Introduction

Mobile Anti-Aircraft Artillery was always seen as an integral part of German military philosophy. However, as WWII progressed, control of the air began to slip from it's previous dominance, and many vehicles were pressed into service as mobile platforms. Almost an equal number were mooted - but only entered service in tiny quantities, too little to tip the balance.

Another valuable use of AA weapons was to supply additional direct-fire for ground units - much as the way some modern systems such as the Gatling have been developed.

One of the most used systems, by the German Military, was the 3.7cm FlaK 36 - one of the major components of this recent release from Bronco Model

Bronco's model - the basic stats

CB35043 - Sd.Kfz 6/2 (BN9) auf Fahrgestell Zugktaftwagen 5t (Early/Late Production) is the first it what will be a major series of releases covering the numerous variants of the 5-Ton, Sd.Kfz 6 halftrack. The model comes in the biggest box I've ever seen from Bronco with an extremely well-done piece of box Artwork.
The contents of the box are:

41 Sand-Colored sprues
1 Clear sprue
3 Separate wheels (styrene)
1 (complete) sub-frame)
1 Sheet of brass PE
Length of Brass chain
Decal Sheet
Length of string
27-page Instruction Booklet

All the sprues are packed inside clear plastic bags as are items such as the Decals & PE. What is NOT included is the Sd.AH 52 Ammunition Trailer. This is available separately from Bronco (CB35079).

About this Review

I prefer, in this type of review to speak about the 'impressions' I get from the model. I prefer to leave the absolute 'nuts & bolts' stuff to those who are infinitely better-qualified than myself. Unfortunately, this isn't a vehicle-type I have much reference material on. Now if it had been a '7' I'd have been better placed to really get into the minutiae!

Impressions

Mold Quality: is everything (and more) I've come to expect from Bronco. Definition on tiny details such as bolt-heads or rivets is absolutely sublime. Flash, like the products of the majority of manufacturers, is nonexistent, mold-lines are minimal and texture (when it has to be there) is equally excellent.

The FlaK 36: the detail on this is frankly staggering and after a quick thumb-through the references I do have on the gun, I can't see anything missing. Areas such as the delicately-molded flash-suppressor are very-well done. What is NOT included, is a metal barrel although the plastic ones provided are excellent and scale out perfectly.

The 'Extras': keeping any weapon maintained in the field requires considerable access to items such as spares. In the case of a rapid-firing weapon, spare barrels and muzzle-brakes would always be within the list of necessary items. The spares are included along with a nicely-done rangefinder. The 3.7cm Ammunition cases are also provided as are all tools and items such as the crew's personal weapons (in racks).

Track: the track is the individual-link type. Fortunately, for most manufacturers 'rubber-bands' (for this type of track) have been consigned to the past.

Complexity: I won't beat about the bush here. It's an INCREDIBLY complex model. The engineering on the Sd.Kfz 6 is sufficiently complex, add in the complexity of a FlaK 36 and it almost doubles... It is NOT any kind of model for those who have half-a-dozen Tamiya kits under their belt, this is around 3 generations more advanced. If you've built a few 'Smart-Kits', yes, anything less and it'll be an uphill struggle. As the original was pretty sophisticated, this is not surprising and it does, in my opinion, capture the 'busy' feel of the original vehicle.

The Instructions: No, it's not a couple of photocopied sheets stapled together, this is (again) a most professionally-produced instruction booklet which is clearly set out into no less than 44 stages. It's very clear exactly what you should be doing at a given stage of the construction.

The Marking Options Decals are provided to do one of 12 options. I was a little disappointed as there are only three identified vehicles - 4th PD, LAH & 11th PD. Apart from the first, all the rest are in Panzer Grey.

Subject: As someone once said, you can NEVER get enough Half-Tracks, following that, it's good to see that the Sd.Kfz. 6 is now getting some decent coverage.

Conclusions

The engineering of this model is truly impressive. Opening the box for the first time WAS a curiously daunting experience though. There is just SO much in the box!

The negative part is undoubtedly in the Decals. In fairness, I can't imagine there is a huge amount of information available on individual vehicle, but still...

Going back to the area I mentioned before, the trailer, the most accurate option, would be the SdAh 57 trailer. This is available, in an excellent Resin kit fom Wiener Modellbau Manufactur. However, don't take my word for it, an excellent Review can be seen: HERE (LINK)

On what is not an in-depth analysis, my impressions are very positive indeed although this is would be a very considerable build-project, it has a LOT of potential to build a really stunning model.