Introduction

Thirty years ago American Express concluded a successful 10 year run of commercials that used the tag line, “Do you know me”. The line was spoken by a series of celebrities whose names were better known than their faces, such as author Steven King and football coach Tom Landry. You could almost do the same commercial with this most recent release from Dragon of the German 3.7cm Flak 37 gun. The particular gun has graced the back of several vehicles, the 7 ton halftrack as well as the Maultier; I am probably leaving some other kit out but you get the picture.

Review

What Dragon has done here is to release the very well done gun from those kits as a separate kit in its own right. The kit sprues are exactly the same as in the two aforementioned kits; nothing added or subtracted from the sprues. The only thing change is the addition of a paper ammunition box that needs to be cut out and folded up but it looks like it will make a nice detail for the kit.

Just to be clear, even though this is a kit made from sprues that have previously seen the light of day it is an excellent model. The shields are made from a multiplicity of parts and are pleasingly thin and are detailed on both sides. The gun is well done, with all the bells and whistles you would expect, comprehensive elevating and traversing mechanism, and a well detailed gun cradle. The sight is a two piece affair, molded in grey plastic, I would rather it done in clear but that may just be wishful thinking. The muzzle is exceptional, according to Dragon “molded using a 5 part slide mold” and most important it looks the part. The kit includes a total of 8 clips of the 3.7cm ammo; 6 rounds to a clip. That along with the new paper rendering of the ammunition crate should make a pleasing model.

What the kit doesn’t include is the crew or the carriage for towing. It would have been nice to include either as; once again, Dragon has already molded the needed parts in other kits. C’est la vie.

Conclusion

This kit should prove popular for those that are looking to add some punch to the back of a vehicle as part of a conversion or to those who are just looking for a nice stand alone anti-aircraft gun. The addition of the ammunition crate is a welcomed add-on, it would be nice if Dragon continued to include items of this variety in future releases.