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Dragon Desperate
Defense: Korsun Pocket 1944 (6273)
by Frank De Sisto
1/35-scale injection molded styrene plastic. Contains: 307 styrene and
DS-100 parts and 98 etched brass parts, plus assembly and painting guide
on a double-sided leaflet.
This new set from DML consists of six late-war German figures. Normally,
the previous sentence would get certain modelers upset, because it is
“another German set”. In this case, I suggest they step back
a moment and consider what we really have here. Quite simply, these figures
are a “revolution-in-a-box” as they are the first separately
available “Gen2” (Generation 2) figures from DML. The first
individual figures to use this production technique came in the recently
released Late-Production Tiger I and Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.E kits.
These Gen2 figures use a complex parts break-down as well as slide-mold
technology to produce figures on par with the better resin products on
the market. They also use photo-etched brass for certain details, particularly
such things as rank insignia, belt buckles, medals and badges.
Figure one depicts a standing soldier in padded two-piece winter suit,
wearing a steel helmet and firing a captured Soviet PPsh sub-machine-gun.
Figure two depicts a kneeling soldier dressed in padded trousers and M43
tunic, wearing a steel helmet. He holds a Kar98k in one hand while he
prepares to throw an M24 stick-grenade. Figure three is an NCO in soft
cap, wearing a fur-lined jerkin over his tunic and padded trousers. He
is grasping an MP40 machine-pistol. Figure four is standing in greatcoat,
wearing a steel helmet. He is depicted in the act of working the bolt
of his Kar98k. Figures five and six depict a prone MG42 team in steel
helmets, wearing the two-piece padded winter suit. The gunner has his
weapon’s receiver open while the assistant feeds a new belt to him
from an opened ammunition box.
The design and animation of these figures (Volstad strikes again!) is
nothing short of superb. For example, I assembled figure four to get an
idea of how well this molding technology will work. He consists of 18
parts, WITHOUT his weapons or equipment. The tails for his greatcoat are
in four separate parts, while for extra definition one part of his chest
is a separate panel that gets inserted under his right arm so no harness
detail is compromised. His coat also has a separate collar, while its
epaulettes are in etched brass for sharp detail, as is his belt buckle.
The head is divided in half at the helmet chin strap (effectively hiding
the join line), which will allow for very fine definition of his ears,
a traditional shortcoming of conventionally-molded styrene figures. His
hands are separate and they fit into pre-hollowed-out sleeves that have
thin rims, nicely suggesting the undercut. The legs of the trousers accept
separate boots, some with hob-nailed soles where appropriate. This treatment
is typical for the other figures in the box. He went together quite well,
but I did cut away the plug that connected the torso to the lower part
of his body so I would be better able to tweak the fit. I suggest that
modelers do this as it will ease the path to a complete figure. Overall,
the fit was excellent as was the molded-on detail.
The weapons are molded taking full advantage of slide-molds. This means
for instance, that the MG42 has slots in the top of the gun barrel cooling
jacket, as well as on both sides, plus a detailed receiver with separate
cover. The gun barrel is also bored out, while the ammo boxes (two closed,
one opened) have details on all sides, including inside the cover of the
opened box, and also boast separate finely-molded carry handles. Other
items include separate folded and opened bipods, four two-part snail-drum
ammo cans (each with two-part carrying racks) and two lengths of belted
ammo. Other weapons provided are two MP40s, two Kar98ks, a GW43, an MP44
and the PPsh. All (except the PPsh, which only has a separate drum magazine)
have separate bolts and ammo magazines (or stripper clips in the case
of the ‘98k). One MP40 has a separate wire stock, while all can
be fitted with opened or closed bolt assemblies. The icing on the cake
is exquisitely-rendered opened fore-sights on the various weapons, as
well as opened gun barrel bores.
Personal equipment is molded in both traditional hard styrene (as are
the figures themselves) as well as DS-100 soft styrene. The former includes
helmets (with full rivet details), three-piece gas mask canisters, two
piece canteens (six each) and mess tins (two each), as well as single-piece
mess tins, entrenching tools, and bayonets (six each). Some nice options
are a bayonet with separate frog, a folding shovel with separate handle
and binoculars with pre-bored front lens elements plus separate rear lens
cover. In DS-100 soft styrene, DML has provided the following: three different
opened and closed pistol holsters (for a total of six), eight gas cape
pouches, four rolled Zeltbahns, eight bread-bags, three pairs of GW43
magazine pouches, five pairs of Kar98k pouches, three pairs of MP40 pouches
and three pairs of MP44 pouches. Each of the ammo pouches has one pair
in the opened configuration. The final items are a map case and a tool
case for the MG42.
The instructions are in full color and are keyed to Gunze and Testors
Model Master colors. Typically, they leave something un-clear for the
modeler, in this case how the bolts are fitted
to all weapons. References
will help here. While I am in nit-pick mode, I will also mention one major
(and one minor) shortcoming of this set. With all the attention DML has
lavished on the detail of the various weapons, and their wide use of photo-etched
detail parts, where are the slings for them? The gas mask canisters and
binoculars could use them as well. That’s what I consider the “major”
gripe. On the plus side, Eduard recently released a pre-colored set of
slings which I plan to use on these fellows, so all is not lost. The “minor”
gripe concerns decals for various insignia, such as collar tabs. Granted,
only two of the figures would need them, but their inclusion would save
quite a bit of work (and they did include some decals with their recent
Georgian Volunteer legion figure set, for their unique unit crest, so
there is a precedent).
All of that aside, I look forward to the next Gen2 figure sets from DML
and hope that they do not ignore Allied figures as well as other Axis
countries. Those that admire quality will do well to get a set of these
guys, while those who “like German stuff” are duty-bound to
do so!
Highly recommended.
Reviewer’s note: Since May of 2005, I have been working on books
for Concord Publications, a sister company to DML. The reader may wish
to take this into consideration. For my part, I will attempt to maintain
an objective viewpoint when writing these reviews.
DML kits are available from retail and mail order shops. For details
see their web site at: www.dragonmodelsltd.com.
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