Background

With increasing Allied air dominance in the European Theater in World War II, German armored forces found themselves in need of mobile and survivable anti-aircraft defenses to cover and protect their operations on all fronts. Originally equipping wheeled and half-tracked vehicles as self-propelled anti-aircraft platforms, the requirement for a more robust solution was quickly recognized. The solution came in the form of salvaged chassis from damaged Panzer IV variants retrofitted with anti-aircraft armament. One of the final variants to see combat operations was the Flakpanzer IV "Ostwind" (“East Wind”). The Ostwind’s single rapid-firing 3.7cm Flak 43 and increased armor was a marked improvement over its “Wirblewind” predecessor’s quad 2 cm mount. Of the 100 Ostwinds originally ordered, only 44 were completed by March 1945.

The Kit

Leveraging their excellent Panzer IV series, Dragon rolls out their equally-excellent Ostwind. As typical of Dragon kits, the box is packed with superbly molded parts with ample and delicate detail.

With it’s prominent open top, the Dragon Ostwind features a fully detailed gun and turret interior which showcases the exquisitely rendered 3.7cm FlaK 43 which can be posed in any number of firing attitudes. Slide-molded features include the turret with scale-thin armor plate and a one-piece lower hull. Hull and turret features include delicate Zimmerit texture on the hull, an accurate turret ring, top- and bottom-detailed fenders, new hull bottom, injection-molded on-vehicle tools with clasps and a fret of PE featuring a catcher for spent shells. The highly-detailed running gear features multi-piece sprocket wheels, authentic idler and road wheel detail, and one-piece DS tracks. The decal sheet includes markings for 4 tanks circa 1945.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Once again, Dragon delivers the goods with its detail-rich Flakpanzer IV “Ostwind.” I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this kit to intermediate and advanced modelers wanting to fill this slot in their German armor collections.

Thanks to Dragon Model USA for the review sample and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.