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Thursday, March 12, 2020 - 08:45 PM UTC
Dragon adds three new vehicles to their 1/72 range:
Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn with NEO Track
Sd.Kfz.232 Schwerer Panzerspahwagen (Fu)
Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H Mid Production
Sd.Kfz.171 Panther A
Dragon has achieved a milestone by introducing NEO TRACK into 1/72 scale Armor Pro range for the very first time. The lucky recipient is an accurate rendition of the Nashorn. These track links offer the perfect balance between accuracy and assembly. They come with pre-assembled straight runs of tracks, for instance, while they can also be realistically sagged. Other parts come as individual links where appropriate to get them to conform to the shape of sprockets, etc.

The actual kit is based on a 1/72 scale Nashorn already released in the Armor Pro from Dragon. Of course, that means all details are accurately presented, including the highly detailed and visible 88mm long-barreled gun mounted atop the hull inside the open fighting compartment. In the kit box there is also a generous selection of photo-etched parts that allow modelers to upgrade the appearance of this powerful German tank destroyer. Thanks to the addition of these Neo tracks, this little rhinoceros has become even more attractive!

The Sd.Kfz.232 accommodated extra radio equipment and a large frame antenna for longer-distance communication. It featured a hexagonal-shaped turret mounting a 2cm KwK 30 cannon plus one MG34 machine gun. Production of the Sd.Kfz.232 ceased in 1943 in favor of the newer Sd.Kfz.234/2 Puma.

The large armored car is composed of many irregularly shaped and angled plates, so the kit obviously requires extremely precise tolerances when it fits together. Thanks to the use of CAD drawings and high-tech molding techniques, the kit's parts fit together flawlessly. The unique shape of this 8x8 armored vehicle is beautifully captured, and the distinctive antenna frame is finely rendered. The upper and lower hull sections are made as one-piece elements via slide molds.

The latest member of Dragon's Panzer IV family has been given maximum detail. This kit accurately portrays a Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H Mid-Production vehicle. Specific details peculiar to a Mid-Production kit are included, such as a newly tooled air filter mounted on the right-hand fender.

Convenient one-piece DS tracks are included too, and sharp detail is delivered throughout the kit..

The Panther Ausf.A 2-in-1 kit allows modelers to build either an early or a late version of this perennially popular German tank. Some 2,200 Panther Ausf. A chassis were produced by German factories between August 1943 and May 1944.

The two production variants of this 1/72 scale Panther Ausf.A may look the same if subjected to just a superficial look, but a much closer examination will reveal that they actually possess some important differences.

Indeed, exclusive parts for both versions are included in the box. Examples of differences relating to the two different kinds of exhaust mufflers and exhaust pipes, two different commander cupolas.
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Comments

These are all based on their fabulous 1/35 version big brothers and are assuredly wonderful little kits at roughly half the price of the larger version. The instructions are probably just as difficult and overly-complex.
MAR 13, 2020 - 12:38 PM
The Panther sadly doesn't really add anything to the Late A already offered. Mainly in that they didn't add any metal mesh for the engine deck, no spare track, and no Zimmerit, despite all of those being standard for this type of Panther. Still not convinced that there is any such thing as an early A with a D cupola, but at least it comes with the proper A version with the periscopes, though the lenses are just spaces, I think. The Nashorn gets a metal sheet, which I think is the first time in a while that PE had been in a Dragon 1/72 scale kit, so that's good. Not sure what the changes are in the 232 over the kit with the same box art that was numbered 7429 from 2012.
MAR 18, 2020 - 07:48 AM
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