Dragon Sherman 1/72

Ken B.

I built the Dragon Pz. IV F2, and it was a fantastic kit, until the tracks went on. I lost heart in the middle of painting, and just set it aside. Years later, however, I had a spare set of Revell tracks, and although I had to take the model apart to a certain degree, and do a bit of fudging, I got the tracks to fit and the result was 100% better. Since then, my local HS was selling Revell Nashorns at clearance prices, and I was able to put Revell tracks on a Dragon STuG IV, a Trumpeter JgdPz. IV and a Trumpeter Brummbar. I don't know if I would have even bought those kits if I hadn't have had the Revell tracks.

Meanwhile, when I took the DS tracks off the F2, they were hard and brittle. Some pieces just crumbled into dust when I pulled them off, and yet they had only been there for less than four years. There seems to have been some sort of reaction with the superglue I placed them with.

 

I built the Dragon Pz. IV F2, and it was a fantastic kit, until the tracks went on. I lost heart in the middle of painting, and just set it aside. Years later, however, I had a spare set of Revell tracks, and although I had to take the model apart to a certain degree, and do a bit of fudging, I got the tracks to fit and the result was 100% better. Since then, my local HS was selling Revell Nashorns at clearance prices, and I was able to put Revell tracks on a Dragon STuG IV, a Trumpeter JgdPz. IV and a Trumpeter Brummbar. I don't know if I would have even bought those kits if I hadn't have had the Revell tracks.

Meanwhile, when I took the DS tracks off the F2, they were hard and brittle. Some pieces just crumbled into dust when I pulled them off, and yet they had only been there for less than four years. There seems to have been some sort of reaction with the superglue I placed them with.

Oh, I, in no way, shape or form say that Revell kits are not without their own problems. Their "original" M4A1 Sherman that they initially released in both the Monogram box and Matchbox box is not a very good kit. Their StuG IV was incredibly horrible.

Their Abrams was superior to Dragon's, but Dragon's HMMWVs were superior to Revell's.

Dragon's Pz IV series was far superior, except for the track issue, but at that scale, the limited availability of aftermarket tracks makes it a major issue.

Revell did do very well in Bundeswehr kits. That giant Bieber bridge kit, was quite nice as were the various modern armor kits.

Rob Gronovius

The Abrams series, the AAV7A1 Amtracs with the full diecast metal hulls, same with the Panther series with the metal hulls.

Yes, I will acknowledge that the white metal hulls were an inauspicious start. And the vinyl and DS tracks caused a lot of pulled hair. Even the Shermans, which were one of their best lines, had problems: the M4A2 Beutepanzer, a later kit, was the only one that didn't have the stamped roadwheel hubs; while every Sherman kit had the .50, the handgrips and pintle mount were found only on the T23 turret sprue. By the late 2000s, however, the problems were mostly behind them, except for those furshlugginer DS tracks (a legacy of their die-cast line), and they were excellent kits. Until the middle of the 2010s.

I agree with you that Revell AG's 1/72 kits are generally great, but you can't say that they don't have problems as well: Revell's Panthers got the dimensions all wrong, the Tiger I is a fine kit but MUST have an aftermarket barrel, the Jagdpanther is too small and the suspension on the Leopard 2A5, 2A6 and Swedish Leopard 2 kits can lead to alchohol abuse. I built four of them; none were successful. In the past few years Revell just seems to be content re-boxing other companies' kits. 

Just a heads up . . . the old Aurora 1/48 scale kits have since been released by Atlantis.  Also, Dragon 1/72 armor kits now come with two=piece tracks and road wheels. Simply cement both pieces together and the assembly is done. They are styrene.

Bill

Ken B.

Ten years ago Dragon's kits were considered the best in 1/72 armour,

Well, to be fair, some of them were considered good, but many were jokes the minute you opened the box. The Abrams series, the AAV7A1 Amtracs with the full diecast metal hulls, same with the Panther series with the metal hulls.

The metal hulls were prone to deteriorating because of some defect in the metal used.

The original VVSS Shermans had issues with the suspension and they were retooled later. Some DS tracks were prone to crumbling, black vinyl tracks were impervious to paint.

Pound for pound, if Revell made the same kit as Dragon, it was often better.

http://www.172shermans.com/kit_lists.htm

Ten years ago Dragon's kits were considered the best in 1/72 armour, with the only complaints being the soft DS tracks (a lot of modellers went aftermarket) and their increasing concentration on (sometimes obscure) German subjects, but since then they have really dropped the ball. Simplified kits, reduced part counts, lazy design (the antenna deflector on the Pz. IVD, for example, wasn't placed below the gun, it was through the middle of it). The absolute nadir were the one-piece DS (or vinyl?) tracks and road wheels.

They've tried to recover somewhat, releasing some kits with hard plastic link and length tracks, but so far only for vehicles based on Pz. IIIs and IVs. In the older kits they've re-released, they no longer supply the PE frets that they used to include.

I don't know if the Easy 8 has been re-released, so you probably have the original issue, which was a pretty good kit, except for the DS, in my opinion.

Thanks Bill

Rob,

Those are nicel jobs!  I'm impressed!

Bill

I used to build mainly 1/72 scale armor, but my eyes were getting a little too old. I've been building 1/48 scale armor and those cool Bandai Star Wars kits.

Here are some 1/72 scale kits I built back in the day.

I'm building the Revell of Germany kit of the Leopard 1A5. It's a nice kit but there are too many molded on details, especially the pioneer tools. I sanded these tools off and am replacing them with HO scale hand tools. They add a great deal to the kit.

I am also building the old Esci M48 A3. The road wheels , tracks, and suspension are garbage, so I replaced all of these parts with the OKB Grigorov detail parts. They are fantastic.

1/72 can be a fantastic scale to work with!

Bill Morrison

Yes, all of the Dragon Shermans are just about the same. If you see the Italeri Sherman, it's the Esci Sherman from the 1970s. Revell-Monogram put one out in the mid 90s that is now a Revell of Germany kit.

Eduard and ExtraTech did a shared series of Sherman kits that were really expensive, but included photo etch and aluminum barrels.

Trumpeter does a few simpler kits with more molded on details.

In 1/48th scale, you're sort of limited, but the five Hobby Boss kits were pretty darn good and were going really cheap as they were on clearance ($5-10). I know they did the M4, M4A1(76), M4A3(75), M4A3(76) and M4A3E8.

Really old school are the Bandai line of 1/48 scale kits, but you'll pay collector's prices for these. They included complete interiors and were pretty good for the day. They did the M4A1 and M4A3 in both 75mm and 76mm turrets.

Aurora did an M4A3E8 that was last released by Monogram in the 70s or 80s and more recently one of their ancient snap together kits of the M4A3E8.

Tamiya's like the better option, but again, they did just a handful of Sherman kits in 1/48th scale. They did a Firefly IC, M4(75), M4A1(75) and the M4A3E8.

Tojo72

Dragon makes great kits,love just about all their 1/35 German Armor,they are pretty detailed.So I'm thinking in 1/72 they could be pretty tough if your not used to it.

I tried a 1/72 Paladin by Riich,it was just TOO small for me,I'm sticking with 1/35 armor.

 

I am thinking I also will stick to 1/35. I whish there where more 1/48 scale kits out there. (Hobby Boss and Tamiya in Armor is all I have seen) 

Dragon makes great kits,love just about all their 1/35 German Armor,they are pretty detailed.So I'm thinking in 1/72 they could be pretty tough if your not used to it.

I tried a 1/72 Paladin by Riich,it was just TOO small for me,I'm sticking with 1/35 armor.