CyberhobbyDragonTrumpeter
Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling 38 auf Selbstfahrlafette
1:35 kit comparison
DragonDragon kit #6525 - Trumpeter kit #01523
Part 2: Running Gear
Road Wheels:
The road wheels from both kist are the right size and similar in detail although the Cyberhobby/Dragon wheels are a little more refined and the lightening holes slightly smaller than on the Trumpeter wheels. But other than that they both have the correct spacings for the hub bolts on the outer wheels and are much of a muchness once fitted to the kits.

Dragon Road Wheels
Dragon
Trumpeter Road Wheels
Trumpeter

Front Wheels:
The front wheels on the Cyberhobby/Dragon have the tyres in 'DS vinyl' wth two part rims and cast "star" hubs and a normal pastic insert for the back of the tyre. Thead pattern on the tyre is well done for the wartime diamond tread but it doesn't extend far enough around the shoulder for this type tread. We are only talking a small amount here and will probably not be noticed on the finished kit.

For the Trumpeter wheels you get the tyre in conventional vinyl with again the wartime diamond tread pattern nicely doner and this extends the correct distance around the shoulder, it's nice to see the tread pattern corrected from Trumpeter's first Sd.Kfz.7 kit.

Dragon Front wheels parts
Dragon
Trumpeter Front wheel parts
Trumpeter

When it comes to the central cast "star" hubs those on the Cyberhobby/Dragon kit are really rather basic and lack a lot of detail such as the prominent grease nipple and valve stem but most importantly the hollowed out backs of the cast ribs which would be very noticable especially if you modify the front wheels to turn.

The Trumpeter hubs on the other hand have all these features, the grease nipple, valve stem and hollowed out backs for good representations of the Sd.Kfz.7 front wheels. The only issue is the rim lip sits a little proud after you fit the tyres but this again is not that noticable and you could possibly super glue the rims/tyres for a more snug fit.

You should also note there are at least 5 (maybe more) different hub cap designs seen on the Sd.Kfz.7 front wheels with the different hub caps on the kit wheels representing two of these, although you may want to trim the edges of the Trumpeter caps to make them slightly smaller if you wish.

Dragon Front wheels with images of the actual wheel
showing the grease nipple, valve stem and open rear hub all missing from the kit wheels

Dragon
Trumpeter Front wheels
Note the grease nipple, valve stem and open rear hub all included on the kit wheels
Trumpeter
Images of actual front wheels showing the details as mentioned above
Dragon

Drive Sprockets:
The drive sprockets on both kits have pros and cons with the best option would be to stick them in a blender and have the best features of both combined for the optimum drive sprocket.

Both are the correct size with the correct 14 drive rollers and the appropriate facets around the sprocket with the Cyberhobby/Dragon sprocket having the correct offset drive rollers for the left and right sprocket. But there is not the three holes in the dish face and the central step ring is way too thick meaning the bolt protection ring is correspondingly undersized. Added to the thick plastic step ring is an etched ring with tread plate but this requires trimming to fit and leaves an unsightly join on the edge of the step that is all but impossible to remove.

On the Trumpeter sprocket the drive rollers don't have the correct offset which results in the track not sitting flush around the sprocket facets as they should while on the dish face there are the correct 3 small holes but also 6 engraved lines that don't appear on any sprocket I have seen and would be very difficult to fill. There is also a fair bit of flash inside the cut-outs around the sprocket rim and this requires some careful knife work to clean out.

The central bolted hub is nicely done along with a separate bolt protector cover and separate etched step ring with tread plate on both sides for a very good appearance once fitted to the sprocket, this is best annealed and soldered for the best result (the ends of the ring soldered together that is, not to the sprocket obviously).

The small inner fillets a little on the thick side on the Cyberhobby/Dragon sprocket but more finely done on the Trumpeter sprockets but both sprockets lack the series of rivet heads around the inside of the outer rim which are quite noticable on the actual sprocket.

As mentioned the best sprocket would come from combining the Cyberhobby/Dragon outer sprocket with offset drive rollers and the smooth dish face with the Trumpeter sprocket 3 small dish holes, inner fillets and etched step ring.

Drive sprocket parts and assembled drive sprocket showing the missing holes and overly think step ring.
Note the correctly offset kit drive sprocket teeth.

DragonDragon
Trumpeter Drive sprocket parts
Trumpeter
Assembled Trumpeter drive sprocket showing the etched step ring with tread plate on both sides.
Note the lack of drive sprocket teeth offset and the alternate bolt protectors
The three small holes are included but the engraved lines on the hub should not be there.

Trumpeter
Actual drive sprockets for reference
Dragon

Final Drives:
The final drive housings are basically hidden by the sprockets on the model with the details on both kit drives being quite different. From the few available photos of the final drives the Cyberhobby/Dragon drives have the appropriate details while I couldn't find any that matched the Trumpeter final drives.

Final drive parts
DragonTrumpeter

Suspension:
The assembled suspension shows the details as indicated are correctly depicted in the Cyberhobby/Dragon parts in all cases but unfortunately this detail is again almost completely hidden once the road wheels are attached to the axles.

Speaking of the axles, note the differences in the kit axles with the smooth axles of the Cyberhobby/Dragon kit appearing to be correct for the early vehicles with the chunkier axles with the round bosses on the Trumpeter kit appearing to be more appropriate for the later vehicles but I stand to be corrected on that. One thing for certain is there are photos available showing both axles styles on different 8 ton vehicles.

Also note in the image below the lack of inner chassis lip on the Cyberhobby/Dragon chassis due to the one piece moulded mentioned in Part 1, this lip is included on the Trumpeter chassis but again all but hidden on the assembled kit.

Assembled suspension
8ton

Track:
The Zgw.50/360/180 tracks are supplied as the individual working links in both kits with separate links and track pads that are assembled in the normal procedure for German half-track links where you slip the pins from one link into the recesses on the next to be held in place by the track pad.

Both kit links require some cleanup, a small pour lip on both the link and pad and two small pin marks on the inside of each track link for the Cyberhobby/Dragon links and the sprue attachment burs and some small pin marks on the upper cast link for the Trumpeter links. Note the Trumpeter pads are in two parts, the mounting plate and pad that requires as little more assembly but results in slighty better detail definition on the track pad.

Dimensionally both are the same width and overall length (pitch) but the Cyberhobby/Dragon links are fractionally shorter in the outer section with the 3 small holes than the corresponding section of the Trumpeter links but really not enough to get excited about as this is really not noticeable at all on the assembled track runs.

Track links and assembled links
DragonDragon
Trumpeter Track link parts and simply assembly
TrumpeterTrumpeter
Assembled track links around the sprocket, note the sprocket details as mentioned above
and how the Cyberhobby/Dragon track sits flush around the sprocket while the
Trumpeter tracks does not due to the lack of drive roller offset.

8 ton



Page created April 22-25, 2009



Back to Top