Dragon 7242

Dragon: Brummbar Mid Production ( announced here )

Dragon has already produced scintillating 1/35 scale models of the Brummbär, but now this vehicle has been miniaturized even further!

The latest kit to flow from Dragon’s engineering workbench is a 1/72 scale version of this vehicle. It is a completely new tooling apart from the suspension, wheels and track links, which utilize accurate components from previous Panzer IV kits. Although it is smaller in scale, it retains a level of detail comparable to that found on the larger 1/35 scale vehicle.

The engineers have made widespread use of slide molds in order to produce this level of detail – the fighting compartment, for example, is slide molded for easier assembly. Building upon the research invested and success gained from the 1/35 Brummbär, modelers will find this new kit a vital addition in any urban combat operation planned for their German forces.

The Sd.Kfz.166 Sturmpanzer IV, equipped with a huge 15cm StuH 43 L/12 gun, was an impressive-looking vehicle used by German forces in WWII. Also known as Brummbär (German for “Grumbler”), it was an infantry support weapon based on the ubiquitous Panzer IV chassis. Production of the Brummbär began in April 1943, and it was designed specifically to lend direct-fire support during combat operations in urban areas.

A total of 38 15cm rounds and associated propellant charges could be carried inside the vehicle. This distinctive vehicle was used at such famous battles as Kursk, Anzio, Normandy and the Warsaw Uprising. The Sturmpanzer IV weighed 28.2 tonnes, had 100mm-thick frontal armor, and was operated by a crew of five.

Features:
- Air filter newly tooled for this vehicle
- New tooling for side toolbox
- New fenders w/tread pattern on both sides
- New lower hull made by 2-directional slide molds; bolts and rivets delicately represented on hull bottom
- New spare-wheel rack installed on rear of vehicle
- Glacis plate is newly designed
- Side-skirt armor brackets realistically detailed
- Side-skirt armor plates can be installed separately
- One-piece fighting compartment w/pistol ports made by 3-directional slide moulds
- Assembly options provided for fighting compartment hatches
- Fighting compartment roof rendered w/delicate details
- Interior detail such as hatch supporting arms and scissors periscope provided
- StuH.43/1 L/12 main gun w/slide-molded barrel
- Interlocking detail on fighting compartment realistically depicted
- Duct shutters reproduced w/photo-etched parts
- Engine hatches can be assembled open/closed
- Spare track on glacis plate and lower-hull frontal armor
- Horizontal plate on rear above exhaust
- One-piece return rollers are authentically made and convenient to assemble
- Road wheel hubs are separate pieces, allowing unparalleled crispness of details
- Dual road wheels are perfectly molded in one piece
- One-piece track link in DS

Order here:

Dragon 7354

Dragon: After announcement here we have more news on the new 1/72 Stug III Ausf G.

Dragon has already released a beautifully crafted 1/35 scale kit of such a Panzer IV Ausf.F2(G), and now it has been reproduced in 1/72 scale.

Although the model itself might have been scaled down, there is no corresponding diminution in detail! It builds upon the intensive research and engineering done by the expert design team for the 1/35 kit. This new release has extremely well-detailed parts thanks to the clever employment of slide molds. The gun barrel is slide molded along with the muzzle brake and both fenders are brand new.

Accurate markings for tanks operating in diverse theaters such as the Eastern Front, France and Tunisia are supplied in the form of decals created by Cartograf. Impressively easy to assemble thanks to clever mold design, and full of detail, this Panzer IV Ausf.F2(G) is destined to follow in the tracks of its 1/35 scale brother and thus enjoy instant popularity!

The improved lethality of the long-barreled 7.5cm KwK40 gun of the Pz.IV Ausf.F2 and Ausf.G was greatly welcomed by German tankers during WWII. The Panzer IV G was supposed to be the first tank installed with the 7.5cm KwK40 L/43 gun in 1942. However, the Wehrmacht needed to urgently counteract the thicker armor of Russian T-34 and KV-1 tanks, so this gun was also fitted to some Ausf.F tanks (where it was known as the F2). A total of 175 F2 tanks were produced from March to July 1942 (with a further 25 converted from F1), while 1687 Ausf.G tanks were manufactured.

Features:
- Newly tooled side-skirt armor can be installed separately
- One-piece slide-molded gun can be elevated up and down
- Multi-directional slide-molded superstructure w/bolt detail
- Slide-molded engine deck finely reproduced
- Air deflector authentically represented w/photo-etched mesh
- Two types of cooling air intakes are provided with and without photo-etched air-intake grills
- One-piece slide-molded full frontal armor
- One-piece slide-molded lower hull w/exemplary detail
- Exhaust pipes w/hollow ends
- Road wheels and sprockets finely replicated
- Final drive housing covers are separate parts for maximum detail
- One-piece DS Tracks for ease fof assembly

Order it here.

