The set has one etched fret with the magazine and ammo box parts with the brass rounds in separate small bags with the standard of etching being very good with nice surface relief on the magazine sides and ammo boxes and the metal being slightly thicker than normal for better strength and to allow good etched relief on the parts.
Magazines:
These are made up of four parts each with well defined details on the separate
side sections that also include the five small inspection holes on one
side but there is some careful bending required during assembly.
The base and spines (part 8) 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 of part 8 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 (parts 10/11) as guides as no other indication is given (Pic 1).
The two magazine sides (parts 10/11) require small curves inwards added at the top 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 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 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 top “T” section of the smaller spine is then bent around to secure the join to the sides (Pic 4).
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).
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 and you can then add as many 20mm rounds as you wish but just gluing two with thick cyanoacrylate is sufficient for the right visual effect.
Ammo Boxes:
These boxes are the larger square type and consist of two main parts,
the ammo box and the box lip both of which are bent to form the box
shape with additional fine parts for the carry handles and latches.
There are small indentations on the insides of the larger sides for the smaller sides to sit into forming a very tight join resulting in virtually no gaps in the joins and again using solder to seal the joins will allow easy filing if any is needed.
Two small extensions on the box and lid are bent to form the hinges with 0.5mm wire (not included) used as the hinge pin. By bending the hinges around a suitably sized drill bit will allow you to form the right diameter curve without any problems also ensuring each segment to be bent the same making the hinges work perfectly.
The small grab handles on the lid and box side are provided in two styles, one with the attachments included with the handles and you bend the attachments at right angles to the handles and simply glue in place or the other style where the small attachments are separate from the handles and you form these over the handles. For mine the handles with the attachments included are far easier to fit and the difference in detail isn’t worth the extra effort of the separate attachments, but the choice is yours.
The latch on the lip has two small parts with the separate clip fitting over the curved attachment on the box if showing the lid closed or left loose if the lid is open.
The assembled boxes are again excellent with very good fit of the joins and well defined detail with the working hinges making showing the boxes open or closed a breeze.
20mm rounds:
The ten full rounds and twenty shell cases are nicely formed with the shell cases
hollowed out for a good look. The 20mm rounds have nice details but there should
be a small ridge around the base which isn’t included but other than
that are the right size and look good especially when used in the magazines.
Instructions:
A single double sided sheet has exploded view drawings of the assembly sequences
which are easy to follow but as mentioned care is needed during assembly
to get the best results.
Conclusion:
These Lion Roar 20mm magazines and ammo boxes have superb details but the assembly
process will determine the end result especially with the magazines as small
issues along the way will multiply in the fully assembled magazines.
The boxes again are superb with there being three different types of boxes I am aware of with these closely matching the details of the larger square box and both the boxes and magazines can be used with any of the available Flak30 or 38 kits to add to the gun directly or used as diorama detailing.
Highly recommended
See a quick comparison of the 2cm magazines and ammon boxes from ABER, Griffon Model, Lion Roar and Voyager Model here.
German
20mm FlaK in WWII 1395-1945 By Werner Müller Schiffer Military History ISBN: 0-88740-758-7 Soft cover |
Tamiya
Photo Album 4 Tamiya Plastic Model Co. Krupp Protze |
Thanks to Lion Roar for the review set.
Page created July 21, 2006