First look Dragon's 1/72 Elefant

My gun barrel had a virtually invisible seam. The barrel was also made with a 3-piece mold. The muzzle is hollowed out, very nice quality. Someone (Armo?) will eventually make an aluminum barrel for it, but mine definitely doesn't need one.

I expected a more complicated kit and link & length tracks, but it does look like a winner to me! (until the critics declare that the cupola is wrong and the hull bolts are in the wrong place, etc., etc., etc.)

My challenge will be to be able to get the the airbrush down to a pencil thin line to make the camouflage scheme. It prompted me to finish up an old Esci PzKpfw IV as a camo test kit.

i found a really, really thinned paint works well for these fine lines. That way you have time to build it up as opposed to one pass, take or leave it. Glad you liked the kit also. I'm not worried about the supposed inconstinties, it's a very nice model for 9.00. Bill

I just can't wait for the Sturmtiger.
Bernie the K
http://www.dragonmodelsusa.com/dmlusa/prodd.asp?pid=DRA7204

I wonder if the tracks of the old Esci kit, made of hard plastic, with sections and individual links, would not be better...?

It looks like a beautiful little kit of an imposing vehicle. Let us know how it comes out!

I couldn't see adding the mediocre Esci link & length to this nice kit. The vinyl tracks are well detailed, just a little wavy. I bet Eduard will do PE set like they do for the PzKfw III and Cromwell (among others).

I picked up one today! It is a cool kit. Looks very nice to me. The tracks are the best vinyl tracks I've seen in any sclae. (But I think they are actually Ferdinand tracks. I'll have to get the magnifiers out to see!) I can't wait to get this one built!

Box art is the same as Dragons 1/35 kit.

And, the Ferdinand is on the way.

Bill

Dragon is coming out with an entire line of 1/72 scale armor cant wait Including an M1 Abrams i think
Well i cant wait, what about you guys?!?

Nothing wrong with the Revell of Germany M1A1. Maybe DML should do an M1A2 or M1A2SEP?

It is kit #DRA7205 M1A1 Abrams 3rd Infrantry Division Iraq 2003

It is available from DragonUSA www.dragonmodelsusa.com

I've seen it advertised on the back cover of the current FSM along with the Sturmtiger and Ferdinand. Just wondering why they didn't go for the M1A2SEP as seen in OIF as well.

BTW, I picked up the MW 1/72 scale M1025 HMMWV, looks to be a neat kit to go with my Revell M1A1, M2A2 and M3A2.

cool i am currently working on the revell M2A2 bradley

Here's a first report on building it, at least starting building it.

The parts are pretty well molded in typical DML grey. The plastic seems a little different than usual, but that may be just because of the size of the parts. The parts all seem to be molded well, but there is a bit more excess plastic (not really enough to call flash) on the edges of the parts that can be removed with a quick pass of the knife.

The instructions are the DML (now) normal colored pictures. They aren't too bad, but they show some parts already in position but don't show the alignment of the part. This is especially true of the front hull plate that goes right below the machine gun and the hatches and commanders coupola on the turret roof. The center engine louvers on the upper, front hull are open all the way through, but strangely, the ones to each side are closed off.

The other thing that's really kind of strange is the coloration of the tools. Even the jack is shown to be in dunkelgelb. The machine gun, tracks, and road wheel rims are about the only things picked out as being a different color.

Being a 1/72 model, I'm not sure how I'd do zimmerit on this one. Maybey Moses can give us some advice here, or I'll just have to wait for the pe set to come out!

I mentioned above that the tracks are the nicest vinyl tracks I've seen. They have beautiful detail molded on both sides. However, they are, in fact, for the Ferdinand, not the Elefant (for the nut and bolt counters). They don't have any cleats on the treads. Oh well, they still look very nice.

Overall, it's a nice model. I've enjoyed the little time I've had to spend on it. I'm sure I'll get more of Dragon's 1/72 armor as they come available, but so far they are not quite up to Revell Germany's standards.

Have fun.

Bill

I can't wait to see these kits as well! Hopefully there'll be a Russian T-72 tank in the Lineup, since nobody has made a 1/72 scale T-72 yet! I can't wait!