Assault Mortar Sturmtiger

Manufacturer: Dragon Models (KitNo. 7204)

A friend of mine convinced me tobuy this model, because he said it was light years better thanthe earlier Dragon kits that I have critisized in previousreviews. Well, I guess he's laughing now, because I fell for it.

To be honest, this kitdefinitely is better than the previous kits, but is it a goodkit? I'll leave that up to you. I'll keep the editorializing to aminimum, and let you decide for yourself based on the scansbelow.

The upper hull is die-cast metal, and thelower hull is plastic, and they fit together very well.Preliminary measurements of the unbuilt kit show it to scale outvery well to 1/72nd. The fit of the rear superstructure plate,which is also cast metal, will require some careful putty workand sanding to eliminate the seam.

The location holes on the hull parts forattaching various detail parts are very large. For some reason,the exhaust heat shields are provided as pre-formed brass pieces;the only advantage to this gimmick that I can see is that theyare thin.

The rest of the kit is plastic, and tome, it looks like it was designed by a committee. Some of it isabsolutely exquisite, such as the highly detailed road wheels,but other parts are crude, such as the hatch handles, the ammoloading crane, the hull machinegun, the spare track mountingbrackets, etc. And why did they not open the spokes in thesprocket wheel? Revell has already shown us that this can beeasily done.

The tracks are highly detailed vinyl.

Decals are thin, but printed slightly outof register. Although there are few markings, I believe that thisis all the vehicle carried.

References:

• Achtung Panzer No. 6 Panzerkampfwagen Tiger , by Bitoh (ed)
• Panzer Tracts No. 8 Sturmgeschuetz , By Jentz and Doyle
• Photosniper No. 10, Stumtiger , by Parada, Suliga and Mucha