Those of you who read these reviews will have picked up on the fact that I like Half-tracks, and the only thing better than a half-track is a half-track with a gun on it. One thing the German Military did often and did well was to mount guns on half-tracks, particularly FlaK guns which were also used against ground targets. The Sd.Kfz. 10/5 was a later model of an earlier FlaK vehicle. Which is to say that the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 was an armoured version of the earlier Sd.Kfz. 10/4 which itself was a version of the Sd.Kfz. 10 series which shared their platform with the Sd.Kfz. 250 series of armoured half-tracks. The Sd.Kfz. 10/5 also used the later 2cm FlaK 38 where the Sd.Kfz. 10/4 more often used the earlier 2cm FlaK 30.

The kit is a reboxing of the Italeri Sd.Kfz. 10/4 with added parts for the armour and without the figures or trailer of the Italeri Kit ( contrary to some rumours neither of these kits shares any heritage with the Esci Sd.Kfz 10s ) . It comes in a large open ended box, a style of box I dislike as I like to be able to use the lower tray of a box to hold all the parts as I work on the model. But that is a personal thing and shouldn’t detract from the kit. The contents consist of two large and one medium sized sprue moulded in dark yellow, a small clear sprue, a small sheet of decals and the instructions. All this makes up into the vehicle and gun, no figures or other accessories are included.

The mouldings are all very good with no flash, very faint mould seams and any moulding sinkholes are in areas where they should not be seen. The detail is clean and sharp and the level of detail on the parts is very good. For a small vehicle there is still quite a lot of parts.

The chassis is a simple affair, the suspension arms are moulded as a single piece for each side to which the roadwheels, sprockets, idlers and tracks attach before they are all joined to the lower frame as a single part. This does make for easy painting. The tracks are link and length injection moulded parts which makes for a much better look than single length vinyl tracks. No engine is included but being an Sd.Kfz. 250 platform any engine suitable for the 250 will work with this.

The main body has the parts for the armoured sheets which cover the doors, windscreen and fender mounted rifle racks, though for some reason there is not the parts for the angled armoured shield over the radiator that is seen on many of these vehicles. You do however still get the six Kar 98K rifles for the fender mounted racks. Clear parts are included for the windscreens but not for the headlights which are moulded instead with the blackout covers.

The gun platform can be modelled with the sides either up or down. A soft vinyl mesh is provided to replicate the latticework grilles on the side pieces. This looks okay but these can be vastly improved with good photo-etched mesh, or even better the Kamizukuri lattice frames made for the Sd.Kfz. 7/1 and 7/2 models which can be modified to fit the Sd.Kfz. 10/4 and 10/5 sides without to much effort. The twin 20rd magazine ammo boxes mounted to the sides do not have the option to be modelled in any state other than closed.

The gun is very well moulded with a nice delicate barrel and separate muzzle brake. As nice as it is though a good after market aluminium 2cm L60 barrel really brings out the best in this gun. You get two of the twin mag ammo boxes which can be modelled open if desired though the interior needs some serious thinning down to look close to scale. You also get five 20rd magazines to either go in the gun or in the ready-rack on the left side of the mount.

Decals and painting guides are provided for four vehicles – Heersflakabteilung 277, 11 Panzer Division Heersgrouppe Sud, Ostfront ( Army Flak Unit, 11th Panzer, Army Group South, Eastern Front ), December 1942 : 8 Panzerregiment, 15 Panzer Dvision, Afrikakorps, Lybia, 1941-42 : Panzerdivision Hermann Georing” 2 Abteilung Flakregiment, Poland, Winter 1944-45 : Unbekannte Einheit Westfront Ende 1944, Frankreich/Deutchland ( Unknown unit Western Front in late 1944, France / Deutchland ).

This is a great little kit that makes up into a lovely little model of a vehicle that was seen everywhere that armour went. It is the only currently available plastic kit of an Sd.Kfz. 10/5 avaialble and makes up well straight from the box. For those who like to super detail their kits the addition of a PE makeover, an alumimium barrel, Kamizukuri mesh, and a more modern set of running gear from an S.dKfz. 250 kit really brings this model into the “excellent” category.

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Tristar are not a well known manufacturer, they don’t really make a lot of 1/35 scale kits but what they do make are made very well.

Coming in a tray and lid type box this kit comprises an early model 2cm FlaK 38 Anti-Aircraft gun which can be modelled deployed or mounted on the included Sd.Ah. 51 trailer. There are also five figures included dressed in early style SS smocks and ankle boots with gaiters.

Moulded in a dark yellow the details a crisp and clean with many very well produced small parts to give the maximum detail posible. There’s no flash, the mould seams are nearly non-existant and knock-out marks are located in places where they won’t be visible. The trailer wheels are one piece plastic with fine tread detail.

A small photo etch fret is included for some of the finer detail on the gun. Also included are four ammo cans ( three closed and a fourth that can be modelled open with the mags visible inside ) and a large ammo box.

The figures are well detailed with clear facial features, if a little unemotive in their expressions. They come with personal gear ( ammo pouches, entrenching tools with bayonettes, water bottles, mess tins, gas mask containers and rolled zeltbahns ) and the gas mask container straps are moulded onto the bodies but are much finer than the ones found on the old Tamiya figures. Also included are four camo covered helmets and four Kar 98 rifles which are nicely presented.

All in all I’d rate this as the best 2cm FlaK 38 currently available and although it’s not a cheap kit it is well worth the investment.

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