To compliment their kits with the 2cm Flak38 (#35010 20mm Flak38 with Mit Sd.Ah.51 Trailer, #35019 German Flak Panzer 1A w/ammo Trailer and #35029 German 20mm Flak 38 Late w/Sd.Ah.51 Trailer as well as those from Dragon and any other applicable kits, Tristar have released this set of 20mm Ammunition and Accessories for the KwK/Flak30/38 cannon with the set containing 108 parts in the usual light beige plastic and 13 etched box handles.



The set provides the following items;

10 x 2cm Flak30/38 rounds 6 x 10 round 2cm magazines 8 x 20 round 2cm magazines 2 x 100 round wooden ammo boxes 2 x 2cm spare barrels 2 x 2cm spare barrel boxes 2 x 20 round ammo boxes (2 x 10 round magazines) 2 x 40 round ammo boxes (2 x 20 round magazines) 2 x Flakvisier 38 gunsight cases 2 x Wooden maintenance accessory boxes 2 x Accessory Boxes (type I) 2 x Accessory Boxes (type 2) 8 x Oil cans

The standard of moulding is very good overall without any appreciable flash and just the usual moulding seam lines to be removed. There is a small sink mark on the sides of the gun sight case as this is moulded in one piece unlike all the other boxes in multiple parts eliminating any such problems.

The accessory boxes are in four parts each, the basic box, the two ends and the top (lid) with etched grab handles and plastic latches with the fit of the parts being excellent without any gaps to deal with providing you line the parts up correctly before gluing.

The large 100 round box is in five parts and again the fit is okay provided you line the parts correctly as there is scope of creating join gaps if not careful. The top can be shown open to expose the magazines included in the main box moulding for diorama scenes.

The gun sight case and maintenance box are moulded in one piece with a separate top lid with etched grab handle and include inside details to again show the box open in a diorama.

For the 10 and 20 round magazine boxes the actual boxes are in two halves that fit together precisely with bevelled edges eliminating any join seam and have separate top lids allowing them to be assembled open or closed with the added detail of plastic latches and etched grab handles. The sides of the boxes are thinned at the top to represent the thin metal sides of the real boxes and the two magazines designed to go into the boxes have cut-outs on one edge that allow for the plastic box side contours giving a good perspective appearance once fitted into the boxes and is a good design feature to overcome the usual thicker plastic moulding issue.

Image showing the cut-out in the 20 round magazine to fit ammo box
and the assembled ammo box

The magazines themselves are nicely detailed on all sides as well as a simulated 20mm round at the top. The actual measurements of the 20 round magazine sees the height at the tallest point is 345mm and the width is 210mm and this equates to 9.85mm and 6mm respectively in 1:35 scale.

These 20 round magazines measure at 10.0mm tall and 6.0mm wide making them all but spot on in size for some of the better magazines available in plastic with only the etched metal magazines having better defined details with the same applying to the 10 round magazines.

Also included are 10 individual 20mm rounds and these have okay details but removing the fine mould seam will require care 

The spare barrel box is in two halves with excellent details on the inside and outside along with two spare 20mm barrels in plastic which are the correct length and include the fine screw threads on the received end with just fine moulding seams to be removed.

Spare barrel box halves

 

The flash suppressors are fairly basic in detail with just indentations for the cooling holes and a quite large mould seam on one side of the suppressor cone to deal with but if showing the barrels stowed in the box these details should be adequate for most scenes.

To add additional detail the barrel can be replaced with the Adlers Next 2cm metal barrel as this is best suited for the purpose as it only has the barrel and flash suppressor and not part of the gun housing as with most other metal 2cm barrels.

Plastic 2cm barrel and replaced with Adlers Nest barrel

No stencilling is included for the boxes and as most of these equipment boxes have some sort of stencilling this will have to be added by hand or found elsewhere for the finishing touch.

Overall this is an excellent accessory set to go with any of the available 2cm Flak38 kits or vehicles fitted with the Flak38/KwK38 gun to add the small detail touches to finish off a diorama nicely.

The level of detail is also nicely done overall and in most cases as the set will be used to dress up or add to a vehicle or scene and careful painting will enhance the details further.

Ideal for diorama builders and to add the finer details to any Flak38 kit.

Highly recommended 7.5/10

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See the Flak38 Subject Page for additional reviews of 38(t) related kits and accessories.

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

Flak Selbstfahrlafetten and Flakpanzer Panzer Tracts No.12

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

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

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