on a slide-molded core, which includes the small curved splinter shield sections molded in place, complete with openings for the gun tubes.

The guns can elevate on the mount, which itself can be rotated through a full 360-degrees. The mount can be configured for travel or combat by the use of two full sets of splinter shields. One set is folded along-side the gun tubes for travel, while the second has the shields fully extended for combat. The shields are molded in near scale thickness, have proper and delicate details throughout and are completely devoid of ejector pin marks. Auxiliary shields for the gunner are provided as are the pendulum and telescopic gunners sights. The remaining parts consist of the spent shell collection bin, travel lock, hand-wheels and numerous detail items.

The base for the mount is of the earlier type that had a pedestal fixed directly to the platform with three fasteners; these are all separate parts. Racks for (provided) spare ammunition magazines are placed around the mount as are small floor panels and crewmens seats.


Molding, Fit and Engineering.

I did a dry fit of many of the main components and based on that, I found no major fit problems. Of course something may crop up as I progress with the actual assembly of the kit; your mileage may vary. Molding is simply excellent with no visible ejector pin marks on any easily-viewed surface. Although a fairly complex kit, it is quite well-engineered for relatively easy assembly.


Accuracy and Details.

References indicate that there are no major accuracy issues. A semi-minor issue is the inner side of the conventional wheel hubs, which are molded solid, but should be hollow. Other items in the same category are the missing pedal and lever in the drivers compartment. Some small details can be added to certain parts such as the drive sprocket, while the omission of the cable and hook for the winch is a bit odd. Also mentioned above is the lack of all six Kar98k rifles to fill the racks for them; only two are given. No 2cm FlaK ammunition magazine boxes are given, which is also a bit unusual, since these are already in DMLs parts system. The last three items should be relatively easy to source for the modeler who has a well-stocked spares bin.


Instructions.

These are in the conventional line drawing style and are quite complex. Thus far, I have noted no major glitches. One must also remember that this model is essentially two kits (the gun and the vehicle), so there is bound to be more to do. Therefore, the instructions have that many more things to pay attention to.


Decals and Markings Information.

The decal sheet is produced by DMLs usual source, Italys Cartograf. In typical fashion, this means that the printing is crisp with fine details and excellent registration. Color saturation is also outstanding, while the carrier film is clear, matte and cut close to the individual designs. Markings for the following four vehicles are provided:

24.Panzer-Division, Stalingrad 1942.
Three different vehicles, all from unidentified units and all seen on the Ostfront in the 1942-1943 time-frame.

All are painted in Dunkelgrau as a base color, while three of them have a camouflage pattern applied over the base. Unfortunately, the instructions dont name the secondary color, which could be anything from a sand/tan color, to winter white-wash. So, references will need to be consulted.


Conclusion.

There are some small detail issues, but most can easily be tweaked with the very minimum of efforts on the part of the modeler; others can be safely ignored by all but the most severely afflicted with AMS. On the whole, however, this is an extremely fine release and it should prove to be popular amongst most modelers of German subject matter.


Highly recommended.


Frank V. Curly Stooge De Sisto


References consulted for this review included, but were not limited to the following books:

1. FlaK Selbstfahrlafetten and Flakpanzer; Panzer Tracts No.12, by Tom Jentz and Hilary Doyle.
2. German Half-Tracked Vehicles of World War 2; Hippocrene Books, by John Milsom.
3. German Army Semi-Tracks 1939-45, Part 1, Prime Movers and Self-Propelled Carriages; Bellona, by Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle.
4. Sd.Kfz.7 in Detail; Special Museum Line No.36, Wings & Wheels Publications, by F. Koran, R. Schoeters, M. Valek & J. Horak.
5. Halbketten Zugkraftwagen 8t Sd.Kfz.7/1, /2; AFV Super Detail Photo Book Vol.9 (ASDP-009), Model Art, by A. Ranger & H. Cance.
6. German Half-Tracks of World War Two; Concord 7054, by F. De Sisto & L. Lecocq.
7. German Half-Tracks of World War Two, Vol.2; Concord 7067 (not yet published), by F. De Sisto & L. Lecocq.
8. German Self-Propelled Guns; Concord 7022, by G. Rottman & A. Wrobel.
9. German Halftracks in Action; Squadron Armor No.3, by U. Feist & K. Reiger.
10. Halbkettenfahrzeuge, German Half-Track Vehicles 1939-1945; Wehrmacht Illustrated No.4, Almark Publications, by J. Williamson & K. Jones.
11. German Self-Propelled Weapons; AFV Weapons Profile 55, by P. Chamberlain & H. Doyle.
12. Encyclopedia of German tanks of WW II, Revised Edition; Arms & Armour Press, by P. Chamberlain, H. Doyle & T. Jentz.
13. Anti-Aircraft Guns; WW2 Fact Files, Arco, by P. Chamberlain & T. Gander.
14. German 20mm FlaK in World War II, 1935-1945; Schiffer, by W. Müller.
15. Recent review on PMMS by T. Ashley. www.perthmilitarymodelers.com


Reviewers note: Since May of 2005, I have been working on books for Concord Publications, a sister company to DML. The reader may wish to take this into consideration. For my part, I will attempt to maintain an objective viewpoint when writing these reviews.


DML kits are available from retail and mail order shops. For details see their web site at: www.dragonmodelsltd.com.


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