Dragon

Kit Number 14022

1/144 Plattformwagen w/ Pz III Ausf. F & Railway Gondola

Reviewed By Jack Kennedy, #12511

MSRP: $8.95 USD

We are really talking small here.  I had purchased the earlier Dragon releases in this scale and was quite impressed.  Now I have to get all of them.  I love them and the scale.

The kit is really very complete in spite of its size.  Included in the kit are three separate models.  One is the Railway Gondola, which is just an open rail car.  This is useful for dioramas as many things can be put inside it for realism.

The second model is the Plattformwagen.  This is a flatbed rail car used to transport tanks.  The detail on this rail car is fantastic.  It rivals anything in HO or N gauge railroads.  To my knowledge, this has never been modeled in any scale.

The third model in this kit is the Pz III F.  This is another tank in the whole series.  As with all the other tanks in this series the detail is wonderful.

Also included in this kit are realistic track and railbeds.  This is designed as a complete display model or with open ends to attach future rail additions as with the RR guns available in the series.  I thought this was a nice touch.

Now for the review.  Since the scale is so small, any panel lines molded into the kit are way out of scale.  I also think the wood grain on the railway gondola is overdone.  If the models are painted, washes and dry brushing would only accentuate the over scaled panel lines.  It is a matter of perception as to whether it looks good or not.  Overall I think it looks cool.

The castings are very clean and only very little cleanup is necessary.  Due to the small number of parts, the assembly is also simple.  There are some photo-etched gratings for the tank and they are very tiny so great care must be taken to apply them.

Do I think this is a kit worth buying?  You bet.  The list is about $8.95.  It would be cheap at twice the price, but I wouldn’t suggest raising the price, just because I love these kits.

Thanks to Dragon for supplying the review kits and to John Noack to getting it to me.

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