“…large number of detail parts…”

< full review here >
- Cookie Sewell

DR 6353: Flak 38/103 Jaboschreck with Trailer

1/35 injection plastic kit with photo etch and decals

Following the Allied landings in Normandy, the German’s experienced increasing numbers of low level air strikes against troops and other ground targets. To counter this threat from the “jabo’ ground attack aircraft, the Germany Army wanted a more powerful light anti-aircraft artillery. This lead to the mating of the existing 30mm Maschinenkanone 103 (MK 103) gun on the Flak 38 mount in place of the 20mm cannon. It is estimated that several hundred of the resulting Jaboschreck were built in 1944-45. Due to the stress that the heavier Mk 103 cannon placed on the gun platform a distinctive muzzle-break was fitted, the sight modified to dampen vibrations and the flak carriage strengthened.

This new release from Dragon is the first 1/35 model of the Jaboschreck. As expected it contains a mix of new tooling for the MK 103, strengthened carriage, modified sight and centre shield, and 30mm ammunition combined with the sprues and multimedia parts for the gun platform and Sd.Ah.51 trailer from the recently issued 20mm Flak 38 kit. The parts are crisply molded and easy to clean up. The inclusion of alternative plastic and metal parts means the kit is well suited for a broad range of modellers.

The gatefold instructions have 10 steps of line drawings that appear easy to follow and explicitly identify alternative parts and provide close up views of several steps where care is needed.

The Flak

The Flak compares favourably to photos and can be modelled either on its ground pedestal with a choice of firing angles, or attached to the trailer for transport. Small detail is well represented using a mix of slide-molding, multiple parts for items such as the main gun sight, and photo etch.

The new slide-molded single piece gun barrel has a hollow muzzle opening, while the flash suppressor and muzzle break are represented with a mix of crisp injection plastic and PE. A newly tooled ammunition feeder box is fitted on the left (when viewing from the rear). An injection plastic ammunition belts and six loose shells are included.

The injection plastic gun shield parts have tapering edges, no injection pin marks, detail for the brackets with nut heads and appear to be straightforward to assemble.

The gun platform has a round base plate with raised anti-skid dimples, and bolt heads and countersunk recesses around the outer rim. The cast metal base for the platform has weld marks going around the edge. The marks are visible in photos (and should not be mistaken for seams that need removing). The base also has several small grab handles cast onto it and the alternative plastic and PE parts for the hand wheels are both finely reproduced.

Alternative arms and plates allow the gun to be positioned at one of four angles of elevation, namely flat at zero degrees, raised 20 degrees, 40 degrees and 60 degrees, which allow you to choose a position in each band of elevation.

Sd.Ah.51 Trailer

The trailer is well detailed with details including the locks on the toolboxes and the taillights finely cast. The tyres are a two-piece injection plastic design with a recess where the valve was, hexagonal wheel nuts and a military tread pattern with large blocks extending onto the sidewalls. The tube frame for the trailer has some seam marks which when I built the Flak 38 were quickly removed with a hobby knife. The fenders can be left off if desired.

The coupling can be left articulated allowing the trailer to be used in either the transport or the parked positions. A newly tooled trailer stand is included.

Photo Etch and Accessories

Optional photo etch parts are provided for all 6 panels of the shield (which include pre-formed parts for the angled shield panels), several tightening hand wheels, spent shell case and the brackets and wing-nuts on the gun shield. The PE parts would meet most experienced modellers needs and, in particular due to the inclusion of the preformed shield parts are better than some aftermarket sets.

New photo etch parts include the modified centre shield, muzzle brake and the ammunition box mounting bracket.

Several ammunitions clips and ammunition boxes for the 20mm Flak 38 are spare and would be useful for other projects.

Decals

A new small Cartograf decal sheet contains a choice of four sets of kill rings, two white outline Balkan crosses and a number of tank and aircraft kill silhouettes. The suggested paint scheme is an unmarked dunkelgelb (dark yellow) flak from the Eastern Front.

Recommendation

Dragon’s Jaboschreck is a welcome release that is a crisp well engineered model of a subject which has not been previously released in 1/35 scale and should be a rewarding model to make out of the box. I was pleased to see that Dragon had taken the time and effort to reproduce the modifications to the strengthened gun mount, sight and centre shield. Highly recommended.

- Nevillie Nord

" ...should prove attractive to those who model German military equipment..."

<full review here>
- Frank De Sisto