introduction

Probably one of the most-modeled German guns of the WW2 era is the 2cm FlaK 38. It was towed on a trailer, mounted on various vehicles, and even went to sea on "FlaK Trap" U-boats. The original gun was eventually deemed too light for Wehrmacht purposes (the army especially preferred the 3.7cm AA gun), and was either paired as Zwilling or doubled again to form quads.

But given how often the gun turns up on armor kits, it's no wonder Griffon Model has released several sets to compliment it atop the Sd.Kfz.10.

kit contents

Inside the usual Griffon Model clear vinyl bag is:

2 frets of photo etched brass
1 Ziploc baggie containing:
.5mm and 1mm ABS rod
.3mm, .5mm and .7mm copper wire for making hinges
1 sheet of instructions

the review

There's no arguing that styrene technology has made huge strides in the past few years. But no styrene gun shield can even come close to the scale thickness, crisp detail and authentic "look" of PE. Griffon Model is especially good at fabricating photo etched brass of different thicknesses, and the gun shield for this set is excellent.

The entire set is a series of nine sub-assemblies around the shield and its mounting hardware. There is already a premium set of PE for the Sd.Kfz.10/5 Dragon kit, but for modelers on a budget or who want to limit the amount of insanity they crave, this set is a great mid-way point between the two extremes. An entire set devoted to the splinter shield might seem a lot of attention for one part of the overall kit, but it's probably the one area where you can get noticeable results from a single set of PE.

conclusion

My own preferences in AM brass usually give the edge to Griffon Model. Their sets are consistently well-made, with to-scale brass and no shortcuts. This set is another example of quality, and I recommend it highly.

Thanks to Dragon USA for providing this review sample. Be sure to say your saw it reviewed on Armorama when ordering.