Upgrade and Conversion Kit for Sd.Kfz. 234/1 Schwerer Panzerspaehwagen (2 cm)Reviewed by Cookie Sewell
|
Stock Number and Description | cyber-hobby.com (Dragon Models Limited) 1/35 Scale Upgrade and Conversion Kit No. 3831; Upgrade and Conversion Kit for Sd.Kfz. 234/1 Schwerer Panzerspaehwagen (2 cm); 155 parts (129 etched brass, 18 in grey styrene, 8 pre-bent wire) |
Scale: | 1/35 |
Media and Contents: | 772 parts (461 in grey styrene, 210 "Magic Track" links, 96 etched brass, 3 clear styrene, 1 turned aluminum, 1 preformed etched brass) |
Price: | Price not available |
Review Type: | First Look |
Advantages: | Factory-made custom parts are a "drop-fit" onto the 234/1 kit; upgrade the fine details and the steering gear as well as allow for a late-production vehicle |
Disadvantages: | Competes with after-market products; some question as to why parts were not provided in base kit |
Recommendation: | Highly Recommended for fans of the German "stroke 1" heavy armored car |
FirstLook
Back in the 1960s, Revell took a look at the fact the most popular
models in the US at the time were 1/25 scale car kits. But the
modeler was pretty much limited to what came with the kit, and as
such even with "Three in One" car kits – stock, custom or racing –
he had to buy a large number in order to build up a spares box for
customizing his model. Revell decided to "preempt" that situation
and released a large number of after-market sets designed to drop
into any of their own car kits on the market. These included custom
wheels, custom engines, transmissions, suspensions, a completely
chromed motorcycle, and a complete hot rod that could be purchased
one sprue at a time. Since each set cost only 69 cents (the minimum
wage was about $1.25 at the time) they were a deal and were very,
very popular.
Since
then there have been only a few attempts to carry this out, as most
conversion kits soon began to come from "cottage industries" and
were made from resin or etched metal parts. Fit of the parts
depended on the company, the pattern maker who made their originals,
and getting the specific kit it was designed for in order to get a
good match. But it was never the company which produced the main kit
that usually did the after-market upgrade or conversion parts.
Through its parent company DML
cyber-hobby.com has now started doing the same thing Revell did 40
years ago, and is now releasing upgrade or conversion sets for
recent DML kits. The first one was a set of late model fenders (four
bins) for the Sd.Kfz. 234/4 kit, and this one provides the reverse
(two bin fenders) and other parts for the Sd.Kfz. 234/1 kit.
The kit comes in a "blister" pack and not a box, with the directions
placed in a folding cardboard stiffener used as the backing.
"Directions" is something of an overstatement, as they are basically
"stick here" drawings and do not cover where or when to insert the
new parts when building the kit. The new parts include eight new
driveshafts and eight new tie rod heads for the steering gear. They
also provide eight lengths of bent wire which appear to be brake or
air lines (I am not sure which, but they are in the position to be
one or the other based on the system the vehicle used.)
The etched brass is very extensive – even though the original kit
came with some 31 parts, most of them were just for the turret and
not the rest of the model. This kit comes with the complete etched
brass sheet that reads for the Sd.Kfz. 234/4 (but was NOT what came
with that kit, so it must be another upgrade set as well) and two
gratings, plus a complete etched brass 2 cm magazine rack for inside
the hull that provides stowage for 10 full magazines. Stowage for
7.92mm ammunition is also provided, along with air intake and
exhaust louvers, seat back details, and "jerry" can racks. However,
many parts are provided but their locations are not described in the
directions.
One new color profile is provided along with a new "targeted" set of
Cartograf decals, but the directions fail to say what unit or where
it was located. The model is suggested for a tri-color "patch"
scheme with a hard edge.
Overall, it is a nice idea to come up with "drop fit" conversion
kits for the company's models, but I am sure some modelers will
question why didn't these parts come in the original kit rather than
as "after market" offerings? To be sure, it keeps prices down, but
at the end of the day it's the modeler who makes the decisions as to
what is and what is not good value in a kit.
Highly Recommended
Thanks to
Freddie Leung for the review sample.