Introduction

The Flak 38 was the primary and most produced German AA gun during the WWII. Not surprisingly, it is nicely represented by almost every manufacturer in styrene, either in the form of a separate gun or mounted on various vehicles from trucks to flakpanzers. The weak part of all styrene Flaks is the barrel and this is where the aftermarket products, like this one from Alliance Model Works, can help you to increase the detail and realism of your model.

contents

Classic Alliance Model Works package - plastic bag with a header. Inside there is 1 PE fret with parts for 4 magazines (2 different types), 2 ammo containers, magazine mounting well and barrel lock; 1 aluminum barrel, separate brass flash suppressor and 1-page instruction.

review

The barrel has correctly depicted hand grip texture and bored out on the flash suppressor end. The flash suppressor has the correct configuration with 3 rows of 6 small holes on the cone and six openings on the neck (2 of them being half of the size). No cleanup was required to fit the suppressor to the barrel. The length of the barrel corresponds to the information from Nuts ‘n’ Bolts volume 13 “Flakpanzer IV”. To attach the barrel you will need to cut off a section of the styrene part and drill a hole for the location pin. Be sure to mark everything before cutting since not the whole barrel housing must be removed.

The ammo boxes included are for 2 ammo magazines and their assembly is pretty straightforward. Each box consists of 7 parts representing the box and the lid, as well as plates for handles and a latch. The box lid can be assembled workable, but you will have to cut the latch part in the middle if you want to show the box open.
Each magazine is made of 4 parts and there are 2 options available – with 5 holes on the sides (early type) or 1 hole (late type). Simply follow the included instructions and preferably solder the magazine.

Interestingly, the magazine well appears to be oversized since you need to cut more than the styrene part to fit it and you get a small gap between the rear of the magazine and the mounting well, which is not a big problem and can be corrected easily .

conclusion

A nice offer for a nice price. You get not only a highly accurate barrel with correct details but 4 magazines and 2 ammo boxes in addition. The brass from AMW is very easy to work with and I bent everything without any special tools – just tweezers and a modeling knife.