10.5 cm "Dicker Max" SP Gunby Cookie Sewell
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Stock Number and Description | Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series Kit No. 6357 - 10.5 cm "Dicker Max" SP Gun |
Scale: | 1/35 |
Media and Contents: | 1,015 parts (654 in grey stryene, 288 "Magic Track" links, 67 etched brass, 4 clear styrene, 1 turned aluminum gun barrel, 1 length of twisted steel wire) |
Price: | USD$44.98 |
Review Type: | First Look |
Advantages: | First kit of this vehicle on the market; fighting compartment interior complete |
Disadvantages: | "one-off" vehicle with few options |
Recommendation: | Highly Recommended for German artillery fans and fanciers of low production rate vehicles. |
Dragon's 1/35 scale
Dicker Max is available online from
Mission Models
FirstLook
I have to admit that I come
from a long line of merchants who were successful at selling goods
to the public (my grandfather sold Al Capone his trademark white hat
back in the 1920s as a case in point) and the rule of thumb for
success was either find a niche nobody else can fill or be better at
competing with them in general goods. I am thus always a bit
disappointed when one model company announces that it is going to
sink its resources into a very low production rate or prototype
vehicle and the next thing we see on the market are competing
products.
DML is now first to the market with its kit of the 10.5 cm K18 auf
Panzer Selbsfahrlafette IVa, better known as "Dicker Max" (Fat Max).
Originally conceived as a bunker buster able to close to point-blank
range and dispatch it with a 10.5 cm round, two were built for
testing in 1941 and used in Russia.The chassis chosen was that of a
Pzkw. IV Ausf. D, but the "a" indicated a change from rear- engine
to mid-engine location. Testing went well and the guns found
themselves very effect against tanks as well as bunkers with the
high-power 105mm gun, but one was knocked out and the other
withdrawn. The 10.5 cm K18 gun did not go into production as by that
time the Germans were pursuing other weapons, and the 10.5 cm leFH
18 was considered better at basic artillery missions and newer
weapons in the 8.8 cm range more useful and lighter in tanks. The
remaining gun apparently did not survive the war.
Accompanied by an eight page "brag book" on the features of this
model, DML cites the fact that researcher Thomas Anderson actually
did find the original plans for the weapons and used those to assist
DML in making the kit. The kit itself borrows heavily from the DML
Pzkw. IV Ausf. B to E kits released over the last two years, and as
such has most of the parts fine-tuned and many of the early problem
areas corrected or replaced.
The kit comes with the basic lower hull and tracks of the Ausf. D
version of the kit, with carded "Magic Tracks", separate tires,
one-piece idlers, and all of the B/C/D/E kits. I am not sure about
the arguments over the location of the drive wheels or not, but the
chassis appears to be the most recent one.
The actual "Dicker Max" elements amount to some 239 parts and
provide for a new bow section, casemate and interior, gun assembly,
and all of the specific "Dicker Max" detailing. As it is mid-engined
there are tall air intakes on either side of the gun assembly, as
well as venting and channels around the fighting compartment.
The gun itself, based on photos, comes with two different "slide
molded" muzzle brakes, a standard German style twin-chamber type and
a "tulip" shaped one. A solid styrene barrel or optional turned
aluminum one come in the kit as well. Note that for some reason the
aluminum barrel does not show up on the directions.
The kit does abound with nice touches. The head lights (J-2 and J-3)
are clear parts with an etched brass mask over the front to
replicate the vehicle's headlights. The amount of detail is amazing,
and as it does not look to be trumped up or "swaged" as some have
been in the past, the moldmakers do seem to have access to the
blueprints.
A disclaimer comes that as the vehicles were only used as prototypes
with two units – the 521st Panzerjaeger Detachment for a proposed
attack on Gibraltar and later with the 3rd Panzer Division in Russia
– the markings are based on surviving photographs of the two "Dicker
Max" guns. Ergo, there is no good way to tell which gun is which
from the markings. The only color offering is grey. At least the
small decal sheet is from Cartograf.
Overall this is a lovely kit, but I still wonder at the wisdom of
slugging it out with two kits of two vehicles and passing over some
more deserving and underrepresented ones.
Highly Recommended.
A 10x2 IV (drivers and rollers)
A 78 x 2 IV (wheels and suspension elements)
B 32 IV (armored final drives)
C 24 Dicker Max hull top elements
D 97 IV (fenders and details)
E 20 Dicker Max details
E 22x2 Dicker Max ammo stowage
F 59 Dicker Max 10.5 cm gun
H 58 (OVM)
J 4 Dicker Max clear styrene
K 25 Dicker Max interior components
L 2 (one-piece idlers)
L 144 "Magic Track" left side
38 IV (tires)
R 144 "Magic Track" right side
X 1 IV (lower hull)
Z 1 twisted steel wire
GA 64 German generic kit - helmets, canteens, mess kits, gas mask
canisters
RA 9 German generic radio set and mount
RB 5 German generic radio details
MA 63 Dicker Max (etched brass)
MB 1 turned aluminum barrel
Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.