ESCI – 8310 – 8063- Flakpanzer IV (Pz. IV Wirbelwind)

Description:

Flakpanzer IV – Pz. IV Wirbelwind

Unassembled plastic model kit in 1/72 scale of a German WWII self-propelled anti aircraft gun built over a Panzer IV chassis, Flakpanzer IV or Wirbelwind, fitting a quad Flakvierling 38 L/112.5 20mm gun in an open turret replacing the standard Pz. IV turret.

This kit can be considered a variation of kit ESCI – 8309 – 805 – Pz. Kpfw IV Ausf. G, reusing most of the parts. See the parent kit with comments about the quality of the kit.

ESCI removed some not useful parts (for the turret and gun) of one of the sprues and added a new one with the Wirbelwind turret and the Flak gun. The turret and some inner detail provided are not good, but thee gun, taken from the guns set (ESCI – 8020 – German Anti-Tank Gun). The early series have single piece tracks very ugly and hard to work, the later under ESCI-Ertl or the Italeri issue (Italeri – 7074 – FLAKPANZER IV WIRBELWIND) provide link and length tracks of better quality.

It took years till Hasegawa tooled a new kit replacing and surpassing the ESCI kit (except by the tracks compared to the link and length) but both ESCI and Hasegawa kits palided when MACO tooled a new kit based on the Revell Panzer IV chassis and hull. Sadly MACO is out of the business, but Revell reissued some of the kits, in particular Revell – 03267 – Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind (2 cm Flak 38) which is the best recommendation to build a Wirbelwind.