tristar 35035 review (2cm flak38 pzkpfw 38(t))

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/dragon/dr6469.html

You could have fun in Stereo :)

I like both FlaK renditions, for different reasons.

So to me it is going to be about the wagon...

Back to reading

Can't wait till the Italeri comes out

 

Interesting to see that Tristar got the sprockets right while DML didn't. ModelKasten makes a separate sprocket and idler set that can be used to correct that, but it means some additional cost to do it. I haven't built the latest-and-greatest Tristar Flak 38, but their earlier release wasn't quite the same detail standard as the DML Flak 38...but the latest Tristar release has the correct features for a later Flak 38 while DML kept the earlier features from their release. Sounds like trade-offs have to be weighed carefully depending on what you want in terms of accuracy and final product.

I had ordered the DML version but cancelled when I read the reviews...I now have the Tristar one on pre-order from GM.

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tristar/tri35035d06.htm

Tristar's interior is the same as their previous 38T. This being a heavily modified late vehicle, the differences were not considered or re-evaluated. It looked better, but how accurate is it?
Doesn't matter though, not very visible areas. I don't see why Dragon's lack of interior details mattered either, they don't have huge sink holes at least...

I'm not a big fan of PMMS reviews, especially those on kits made by companies that aren't their sponsors.

Rios,

The only difference between an 38(t) M chassis vehicle and the gun-tank in terms of the interior compartments is the location of the engine, middle vs. rear. Otherwise all of the other elements for the driver's area and engine bay are exactly the same, just the engine bay has been moved. No tinkering was done with the layout with the exception of the removal of the radio operator's area and the installation of the driver's armored hood. So all the "guts" in terms of engine, transmission, seats, controls, etc. would still be the same from the standard gun-tank parts. The fighting compartment on the other hand would have the specialized interior appropriate for mounting the Flak 38 at the rear of the vehicle.

but tristar's interiors are from their 38t E/F/G...

rios wrote:

but tristar's interiors are from their 38t E/F/G...

Which were the last of the 38(t) gun-tank models produced and would therefore be correct for a Flakpanzer 38(t) on an M chassis. The exact same production lines were used for the tanks as for the other 38(t) derived vehicles.

I been looking around all night, still couldn't detailed info about IIIM interior layouts.

The bow machinegun (and the bow gunner/radio man) was removed, they did not alter the layout over that portion of the vehicle?
I also thought since the engine became mid mounted, drivetrain and other related mechanical elements would have to be rearranged. What about storage racks? German stored alot of "things" in the hull, ammo, flags, spares, etc.

Some portions of the interior were altered in the sense that they were removed or rearranged, but the items would stay the same. For example, the entire radio operator/gunner position was deleted along with the front hull plate in place of the angled glacis and armored hood...but the location and size of the driver's position remained unchanged (driver's position always on the right side in the 38t vehicles except the Hetzer). The engine compartment was shifted to the front but the engine and transmission elements and design remained the same. See diagrams below from the MBI Publications "Marder III and Grille" by Vladimir Francev and Charles K. Kliment (excellent resource btw on the H and M variants). This means that the parts from the earlier Pz 38(t) kits are just fine for what would be retained in the Marder III M chassis.

 

And, just for the curious, an interior shot looking out of the driver's hood from the old AFV-Interiors site that went away some time ago but whose text that accompanied it stated: 

"I have been intrigued by this interior photo of a 38(t) variant for many years. It comes from one of the large gunned versions of the 38(t) but provides us with some useful information about the driver's area just the same. From approximately the visor area down, the controls are the same as all 38(t) variants. The transmission is to the left and you can see the unique levered steering tiller linkages crossing to a handle to the left of the driver's legs and a second handle just to the right (here caught in the shadows and somewhat difficult to see). Down below are the brake, clutch, and accelerator pedals. The gear shift lever is to the left, in front of the steering lever pivot, directly on top of the transmission. Also in view, to help identify the vehicle as a 38(t) type, is the communication box device at the front right corner of the hull. The box has a series of colored lights that were wired to a similar control unit at the commander's station and allowed a simple visual communication between the two. The parts of the photograph that intrigue me are the apparent open over-head hatch and the holed support structures to the left. My best guess is that this photo is taken in one of the Panzerjager 38(t) variants, perhaps the Marder III, Ausf. M."

There's a rubber pad and a diagonal rail on the right wall of the tristar kit that are not in the picture.

Did they use that empty space yielded by removing radio guy for anything? Ammo storage perhaps? With the support structure in the middle, I imagine the left hull compartment would be difficult to access.

rios wrote:

Did they use that empty space yielded by removing radio guy for anything? Ammo storage perhaps? With the support structure in the middle, I imagine the left hull compartment would be difficult to access.

Other than what you see in the photo/diagrams above in terms of holding machinery/drive-train components, no. The driver's area is not connected in any way to the fighting compartment due to the engine compartment being in the middle. Ammo was stored in the fighting compartment on the Flak 38(t) in the base of the pedestal and along the lower walls of the compartment itself. Last year I did a build of the Alan kit kitbashed with a DML Flak 38 and the pic below gives you an idea of the ammo storage. I also kept a Build Log if you're interested in more details. Of course, about 3 months after I finished it, both DML and Tristar announced they were going to release one...never fails.

 

Great walkthrough. How would you rate the fitting on that alan kit compared to other makers?

Haven't built the flak version, I don't know how much modifications dragon did. They definitely reworked the driver's compartment though. Their previous 38t kits are all different, led me to believe there were alot of small changes between these versions.

rios wrote:

Great walkthrough. How would you rate the fitting on that alan kit compared to other makers? Haven't built the flak version, I don't know how much modifications dragon did. They definitely reworked the driver's compartment though. Their previous 38t kits are all different, led me to believe there were alot of small changes between these versions.

Alan kits in general always require some TLC. They can be built up into nice models though and, in many cases, they are the only game in town in styrene for some vehicles.

In terms of the photo, the modifications make sense given that one's an Aufklarungspanzer and would've had a different layout for the fighting compartment. Initially DML didn't provide any interior for the 38(t) family, it was only in response to Tristar that they started including it.