3.7cm flak 43 with Sd.Ah 58 trailer

[Mike]

3.7cm flak 43 with Sd.Ah 58 trailer

1:35 Great Wall Hobby

The German 3.7cm flak 43 was developed through necessity due to the lack of stopping power of the smaller 20 millimetre flak guns, and went on to serve in many guises with the Third Reich up until the end of World War II.

This kit is of the standalone flak 43, with trailer mounting so that it could be towed behind a suitable vehicle. In arrives in the standard GWH white box, which contains four sprues of medium grey plastic, two small sprues containing the wheel parts, a small fret of photo etched parts plus the instruction booklet.

From the kit you can build one of two versions, which centre around the feeding and collection of spent ammo. Version one utilises the photo etched parts to construct a basket in which to catch the spent shells, while version two has a chute that projects the spent cartridges away from the gun. Both versions can be mounted on the included trailer, which attaches to the gun by three lugs around which three C shaped clamps are pushed on. With all these parts being styrene, you can imagine that continued mounting and dismounting will cause the parts to fatigue and break, so it would probably be best to make your choice and stick with it.

Construction of the breach and Shell feeding system is relatively straightforward, and the barrel uses slide moulding technology to provide the modeller with a hollow barrel. This could however be improved by obtaining an aftermarket turned barrel with perforated flash hider. The base onto which the rotating assembly mounts permits the model to be left so that it can rotate, and a selection of injection moulded ammunition is also included for added realism. Turned brass versions of this ammunition is available as aftermarket items, and would improve the look somewhat, as styrene just can't compete with brass for crispness.

The photo etched cage to catch spent cartridges is built around a plastic frame, and as such shouldn't be too difficult to build up, although my example had been slightly bent during transit. It may be wise to paint the inside of this assembly before final construction to ensure that no brass or naked styrene remains visible on completion. The protective shroud is made up of multiple parts, including some of the remaining photo etched parts, and slips over the barrel on to mounting lugs at the end of assembly.

The trailer is a simple frame with mud guards, towing hitch and of course the wheels, which are made up by laminating three parts together, which gives you a good representation of the tread pattern.

There is no painting guide with this kit, however there was only one scheme of RAL 7028, Dunkelgelb, onto which the modeller may add any camouflage overspray that he can find from references, or feels would be appropriate.

Conclusion

another nice kit from Great Wall Hobby, and the perfect accompaniment to your mid-to late war German prime-mover model. Moulding is of their usual high quality, using slide mould technology where appropriate, and the kit should build up without any major problems. It would be improved further however with a replacement barrel, and turned brass shells as mentioned earlier. The kit should be suitable for all but the novice modeller.

Review sample courtesy of: