2cm FlaK 30
Cyberhobby 1:35 Scale Smart Kit No. 6722
Review by Terry Ashley

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This new kit of the 2cm FlaK 30 from Cyberhobby is the first such plastic kit since the ancient ESCI kit from back in the 1970’s and is a fairly simply kit with just the gun mounting itself but without the two wheeled trailer or shields and is most likely the gun to be included in the forthcoming kit of the Sd.Kfz.10/4 2cm FlaK30 half-track.

The kit consists of 80 parts in light grey plastic on a single sprue with a further 6 etched parts and a small instructions sheet. The parts are cleanly moulded without any discernable flash and just a minimum of pin marks to contend with. There are quite a few very small parts but some are a little on the chunky side due to constraints with the moulding process with detail such as the sight assembly that would benefit from being replaced with etched brass for a finer appearance.

Dimensionally the kit measures out very will against the recent 1:35 2cm FlaK 30 plans in the Panzer Tracts book No.22-1 Leichter Zugkraftwagen 1t (Sd.Kfz.10) apart from one instance where the barrel dimensions are out a little.

Etched parts


The base is nicely detailed with tread plate texturing on the circular gun base and has additional parts for the three round “feet” as well as the outrigger trailer mounting arms and the gunner’s foot pedals, there are also small etched fitting for the side of the base for added detail. The main issue here is the turntable is moulded with the base therefore you are unable to rotate the turntable in any traverse which limits the presentation of the gun considerably.

The sight included with the kit is a representation of the Lineavisier 21 made up of 12 quite small parts for the sight and mounting and does require care assembling due to the size of the parts. As mentioned most of the sight parts are quite chunky and over scale in appearance with the actual Lineavisier 21 gun sight being a very delicate and intricate affair. The kit includes the actual sight cross hair as a fine brass part as an alternative to the plastic part but this shouldn’t be a cross but a single strip across the sight ring.  

Also note that one of the sight mounting parts is shown but not numbered in the instructions which makes things a little confusing, this is part A19 that fits to the back of part A21 to form the mounting clips for the outer parts A52, A56.

The 2cm FlaK 30 also used the later Flakvisier 35 sight (as did the early 2cm FlaK 38s) which had a box cover over the sight optics as seen in period photos of the 2cm FlaK 30.

The 2cm gun has a separate receiver and barrel tube with five smaller detail parts added to the receiver as well as alternate full magazine or just the magazine bracket in etched brass depending if you want to show the magazine loaded or not?

As mentioned the gun dimensions are a little off, the overall length of the barrel and receiver are correct but the receiver is about 1.5mm too long, this results in the trunnions being further forward than they should be and the pivot point being misplaced, also the barrel retaining housing is too long by 0.5mm thereby reducing the length of the gun tube by 2mm. The barrel also doesn’t include the change hand grip texturing although the muzzle brake/flash suppressor is quite well done for a plastic item with slightly hollowed out bore. The small suppressor holes are just indentations and not fully opened out with the barrel just glued to the front of the receiver. Also the magazines are 1mm too long but this will probably be overlooked as it's not that apparent in the overall scheme of things.

Image of the kit gun overlaid on the 1:35 plans from the Panzer Tracts book No.22-1 listed below.
As can be seen the receiver is too long resulting in the other dimensions being out with the barrel tube 2mm too short.
Solid lines show the plan dimensions with the dotted lines the kit dimensions, note the position of the trunnion pivot point. (white cross)

The gun cradle is a fairly simple six part assembly but the lower elevation arc has a couple of sizable pin marks on one side to be eliminated and the 4 lightening holes are too small and the central hole should be enlarged slightly to better represent the correct size.

The two cradle sides are again nicely done with fine details included but the large raised section on the left side is not quite deep enough although this is not that noticeable on the assembled gun. Added to the carriage sides are additional parts such as the elevation linkage and hand wheel on the right side, the hand wheel has a very small grab handle as a separate part that does require care in handling but gives the correct rounded contours of the grip for a good appearance.

The left side carriage also has additional items added on the inside and outside without any problems and the assembled gun/gun carriage is trapped between the two sides as these are attached to the base unit. The intricate sight assembly is attached to the left carriage along with the gun cradle elevation linkage arm.

The gun and the sight assembles can be attached at any desired elevation angle but due to the elevation linkage arm being glued in place you can’t alter the elevation after assembly and so must decide the appropriate elevation beforehand. It is possible to make the linkage arm movable with a little work to allow the gun and sight to freely elevate in unison if you wish by adding pins to the sight mounting and arm attachment points.

With the gun carriage assembly attached to the base the final items can be added, these include the rear plate and traverse hand wheel, this again has a separate grab handle for nice detail as well as the three part gunner’s seat. There are no actual locating points for the seat supports as the actual seat can be varied in position forward or back and the kit seat can be positioned accordingly as required.

The front plate (part A15) will need to be trimmed on the inside right side to fit flush against the carriage panel but other than this the fit is good overall.

The large front travel lock can be fitted in the raised action position or lowered into the fixed travel position with a securing small pin provided, you have to cut off the actual pin shaft for the travel position but you could drill out the bracket on the lock to take the full pin if you wanted to be able to change the lock position at any time?

As mentioned the shields are not included but will probably come with the inevitable aftermarket etched set for the kit.

These are the usual exploded view drawings and are quite easy to follow due to the small number of parts with just the sight assembly needing care due to the number of very small parts involved with the assembly with just the one identified blooper as above. There are no decals included and just a single overall German Grey colour scheme given for an “unidentified unit” on the Eastern front. 1940.

Option 1: Unidentified Unit, Eastern Front 1940

Overall this is very nice little kit of the diminutive 2cm FlaK 30 and is dimensionally accurate apart from the barrel length and has nice details throughout although some are a little chunky and over scale due to the small physical size and moulding processes restrictions most notably the sight assembly.

There were only a few minor fit issues encountered with plenty of scope for additional detailing as with any kit and also to make the gun elevation workable if required? The fixed turntable not allowing traverse is a disappointment and limits the presentation potential considerably.

Notwithstanding this is a welcome release if a little basic without the shields or trailer and is an advance over the old ESCI kit which is no longer available anyway.

Rating 7.5/10

Sprue images
Click on thumbnails for larger view

Build images

Sprue detail images

Leichter Zugkraftwagen 1t (Sd.kfz.10) Ausf.A and B and Variants Panzer Tracts No.22-1 ISBN 0-9815382-5-8

FlaK 30 & 38 Wings & Wheels Publications R 061 ISBN 978-80-86416-95-3

Thanks to my credit card and for the review kits.