20mm FlaK 38
Barrel
Schatton Modellbau Set #3505
Review by Terry Ashley

The only issue is the overall length of the barrel at 30.5mm is 2mm longer than it should be in 1:35 scale with the actual scale length being 28.5mm but can easily be modified to the correct length, see below.

Close up of the muzzle/flash suppressor

The barrel is basically designed to fit the Tamiya 20mm FlaK38 (kit #35102) and Flakvierling 38 (kit #35091) plus their other kits using these guns, such as the Möbelwagen (kit #35101). It can also be used for many other manufacturer's kits as they are all basically similar in the design of the 2cm gun, these include the Italeri FlaK38 (kit #377), Demag D7 with FlaK38 (kit #371) and the Alan Flakpanzer 38(t) (kit #018) plus others such as the newer FlaK38 kits from Dragon and Tristar.

Below is the method to fit the barrel to any of these kits but note their may be some minor differences between the kits and I have used the Tamiya kits here as an example.

Fitted metal barrel

Modifying the barrel to the correct length:
This is a fairly easy operation although slightly more difficult as you are working with metal and not plastic or resin, but the appropriate tools will make light work of the job.

Firstly cut off the barrel at the front of the gun body and file the end smooth, next cut 2mm from the barrel and again file the barrel end smooth. I then drilled locating holes in the barrel and gun body to inserted a short length of wire as a locating pin to re-attach the parts using thick cyanoacrylate, but you could of course solder the two sections together if you prefer.

A quick and easy alteration to make the barrel the correct length to use on any available FlaK38 kit.

Original barrel (bottom) and corrected barrel (top)

Corrected barrel fitted to the Tristar FlaK38 gun

Comparison on modified barrel with the other barrels from Adlers Nest
and armorscale which are also the correct length.
Note: The fitting on top of the Schatton gun housing is a spare etched
part from the armorscale barrel set.

Conclusion:
This 20mm barrel from Schatton Modellbau despite the extra 2mm in length is very good and contains many fine details including the correct number of holes in the flash suppressor and absolutely no assembly or cleanup, nothing could be easier and will add considerable detail to whatever FlaK kit you use it on.

Highly recommended.

See a full comparison of available FlaK38 barrels

Schatton Modellbau barrels are available direct from the Schatton Modellbau website for the details of the full range available.

Toadmans 2cm FlaK38 Muzzle Reference images

German 20mm FlaK in WWII 1395-1945 By Werner Müller Schiffer Military History ISBN: 0-88740-758-7 Soft cover 47 pages

Tamiya Photo Album 4 Tamiya Plastic Model Co. Krupp Protze Flak30, Flak38

2cm FlaK 30/38 Sfl Sd.Kfz.10/4 Wydawnictwo Militaria 172

Page Created June 6, 2004
Updated April 22, 2006