20mm FlaK 30/38
Magazines & Ammo Boxes
Voyager Models 1:35 set #AP067
Review by Terry Ashley

The set has two etched frets with the magazine and ammo box parts with the brass rounds in separate small bags with the standard of etching being very good and includes nice surface relief on the magazine sides and ammo boxes and very good etched relief on the parts. A short section of 1mm plastic rod is also included for what reason I am not sure as it is too thick for the hinges as indicated in the instructions.

Magazines:
There are two different style of magazines included in the set, one with the five small inspection holes on one side and the other with a single inspection hole as well as alternate spines, so check the instructions to match the appropriate sides and spine parts as the spine with the inspection holes goes with the sides with the one hole.

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. Note on the images below I have incorrectly used the sides with the five holes and the spine that includes the holes as I didn't notice the alternate parts until after assembling these, so take care not to mix these yourself.

The base and spines (part 8, 12 & 13) 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 (parts 9/10, 14/15) as guides as no other indication is given (Pic 1).

The two magazine sides (parts 9/10, 14/15) 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 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 top “U” section at the top shorter magazine side then 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 and you can then add as many 20mm rounds as you wish but just gluing two at the top with thick cyanoacrylate is sufficient for the right visual effect.

Ammo rounds and plastic rod

Magazine parts

Magazine Assembly
Note small gaps that can be eliminated with careful bending and filed smooth after soldering.

Assembled Magazine

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 with the handles and the small attachments as separate parts and you form these over the handles. I found it easier to form the attachment brackets to shape by bending over thin wire before adding to the boxes as this didn't apply any pressure to the boxes. This allows the handles to move easily after assembly to vary their position for a bit of animation.

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.

Assembled Ammo Box

20mm rounds:
The 14 full rounds and 10 shell cases are nicely formed with the shell cases hollowed out for a good look. The 20mm rounds have nice details with a small lip at the base but there should be a small ridge around the base which isn’t included although this is not easily seen on the small size. The shells are slightly different sizes than others available but as the different is less than 1mm it's probably not worth getting too excited about unless you mix rounds form different manufactures.

Brass 20mm Rounds and shell cases

Instructions:
A single small 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 Voyager Models 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 two different style of magazine is a nice inclusion to add a bit of variety although the difference is hard to determine at normal viewing distances it shows good attention to detail.

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.

You may have noticed the close resemblance of this set to that of the Lion Roar 20mm magazines and ammo boxes (set #LAM04) released earlier in the year and as they are both depicting the same 20mm magazines and ammo boxes this is understandable if doing the correctly but there are some subtle difference in design and assembly between the two

Highly recommended

See a quick comparison of the 2cm magazines and ammon boxes from ABER, Griffon Model, Lion Roar and Voyager Model here.

Reference images of actual magazines and ammo box as in set

If you are the copyright owner of these images please contact me and I will add due credit, thanks

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

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

Thanks to Voyager Models for the review set.

Page created November 15, 2006