Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527. Chapter 8: Completion

 Previous chapter

 

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527. Chapter 7 (Creating a scene)

Previous chapter

 

I originally started building a mountain road diorama to display both vehicles on, only to realise that I hadn’t really planned it very well. After much deliberation I concluded the 8-Ton was just too large to sit at the desired angle on the slope, so work has begun on a less ambitious base. Lesson learned!

Although I had fixed the trailer's hinged side and rear panels in place, luckily, I hadn’t fixed any of the accessories, so along with the new sublimely detailed 3D ammo containers and shells, it is now time to complete painting duties on all the numerous items and decide on final placement. 

The following pics shows me tinkering with accessories placement 

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527. Chapter 6 (Finding a 3D printed ammo trailer)

 Previous chapter

Its now November 2022 and this has been a real slow burner of a project. Seven years almost to the day in fact!  Conceived in November 2015 it sat on the shelf of shame awaiting paint until 2018. It then took a glacial two further years to get to the weathering stages, where upon I discovered the Trumpeter flak ammo trailers provided in their kits were pure fantasy. I then tracked down the Wiener Modellbau Sd.Ah 57 resin kit. This took another year to complete so when 2021 comes around and a lovely fellow by the name of Darius Stucinskas releases a beautiful and extemely accurate 3D printed kit of the Sd.Ah 56/57 trailer I had to jump at it!
 

CAD images 

 

Sd.Ah 56/57. 3D Printed Ammunition Trailer

The single axle 1.5ton trailer was used to carry ammunition for self-propelled flak guns and were typically towed by late war vehicles such as the Sd.Kfz 7/2, Mercedes 4500 and Bussing NAG 4500. Special trailers Sd.Ah.56-57

Having already built the only available 1/35 kit of the Sd.Ah 56/57 Flak ammo trailer made by Wiener Modellbau, a new 3D printed version is now available.

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527 (Chapter 5: The finer details)

 Previous chapter

After leaving projects aside for a while it can be rewarding to return to them with a fresh set of eyes. Whilst I was happy with the lower areas on this model, the panel work was still lacking something. I felt the monochrome hue of the Dunkelgelb was too pale and the finish too uniform. My solution was to give the upper portion of the model a very diluted coat of Tamiya clear yellow to warm things up. 

 

I made up some cardboard templates to protect the running gear and airbrushed the whole model in a light coat of Tamiya X-24 mixed 30/70 with X20A thinner. I left it to dry overnight and then mixed up some more oil paint pin washes to re-work portions of the model I felt needed highlighting again.

Next up was to rectify something that had been bugging me for a while. One engine side panel was a really tight fit so I decided to remove the radiator housing moulding and re-align it on the chassis. Ah, that's better 😃

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527 (Chapter 4: Resin flak ammo trailer)

Previous chapter 

Sd.Ah 57 ammo trailer

 

Unfortunately, all of Trumpeter's mobile flak halftrack kit's include an inaccurate trailer. They managed to mash up both the Sd.Ah.52 and Sd.Ah.56! The frame is of a Sd.Ah.52 while the trailer box and wheels is that of a late model Sd.Ah.56.  After a bit of research I concluded the only accurate aftermarket 1/35 kit to be found was the Wiener Modelbau Sd.Ah.57 in resin https://www.wmm.at/milita…/36-amunition-trailer-sdah-57.html

It is basic in many areas but it builds up well. Care is needed when removing the casting blocks as some of the parts are extremely thin. The roof on mine was seriously warped and although it was left in warm water and straightened it is still not perfect. The ammo boxes included in the kit are for the Flak 30/38 and not accurate for the Flak 43, so an aftermarket set will have to be sourced.

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527 (Chapter 3: Weathering begins)

 Previous chapter

After setting the model aside for 24hrs for the paint to fully cure I started the weathering process by first applying a selective pin wash with oil paints. Utilising the excellent Abteilung 502 series I employed several umber and dark brown tones first, adding slightly darker colours lower down on the bodywork. The same mix of oil paint tones was also employed to add light vertical streaking to the cab areas. The engine bay was then treated to the same oil work along with enamel dust effects.

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527 (Chapter 2: Painting)

Previous chapter

 Painting

 

Building the kit in sub-assemblies makes for painting both the chassis and cab interior far simpler. So, after the chassis was first primed in Tamiya red oxide it received an overall airbrushed coat of Tamiya acrylic dark yellow (Dunkelgelb) The engine and gearbox were base coated in Tamiya german grey, and all the metalwork parts were mist primed in Tamiya hull red. All contact points were then cleaned of paint, or masked beforehand, to ensure clean mounting points. I manipulated the steering gear linkage angles during the build stage to leave the wheels slightly turned. I always think this adds to the finished appearance. 

Sd.Kfz.7/2. 3.7cm Flak 43. Trumpeter 1/35 kit#01527 (Chapter 1: Construction & prep for paint)

 

3.7cm Flak 43 auf Selbstfahrlafette (Sd. Kfz.7/2) and Sd.Ah.56/57 ammo trailer

 

Kit                       Trumpeter (Sd.Kfz.7/2) #01527
Trailer:                WM resin & 3D printed 

Tracks:                Kit tracks
Barrel:                 ABER
Photo Etch:         Kit supplied etch
Wheels:               QuickWheel QWX-027
Start date            March 2015

 

This Sd.Kfz.7 SP flak kit was purchased many moons ago and within a few weeks 99% of the construction work had been completed. It then remained unfinished until only recently when I found a suitable ammo trailer. The images below are the only ones I have from the build stage. However, many of the main chassis and engine compartment parts are shared across all of Trumpeter's Sd.Kfz.7 kits. Contruction steps from my wooden bodied cargo variant build can be found here. 

 

Like all Trumpeter's 8ton series vehicles these kits can be somewhat challenging to build. Accuracy issues aside, the main chassis is a multi-part affair, and although well detailed, many of the part location points are not very well defined. Many smaller, delicate parts often require plenty of test fitting and judicious amounts of clean up to avoid missaligning assemblies. There are also a few places where crude moulding hampers construction, making swift progress somewhat frustrating. Another problem is the instruction to fix many fragile parts way too early in the construction steps, making damage all the more likely. Once you realise that a fair amount of pre-planning, clean up, and test fitting is required at almost every stage, you have to be prepared to put the time in to rectify these issues. If you do the final result can be rewarding.

 

This is Perth Military Modelling's review conclusion of this Trumpeter kit when it was released.

 

'While this kit again carries over some accuracy issues from earlier versions such as the drive sprocket roller offset, the chassis length and fender profile it also includes excellent details in the engine/gearbox assemblies as the full compliment of driver’s pedals and decals for the instrument panel. But as with the Flak 37 kit what makes this very attractive is the inclusion of the later style road wheels, front wheel hubs, the later style track links and the ”mid” style instrument to allow you to build a correctly configured late model 8ton. The new 3.7 Flak 43 mounting again has some nice details and is overall better done than the Flak 37 in the previous kit. The only real issue being the missing crew seat but as with any kit there is scope for additional detail enhancement to lift the final appearance. The mix-up of trailer features is unfortunate and detracts a little from the overall appeal but the kit still has many pluses to offset some of the minuses'