CyberhobbyDragonTrumpeter
Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling 38 auf Selbstfahrlafette
1:35 kit comparison
DragonDragon kit #6525 - Trumpeter kit #01523
Part 8: Decals/Extras
Decals:
DragonThe small decal sheet is well printed with four blank number plates (2 front, 2 rear) and a selection individual numbers to basically make any number plate you want along with 3 WL and 3 WH prefixes.
There are also a couple of vehicle names and data panels as well as some kill markings for the gun shield and the elevation gradients mentioned earlier.

There are 4 marking options included in the instructions, 1 from 24.Pz.Div., near Stalingrad 1942 and 3 unidentified units in Russia 1942/43 and a little more information would be have been nice? Also considering all the markings are for the Russian campaign the inclusion of the cabin canvas tilt cover might have been a consideration to better represent a vehicle in a winter.

The markings provided are:
  • 24.Pz.Div., near Stalingrad 1942
    Dragon
  • Unidentified Unit, Eastern Front 1942
    Dragon
 
  • Unidentified Luftwaffe Flak Abt., Russia 1943
    Dragon
  • Unidentified Luftwaffe Flak Abt., Russia 1942
    Dragon

Dragon


TrumpeterThe decal sheet is also well printed with good colour register and has number plates and unit markings for 2 Luftwaffe, 1 Wehrmacht and 1 SS unit along with the instrument dials and data placards mentioned earlier.

The colour painting guide only has 5 view illustrations of one vehicle with the alternate decal options shown so you can basically make up your own paint finish if no references are available?
  • Trumpeter
    Trumpeter
Extras:
As far as extras for the Cyberhobby/Dragon kit are concerned, there aren’t any and in fact a number of items are missing as outlined above you would think would be included for a basically complete kit?

Of note is the fact that a limited number of kits released in Japan included an extra sprue to give you two 40 round ammunition boxes and a spare barrel case, why these items are not included in kits outside of Japan is a question best directed at Dragon Care?

Included in the Trumpeter kit is an additional twelve 40 round ammo boxes but these are rather poor being considerably undersized and lacking in any real detail, the image below shows a comparison with these and the Cyberhobby/Dragon boxes included in the limited release Japanese kits.

2cm ammo boxes
the dotted lines show the actual box sizes compared to the kit parts.

8ton
8ton

The other inclusion in the Trumpeter kit is the full Sd.Ah.51 Trailer but as mentioned in the initial kit review this is not the official trailer used with the Sd.Kfz.7/1 which was the larger Sd.Ah.56 Trailer to hold the additional 1800 2cm rounds carried for the guns.

I won’t spend a lot of time describing the trailer as it is simply not applicable here, of course anything is possible as have seen on numerous occasions during wartime but every photo I have seen of the Sd.Kfz.7/1 with trailer shows the larger Sd.Ah.56 Trailer.

One item not included in either kit is the canvas cab tilt cover which limits the kits to diorama situations other than bad weather/winter scenes where the cab cover is often deployed.

Conclusion:
So after all of that, which is the better kit? Overall it is clearly the Cyberhobby/Dragon kit with superior mould quality, detail definition and overall fit of the parts but it's certainly not without it's issues and given the amount of time and research we have been told went into this kit you would think some of these issues shouldn't be there?

Of more concern are some of the items missing such as the full compliment of Kar98 rifles and not enough ammunition to fill the ready racks on the Flakvierling mounting as well as no instrument dial decals, no accelerator pedal or no winch tow cable which does leave you wondering a little?

The Trumpeter kit is simply not up to the moulding and fit standards of the Cyberhobby/Dragon kit and has some major issues such as the hull/chassis length and the poor front fender profile as well as the Flakvierling 38 mounting which is rather disappointing overall.

It does also have some areas that are better detailed than the corresponding Cyberhobby/Dragon parts such as the engine/gearbox/winch, front wheels and instrument panel decals but other than that leaves you wanting if detail and accuracy are of concern.

Both kits need some work for the best results but less is required for the Cyberhobby/Dragon kit due to the better initial quality mouldings and excellent overall fit of the parts and at the end of the day both are a vast improvement over the old Tamiya offering from 1975.

If the issues shown in this review are of no concern for those who prefer to build their kits straight from the box, both kits will give you a good representation of the Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling 38 but more work will still be needed for the Trumpeter kit.

For more info on the kits, see the individual Dragon and Trumpeter kit reviews.



Page created April 22-25, 2009



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