37mm Flak43 L/60
German AA Gun Barrel
armorscale Set No. B35-029
1:35th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley
The barrel is identical in every respect to the ABER 37mm Flak43 L/60 barrel (Set #35 L-10) released some time back right down to the barrel diameter and therefore all comments here also apply the ABER barrel, or visa versa.
The fit of the flash suppressor to the barrel is excellent without any trimming needed and the flash suppressor matches in size exactly to the 1:35 plans in Panzer Tracts No.12 Flakpanzer and Nuts and Bolts Vol.13 Flakpanzer IV with the barrel length also matching these plans. But if you wanted to get really picky the barrel diameter is fractionally narrower than the plans but we are talking about 0.25mm so is probably not worth worrying about.
The barrel can be used on the applicable Tamiya or Italeri kits with the modifications needed being similar on both kits. This is to simply cut off the kit barrel at the front of the gun, drill a small hole and slip the metal in place, all very easy.
Conclusion:
Another superbly detailed barrel with the flash suppressor being the standout
feature and is a simple update to add that extra detail to any Flak43 kit,
but as mentioned being identical to the ABER barrel you may want to get
the original.
Recommended.
37mm Flak 43 barrel comparison :
There are other 37mm Flak43 barrels available from ABER, ARMO, Modelpoint and Schatton
Modellbau but unfortunately I don’t have the
Modelpoint barrel to hand so can’t comment on this,
sorry about that.
The ARMO barrel (35 715) is too short and thin and while the flash suppressor is fully hollowed out with cleanly drilled holes the collar holes are solid with just indentations to represent the holes.
The Armorscale barrel (B35-029) is identical in all respects to the ABER barrel so I'll leave that one up to you?
The Schatton Modellbau barrel (3503) is the correct length and flash suppressor size but the flash suppressor is not fully hollowed out with a hole drilled down the middle and only bevelled at the tip leaving the sides of the suppressor quite thick. The holes are drilled cleanly and you get two barrels in the set with only one in each of the other sets.
The ABER (35 L-10) and Armorscale (B35-029) barrels being identical are the most accurate of those compared with as mentioned the flash suppressor a standout feature and I will update this brief comparison when I receive the Modelpoint barrel currently out of stock.
Thanks to Robert from armorscale for the review set.
Page created January 9, 2006
Updated March 15, 2006