Dragon

1/35 SdKfz 167 StuG IV Early Production Smart Kit

Kit Number: 6520

Reviewed by  Joachim Lotz, IPMS# 44170

MSRP: $ 49.95 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com The Kit This is the Dragon Smart Kit of the StuG IV early production. Even though the box art shows a vehicle with Zimmerit coating, it is not represented in the kit itself. The box contains the following parts. 22 light grey sprues. 1 sprue with clear parts. 1 P/E Fret and 3 stamped aluminum frets for the side skirts. 1 small decal sheet. 2 small bags of Magic Tracks for right and left sides. 1 Metal cable. 1 lower hull part. 14 step instruction sheet with painting guide for seven different vehicles. The kit contains a total of 740 parts of which not all are used. All parts are very detailed and don't show any ejector pin marks or flash. But there are some small mold parting lines that need to be cleaned up. The Build I started the build in good old armor fashion with the lower hull. I left the wheels off until I was ready to attach the tracks. This kit requires some surgery that is called out in the instruction. The middle ribs inside the hull have to be partially removed so that the fighting compartment floor fits inside. There are also 6 tabs that need to be cut away, but this is not indicated in the instructions. Next I assembled the glacis plate and engine deck. On the glacis plate you have the option of using either PE for the spare track brackets or plastic. I decided to use the plastic parts since I had problems getting the PE parts to stay glued on because they are attached on edge. Both the glacis plate and rear plate of the engine deck require holes to be drilled out for the spare tracks. I then went on and assembled the gun. It went together without any problems. Only part J3 (Gun sight) threw me off track. It took me a while to figure out that it was a clear part. Besides the gun breech, this kit comes with a simple interior of 2 radio sets which are attached to the right and left side of the fighting compartment. This is also the part where you need to get your razor saw out because the area where the radios will be attached to need to have part of it removed.

My next step was the assembly of the upper hull. Again you need to get your drill out to drill two small holes above the driver compartment. This kit also comes with clear periscopes for the driver and commander. I masked the periscopes with liquid mask prior to painting. I left the hatches open to show the partial interior. Then I started on the assembly of the fenders, which have detail on top as well as on the underside. After that was done it became time to put all the subassemblies together. I had a hard time getting the fenders to fit to the lower hull. I ended up removing part of the foremost rib inside the hull to make the fenders fit. Also attaching the fenders to the hull was quite tricky and required the use of a little force and patience. After I won the battle with the fenders I finished the assembly by attaching the glacis plate, upper hull with gun mount and engine deck. Here you need to pay attention. You need to insert the gun mantlet into the upper hull, insert the gun assembly from underneath into the mantlet and then this whole assembly has to be attached to the lower hull while the gun mount is glued to the compartment floor. It is quite a tricky process and it took me a while to get it all right. My next step was painting the lower hull and wheels (still on sprue) so I could start with the assembly of the magic tracks. Dragon provided 2 set of tracks, one in light grey and the other in dark grey, for the right and left side. The assembly of the running gear and tracks went without any problems. I then went on and attached the last pieces to the upper hull including the holder for the side skirts. The brackets that are getting attached to the hull are very fragile and I had three pieces break in the process. The side skirt holders need to be aligned perfectly; otherwise the side skirts don't sit straight at all. I had quite a few problems with this so I ended up leaving the side skirts off. I also replaced the hooks for the tow cable with copper wire, because the plastic parts are not strong enough to hold the tow cable. I had mine break off. Painting and weathering I painted the whole tank in Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow followed by a coat of Future. The well printed decals went on without any problems and a little Solvaset made them snuggle down nicely. Next came a wash with black and burnt sienna followed by a coat of Model Master Clear Flat. I weathered with Bragdon Powders and highlighted with Tamiya Weathering Master. I painted the tracks Tamiya grey metal followed by Bragdon Rust Powder and then by a layer of dust. The spare tracks were also painted metal grey with just some rust powder applied to them. I panted the interior with Model Master Panzer Interior Buff followed by a light oil wash of burnt Sienna mixed with a little black. Conclusion This is a very nice kit and very well detailed kit with the exception of the missing Zimmerit which all early StuG had to my knowledge. This is not a beginner's kit with its small and fragile parts; that is for sure. But an experienced armor modeler should not have any problems with it. Dragon proved again that it is possible to make a very good kit for a very good price. I would like to thank Dragon for this review kit.