I picked up Trumpeter’s Flakpanzer earlier this summer after it caught my eye in my LHS. I’m a huge sucker for Paper Panzers in general so I knew when I saw it that I has to pick it up, especially when it was on sale for only $40 CAD. Despite my enthusiasm for the subject it was clear to me that the kit was pretty simplistic overall and lacked detail found in newer kits. For a kit pushing 10 years however, my initial impression was that it was of acceptable quality for the modeller who isn’t afraid of re-doing weld seams or flame cuts.
Kit Features: 11/20
Suffice to say, the kit is pretty barebones. In terms of extra things added, Trumpeter includes a small photoetched fret and a copper wire for the tow cable. The kit doesn’t include any single link tracks or any other extra goodies for the builder. Because of the sparse accessories the kit’s rating in this category was quite limited. Only the inclusion of the metal wire saves the kit from a neutral 10/20 score.
Quality of Molding: 28/50
Put simply, it’s evident that the kit is a decade old. At first glance a lot of detail looks passable. There are weld seams, flame cuts, ect however after looking a bit closer it’s clear that the small details are lacking, especially when compared to modern releases. As with the kit features, the score here is somewhat low. The score is lowered further due to the fact that there were obvious molding errors on the hull as detailed in the photos included. If this kit were to be released in 2018 or 2019 then it would receive a score 10 to 15 points lower.
Instructions: 10/20
The instructions here are a bit strange and could have been clearer. To start, for some reason the second step is to glue the tracks together, even before completing the suspension assembly. To continue, the instructions do not clearly divide the steps during the construction phase making it easy to confuse parts to be added. It’s also worth mentioning that the instructions are very short at only 11 pages, evident of the low part count. In terms of the positives, Trumpeter does include a color profile of the box art although considering that no markings are included the usefulness of the colour profile is limited.
Miscellaneous: 4/10
Seeing as the Flakpanzer only existed on paper, Trumpeter does not include decals for the kit. While this decision was understandable, at the very least the kit could have included various balkenkreuz for markings, giving the modeller a bit more freedom. Furthermore, the rubber tracks that were included were clearly deformed and will require significant work to straighten out.
Total: 53/100
It really pained me to give this kit such a low score, largely due to the fact that I’m a huge fan of the subject. For the build I’m already planning a list of accessories to add as it’s clear that OOB the kit has significant shortcomings.
Nomad Models 