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Griffon Model
WWII German 2cm Flakvierling38 Barrels
Griffon Model 1:35th Scale Set No. LB35020

Review by Terry Ashley

DragonDragonTrumpeter
The Set:

Followed on from their single 2cm Flak38 barrel set (#LB35018) just released, Griffon Model have also released this set with four 2cm Flak38 barrels plus 20 round magazines and magazine boxe designed to be used either the DML (kit #6525) or Trumpeter (kit #01523) of the Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling38, or the recent DML 2cm Wirblewind (kit #6520). The set could also be used for the older Tamiya kits of the Sd.Kfz.7/1 or Wirblewind if you still had these lurking about as well if you just wanted 4 barrels for the many single 2cm Flak38 based kits about.

The set has the same turned aluminium barrel with a machined brass flash suppressor plus an etched fret with barrel fittings, receiver magazine housing as does set #LB35018, only four of each. Therefore most of the comments below are the same as with the single barrel review with additional comments on the added etched parts.

Also included is etched parts for eight 20 round magazines and a single four magazine box to add to the value of the set.

The only cleanup required is the small attachment burs on the etched parts prior to assembly with the barrel and flash suppressor parts blemish free.

Metal Barrels and etched parts
Griffon Model
Griffon Model

The aluminium barrel includes the front section of the gun receiver and small pin for attaching the barrel to the donor gun. This has the two textured barrel changing handgrips included on the barrel tube which are correctly placed according the available images of the 2cm barrels.

The barrels also includes a raised rib around the front of the gun housing which is a feature of some 2cm barrels while others don’t have this raised rib, both configurations are seen on different 2cm barrels and therefore correctly depicted.

The separate brass flash suppressor includes four larger holes and two half size holes around the collar section and three rows of six smaller holes in the suppressor cone.

Images available of the actual suppressor collar show six or eight holes around the collar and three or four rows of smaller holes in the suppressor cone making the suppressor features in this set correct for the type depicted. The only minor issues with the suppressor are it appears to be slightly undersized compared to the available data as well as the suppressor cone being a little thick, but this is probably getting rather picky after seeing as many 2cm Flak38 barrels as I’ve looked at over the years.

Two very small etched brackets are added to the suppressor neck and extreme care is needed fitting these, especially part A9 which is about 0.5mm long and has to be bent to an L shape. Thankfully Griffon gives you 9 of these in case of loss which can easily happen.

The flash suppressor and barrel length matches well to the 1:35 plans in Panzer Tracks No.12 Flakpanzer and Nuts and Bolts Vol.13 Flakpanzer IV with the actual measurements being; full length of the gun (housing and visible barrel including flash suppressor) 2252.5mm which equals 64.357mm in 1:35 scale and the visible length of the barrel with flash suppressor is 995mm equalling 28.429mm (rounded to 28.5mm) in 1:35 scale.

The Griffon barrel measures out to 28.0mm making it about 0.5mm short, this is mostly due to the flash suppressor being slightly undersized when compared to the plans and photos. Normally any discrepancy under 1mm is not really worth worrying about and if using this barrel on its own would be the case here, it’s only when comparing to the other barrels available does this become more evident.

Additional detail include a small etched fitting for the top of the gun housing section and another small ‘plate’ on the underside of the plastic gun housing, this is added to whatever kit gun you are using.

As mentioned there are additional etched parts to detail up the gun receiver, the largest being the magazine mounting bracket and this requires you to carefully cut away the moulded on mounting bracket from the kit gun to ensure the sides of the receiver are level after removing the bracket.

The bracket is easily bent to shape with fine engraved bending lines where required and this can be glued to the gun receiver using cyanoacrylate, there are also three very small part added to the bracket that require due care in handling.

Additionally there are a few small parts for the receiver to add detail missing from the DML 2cm receiver but this detail is present on the Trumpeter 2cm receiver and you can choose to replace the moulded on detail with the etched parts or leave as is when using the barrel on the Trumpeter gun.

Magazines:

There are eight 20 round magazines included in the set with two different styles, the early type with the five small inspection holes on one side of the magazine and the later type with a single inspection hole as well as alternate spines with and without inspection holes so check the instructions to match the appropriate sides and spine parts.

Each magazine is made up of five parts each with well defined details on the separate side sections that include the raised ribs and inspection holes with the assembly basically the same as with previous magazine sets.

The base and spines (part B1 & J1) have small side sections that need to be bent upward and it is very important to bend these as tight as possible to the width of the two spine sections to minimise any gaps after bending (Pic 1).

The two spine sections form the ends of the magazine and require subtle curves added to correspond to the curvature of the magazine sides and you will need to use the magazine sides as guides as no other indication is given (Pic 1).

The two magazine sides require a small curve added inwards at the top edge and these were added by laying the part across a small drill bit and curved around with a small rod to give a smooth bend (Pic 2).

