I tend to only resort to photo-etched sets when I can’t build something myself, but I can certainly see the appeal in sets like this which add so much more detail to a kit that they do definitely transform it.
This photo-etch detail set from Voyager does just that for the Dragon FlaK 36, though it can also work to a large degree with the Tamiya kit, with a litle more modelling skills required to make parts fit properly. In it you get a total of eleven photo-etched frets ranging from quite small to medium sized, a 200mm length of string, four resin tow cable eyes, a 50mm length of 0.3mm wire, and two 50mm lengths of plastic rod in 0.5 and 1mm diameter.
The quality of these parts is excellent with some incredibly small and delicate pieces to work with, including separate bolts to be added to the gun shield. One very nice little touch is that as as parts os a couple of the PE frets are several stencils in the shapes of tanks, aircraft, ships and kill markings that can be used to spray paint these symbols onto the gun shield.
The frets are in varying thicknesses with marked fold lines, the heaviest being for the replacement gun shields, which include the optional smaller shields for around the recuperator, and the separate shield piece for the viewing hole. At the other end of the scale are some incredibly fine chains and clamps as well as the wheels and various hinges.
The parts are also provided to completely makeover the carriage boggie wheels by replacing almost every small detail on them, which does require a little work in removing the moulded on parts from the kit in some cases. What you end up with though is well worth the effort with some equisite linkages and fine detailing, including all new mounting brackets.
Unlike some PE sets every part in this has a home and improves on what it is replacing, or just improves by adding what isn’t already there. The level of detail is fantastic and really does just transform what is already a very good. The only area of this set that could be improved on is the instructions which identify the Voyager parts fine, but have no identifying numbers for the DML parts other than the drawings used to show what goes where so you’ll need to really think each step right the way through before cutting and attaching part one.
If you really want the most from your FlaK 36 kit and you aren’t put off by working with photo-etch then this set is very definitely worth the investment because as good as the DML kit is this set provides a level of detail that is just not possible in plastic, turning a very good kit into a superb one.
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