AFV Modeller 51

AFV Modeller: Issue #51

King Tiger
Diego Quijano describes the techniques he used on his 1:48th scale King Tiger

Panzer IV E
Dragon’s original new breed Panzer IV kit modelled by Xavier Lena

Dutch Armour on Exercise
Dutch Leopards in the mud – Alex van Riezen presents a photo report of Dutch armour on exercise

Spähpanzer 2 Luchs A1
Christoph Oerleke describes his impressive upgrading of the 1:35th Revell kit

Sherman Up Close
David Doyle continues his series looking in detail at the Sherman variants

afv-current-1

Saumur Panther
Phillippe Gondard’s recreation of the Saumur Tank Museum’s Panther restoration

Dragon: Panzer IV Ausf. J Mid Review. kit 6556

Dragon 6556

Etched brass is kept to a minimum and only covers items such as the engine air intake louvers, the inner guides of the idler wheels, some small brackets, and the flaps for the engine air intakes on the sides of the rear deck. As noted it is not the same as provided in the cyber-hobby.com kit and comes with the “floor” mesh for the turret “schurtzen”.

LINK TO FULL REVIEW

Dragon 6474 - Panzer III

Dragon: Pz.Kpfw III Ausf N

Considering the fact that the Panzer III was a product of the 1930s, this German medium tank did well to serve so long throughout WWII. It was obviously supplanted by the Panzer IV and later the Panther in the tank-versus-tank role, but it did later find a niche in the infantry support role. This is most clearly expressed in the final Pz.Kpfw.III variant to enter service – the Ausf.N, of which 700 were manufactured or converted.

The Panzer III N entered service in June 1942 and production continued until August 1943. Key characteristics of the Ausf.N were its basis on the Ausf.J or M chassis, and the fitting of a short-barreled 7.5cm KwK37 L/24 gun. Ironically, this was the weapon fitted to older Panzer IV A-F1 tanks. Thus equipped, the Panzer III N was used in the close-support role in Tiger battalions or Panzergrenadier divisions.

Dragon has previously produced a number of Panzer III kits in 1/35 scale, but the newest variant is a fine rendering of the Ausf.N. Amongst its many features is a full set of turret and hull Schürzen – 5mm-thick armored skirts that were fitted to original vehicles from March 1943 onwards to protect against enemy antitank weapons. On the kit, the Schürzen and associated support brackets involve brand new toolings. The hull Schürzen side-skirts are made from metal to achieve true scale thickness, with the added benefit of allowing modelers to recreate realistic battle damage. There is also a turret-mounted stowage bin (known as Gepack Kasten) that can be displayed with its hatch open or closed. The fenders are also brand new items exclusive to this Ausf.N kit. New, too, are the brake-cooling inlets on the glacis. This is an exciting new 1/35 kit of an important Panzer III variant – the ideal vehicle to accompany a Tiger tank or German infantrymen!

Features:

Dragon: Pz.Kpfw III Ausf N poster news available here

LINK TO PRE-ORDER

Dragon: Panzer IV Ausf. J Mid

Dragon: Panzer IV Ausf. J Mid Photo Build-Up.

LINK TO PHOTO SHOTS

Dragon 6556 Panzer IV Ausf. J Mid

Dragon: Panzer IV Ausf. J Mid poster preview!

Panzer IV Wagen 1462

Gaso.Line Paper Panzer IV 1/48 scale!  let’s view this interesting item:

Project “Wagen 1462” was Krupp’s ultimate Pz. IV design bid for the Wehrmacht’s tank commission (“Panzer Kommission”).

The over 28 tonnes medium tank was to be powered by the 300 hp, gasoline, HL 120 TRM Maybach motor. The weight of the tank increased because of the thickening of the slopped armour. A new running-gear was engineered.
The crew of five would have been at best shielded by some 80 mm thick steel plates. A brand new simplified hexagonal turret with thicker and slopped armour would have housed one 75 mm KwK 40 L/48 cannon endowed with 87 shells. Two 7.92 mm Rheinmetall MG 34 machine-guns endowed with 3,150 rounds supplemented the weaponry of the tank.
Only blueprints of this strengthened Pz. IV have ever existed as the project has merely been cancelled in mid-1944. At that moment, the focus was to the mass production of existing materiel because of the increasing requirements of the total war.