When attaching the two embossed side faces it is very important they are glued (or soldered) perfectly square with the base to make sure the two sides line up correctly (Pic 2).
This will have a marked effect on the final appearance if the two sides are not lined up correctly at this point.

The two spine sections are then attached and it is probably best to solder these to fill in any small gaps that are present but using thick cyanoacrylate can be sanded after curing (Pic 2).

Finally the base and larger spine rib is added and again it is important this is lined up perfectly square on the base to ensure the rib sits evenly along the magazine spine (Pic 3).

The small “U” section at the top shorter magazine side is bent around to secure the join to the sides (Pic 2).

As mentioned soldering would be the preferred assembly method allowing any gaps to be filled and filed smooth easily and giving stronger joins (Pic 4-6).

The assembled magazines certainly look excellent with very well defined details but will require careful positioning and bending of the parts during assembly for best results.

The assembled magazines fit perfectly into the etched mounting brackets as you would hope which makes for easy fitting to the kit guns.

Parts for one magazine
Griffon Model
Magazine Assembly
Note small gaps that can be eliminated with careful bending and filed smooth after soldering.

Griffon Model
Assembled Magazine
Griffon Model

Ammo Box:

The single 4 magazine box is similar to the boxes in set #MA35001 although some of the details have been refined.

The main box and lid are bent to shape with additional plates on the inside to give the relief for the separate etched handles. The lid hinges can be made workable to allow you to show the box open or closed.

Fitting to DML 2cm Flakvierling38 kit #6525:

To fit the barrel to the DML 2cm Flakvierling38 guns is very straightforward with you just cutting off the plastic housing as indicated, drill a small 1mm hole and insert the metal barrel pin, all very easy.

There is one minor modification required and that is to slightly enlarge the tip of the hole in the gun shield to fit the Griffon barrel through due to the larger bracket on the gun housing than on the DML barrel. This only requires minor trimming and test fit to check you don’t make the hole too large?

Modifications to kit breech to take the metal barrel
Griffon Model
Griffon Model
Assembled barrel on the Dragon kit, note additional etched details on the breech block
Griffon Model
Griffon barrel added to the DML guns on the mounting, note the enlarged hole in
the front shield as mentioned above.

Griffon Model

As mentioned you also cut off the magazine mounting bracket to be replaced with the etched assembly as well as the other smaller details.

Fitting to Trumpeter 2cm Flakvierling38 kit #01523:

Fitting the barrel to the Trumpeter 2cm Flakvierling38 guns requires a little more work due to the dimensional issues with the Trumpeter guns.

Firstly you cut off the plastic barrel at the required position to get the correct overall gun length (see image). This then requires the moulded on raised collar to be carefully removed from the gun housing, drilling the 1mm hole and inserting the metal barrel.

Modifications to kit breech to take the metal barrel
Griffon Model
Griffon Model
Assembled barrel on the Trumpeter kit, note additional etched details on the breech block
Griffon Model
Comparison of the Trumpeter kit barrel and the Griffon metal barrel
to illustrate the dimensional issues with the kit barrels.

Griffon Model

The etched magazine housing can also be added after cutting of the moulded on detail as well as the other smaller details if you wish to replace the moulded on detail?

Conclusion:

These 2cm Flakvierling38 barrels for Griffon Models brings them into line with other current generation barrels by including the textured barrel hand grips as well as providing additional etched details for the flash suppressor.

The inclusion of the replacement gun receiver housing and the 20 round magazines adds further value to the set.

The only minor issues are the slightly thickish flash suppressor cone and undersized flash suppressor which sees the barrel length fractionally short, but as mentioned if the barrel is used on its own this would be hard to notice.

The barrels are easiest fitted to the DML kits as some additional work is needed when used on the Trumpeter kit but they will add considerable detail enhancements to whichever gun it is used on.

Highly recommended

See a full comparison of available FlaK38 barrels. (this will be updated shortly to reflect this new barrel)

References:
FlaK382cm FlaK38
Muzzle Reference images

Halbketten Zugkraftwagen 8t Sd.Kfz.7/1/2
AFV Super Detail Photo Vol.9
Published by Model Art Co.Ltd.
Book
Sd.Kfz.7 in detail
Special Museum Line No.36

Wings & Wheels Publications
ISBN 80-86416-60-7
book
Flak Auf Sd.Kfz.7
Part 1

Kagero Photosniper No.9
ISBN: 83-914824-3-X
book
Flak at War
Trojca Publications
Waldemar Trojca, Karlheinz Münch
ISBN: 83-60041-15-6
book
Ground Power Magazine
#66 - 11/1999

GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd.
Japan
book
German 20mm FlaK in WWII 1395-1945
By Werner Müller
Schiffer Military History
ISBN: 0-88740-758-7
book

Thanks to my credit card and the excellent service from Hobbyeasy for the review kit.




Page created November 16, 2009