1/35 TIGER I INITIAL PRODUCTION s.Pz.Abt.502 LENINGRAD 1943 (3 IN 1) - Dragon 6252

The Dragon Models 1/35 Flakpanzer IV (3cm) Kugelblitz Smart Kit (6889) is a highly detailed model of one of the most technically advanced — and rarest — German armored fighting vehicles of the Second World War. The Kugelblitz ("Ball Lightning") represented a quantum leap in Flakpanzer design, enclosing its twin 3cm MK103/38 automatic cannons in a fully armored, spherical turret mounted on a Panzer IV chassis. This gave the crew complete protection while maintaining the ability to engage aircraft across the full hemisphere of sky.

All previous German Flakpanzer designs — the Möbelwagen, Wirbelwind, and Ostwind — used open-topped turrets that left crews exposed to fighter strafing, the very threat they were designed to counter. The Kugelblitz solved this fundamental contradiction with an ingenious fully enclosed ball turret mounting twin 3cm cannons capable of firing 900 rounds per minute combined. Development began in 1944 and the first prototype was completed in November 1944. However, Allied bombing had devastated German industrial capacity and only five production vehicles were completed before the war ended in May 1945. These saw action on the Western Front in the final weeks of the war.

Key Features:

• 1/35 scale injection-molded Smart Kit
• Accurately reproduced spherical twin 3cm MK103/38 turret — the Kugelblitz's defining and revolutionary feature
• Detailed Panzer IV late-production chassis and running gear as used for the Flakpanzer IV family
• Photo-etched brass parts for fine exterior detail components
• Magic Track individual link tracks for the Panzer IV running gear
• Rare late-war subject with historically researched unit marking options

With only five production vehicles ever built, the Kugelblitz is among the rarest German armored vehicles that actually saw combat. Its revolutionary enclosed turret design anticipated post-war SPAAG development by decades, and its visual distinctiveness — that striking spherical turret on a familiar Panzer IV chassis — makes it one of the most eye-catching subjects in German WWII armor modeling.

Ideal For:

• German Flakpanzer and anti-aircraft tank enthusiasts
• Collectors of rare and visually distinctive late-war German armor
• Advanced modelers seeking a technically unique and historically significant build

The Dragon Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz is one of the hobby's most compelling late-war subjects — five vehicles produced, zero compromises in Dragon's kit detail.