Venelin Golev shares his thoughts with us in a review of the Dragon Models Sd.Kfz.7/1 2cm Flakvierling

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I have an accessory set of the lattice style cargo bed sides for this kit that's sold through Click2detail.com

Great review

I'm just finishing building this particular kit. I agree with pretty much everything in the review. I read the instructions 6 or 7 times, checked the sprues etc but as the review states, there is no bench seat! There are mounting brackets etc for it, but no seat itself - unbelievable. I must admit I concluded there wasn't supposed to be one until I read this review! The box art doesn't show any seat

The kit is incredibly well detailed, there is little scope for improvement of the vehicle itself by using aftermarket pe. Although there will be those that can't resist extra engine detailing.

I bought some replacement barrels from AM Works for mine. In the end though I didn't use them. Using them with the Dragon kit required removing the old barrel, and drilling out the remaining part of the gun to mount the AM Works barrel. I concluded there was an incredibly high risk of a botch job on this, so went with the kit parts. I think the AM Works parts are primarily aimed at other manufacturers offerings where there is a straight replacement. (To be perfectly frank I didn't use them because if I had I never would have met the deadline for the Anti Aircraft campaign)

As the review states, the doors can't be left open which was disappointing given there's then some virtually unseen interior detail. Of course the roof hatches can be left open, but the kit doesn't appear to include any latch/prop mechanism. The box pics do show the doors open, but there is no option for this without surgery as the review states.

I had an inexplicable fit issue where there was a 1mm gap between the bonnet and radiator. I'm still not sure how this happened because I took great care with the assembly because of its complexity. I'm confident it wasn't anything I did. Perhaps it was a slight warp to the chassis that I didn't pick up. A very slight chassis warp would be multiplied ten fold at the bonnet.

There are the usual Dragon instruction vagaries! In particular there is no mention as to why there are two flat beds provided. On the face of it these look identical, however there are very slight differences in the hinge placement. One flat bed is for wooden side panels, the other for mesh. Would've been nice to have had that pointed out in the instructions before finding out the hard way!

Overall I really enjoyed building this and I highly recommend it. Be prepared for a slow build though, punctuated with painting as you go along.

Hope that helps


Great review

Hi Andy, thank you for the comment!

The rear seat is shown on the bottom of the box, along with weapons rack, but aren't included. Also on the side of the box is shown the second cabin option (with the overlapping armored plates) with separate doors that can be left open. All these parts are not included, although are CLEARLY shown on the box and described on the official page, if you take a look; all that parts are included in kit 6542, which is virtually the same, but with another weapon-3.7cm Flak 36. That's why I give a bit low percentage-the kit is somewhat incomplete and you need to request the omitted parts from Dragon Models. Nevertheless is still great and I hope to start building it soon.

Cheers!

Thanks Venelin

I've actually almost completed it!

That's why I realised what was missing. Agree with your review 100%. It was a VERY enjoyable build.

Dragon have been contacted, but I won't hold my breath!

Cheers mate

I've already contacted DML also, we'll see
For those, who are interested, here are pictures of that issue:

(All images are for discussion only)

Actual vehicle:



Kit 6542, bench seat and weapons rack are visible:



...but not in the present kit:



Cheers!

To fix the missing bench in the back I bought the kit 6542 and just swapped out the 3.7 cm flak 37 with a kit 6547 2cm flakvierling 38 . Easier than dealing with dragon care . I had some guys tell me if you pester dragon care they will send those parts provided they have them in stock . But I still say good luck with dragon care . I've had no good luck with them .

I believe Griffon Model L 35A085 slatted mesh type is cheaper , well maybe it's harder to put together being as it is PE . But if you enjoy a challenge I think that's the way to go .

The Griffon set is $10.00 to $15.00 cheaper depending on where you buy it. My set is $28.86 but it comes pretty much assembled, with just the hinges to be added. I bought the Griffon set years ago but never got the courage up to try and put it together.

You should try it , it will grow hairs on your chest but then you might lose the ones on top of you head .

I've just found that Griffon released several very comprehensive (but expensive) sets for this model, including photo etched seat. Though think I will try to scratchbuld it

I can't afford to lose any more hair on the top of my head!

Voyager has a nice set of PE also .

so, you never built it, correct?