Dragon 1/35 3.7cm FlaK 37

Rheinmetall developed its 3.7cm Flak 18 anti-aircraft cannon in 1935, although only a small number were produced. However, development continued in the guise of the 3.7cm Flak 36, and when a new Zeiss sighting system (Flakvisier) was incorporated the following year, it ultimately became known as the 3.7cm Flak 37. By the time production drew down in 1944, a total of 1178 Flak 37 cannons had been manufactured. For transport the 1544kg cannon was usually mounted on a two-wheel trailer and the whole combination weighed a total of 2400kg. The weapon could traverse 360° and its theoretical rate of fire was 820m/s. Normally a crew of eight men would service each weapon, with a ceiling altitude of 4800m possible.

For quite a few kits we have seen a 37mm flak gun included for the back of various vehicles. Well now we have the gun all by itself. As you might expect, it is quite well detailed and comes on two sprues. There are a few bits not used, but most are. One addition is an ammunition box. Well this is not plastic but is printed on colored paper, which you then fold. Seems a bit lame to me, but there it is. Better than nothing I guess. Below are the other features.

- Newly produced ammunition box
- 3.7cm FlaK 37 realistically presented
- Gun with/without gun shield can be assembled
- Cannon can be freely posed at different angles
- Gun sight and hand wheels w/well-defined detail
- Gun cradle offers great detail definition
- Option for opened or folded gun shield
- Gun shield w/bolt detail in scale thickness
- 5-directional slide-molded one-piece gun barrel w/hollow muzzle
- Travel lock realistically presented
- Triangular base-plate gun platform authentically detailed
- 5 boxes of realistically reproduced 3.7cm ammunition included

There are camo schemes provided for four guns. All of the main guns are in panzer yellow with only the gun shields being painted (or not) with a camo scheme of brown and green. One has a white gun shield and it is this gun for with the small decal sheet (not shown) is provided. This includes a goodly number of white stripes around the barrel as well as a unit marking of some sort. All of the schemes are listed as 'unidentified'.

This is a great kit for those who just want to build the gun or have a collection of FlaK guns. It will fit in there perfectly and what's more is not so parts intensive that it will take an age to complete.

Dragon USA

July 2013

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. You can find this one at your favorite hobby shop or on-line retailer.

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