upgrade and conversion set for Marder III Ausf. HReviewed by Cookie Sewell
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Stock Number and Description | cyber-hobby.com (Dragon Models Limited) 1/35 scale upgrade and conversion set No. 3837 for Sd.Kfz. Panzerjaeger 38 fuer 7.5 cm PaK 40/3 Marder III Ausf. H |
Scale: | 1/35 |
Media and Contents: | 120 parts12 (116 etched brass, 2 in grey styrene, 2 preformed brass) |
Price: | price estimated at US $16.98. Will be available online from Mission Models |
Review Type: | First Look |
Advantages: | Does not include brass fenders |
Disadvantages: | Figures are older DML efforts and much stiffer than current releases |
Recommendation: | Highly Recommended for "fine tuning" the new DML Marder III Ausf. H kit. |
FirstLook
As noted before, some modelers are
not happy with the nice new series of DML "Smart Kits" that are
designed to be easier to assemble and use fewer parts and less
etched brass to achieve an acceptable level of detail. As such,
DML's cyber-hobby.com affiliate proceeds to turn out the boutique
"upgrade" kits for them.
This one provides some parts which those modelers will be pleased
with, beginning with etched brass and pre-formed casemate sides with
all of the bolt head detail and reinforcing strips etched in place.
Also provided are etched rivet strips fo the hull, "spoon" tabs for
removing the long 7.5 cm rounds from their racks, and a number of
other replacement parts for the kit.
Oddly enough, the one thing discussed on the internet did NOT come
with this kit, namely etched brass fenders. A rather odd
supplementary instruction set indicates that a gauge is provided for
what it points to as etched brass fenders MA1 and MA2, but in this
kit those parts are the casemate sides. No gauge is included that I
could find.
The directions – such as they are – for these kits have been poor
from the beginning, and this set really borders on the unusable. The
figure for the call-outs on the brass fret is so small I had to use
a 10x jeweler's loupe on it to read them, and then it is still very
difficult. DML needs to get the attention of the cyber-hobby.com
people and provide decent directions with these kits or they are
nearly useless to modelers not intimately familiar with the actual
vehicle.
A nice bright set of Cartograf decals comes with the kit, providing
for three more tri-color camouflaged vehicles, but again there is no
indication as to who they belong to or where they were serving.
Overall this set is somewhat odd as other than the tiny etched brass
bits and the pre-formed sides it seems to serve very little purpose.
Recommended.
Thanks to
Freddie Leung for the review sample.