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Building the Dragon 25pdr w/ Trailer

Step 4

This stage covers the assembly of the gun shield and the various sight containers that hang on its back face, and here we encounter the first instance of having to use parts which aren’t mentioned in the instructions. The details included are all of reasonable accuracy and location, including the rivet and bolt detail on the front of the gun shield, with the possible exception of the sizes in some cases. The gun shield on the 25pdr is only 10mm thick, not realistically possible to replicate in plastic and not that easy to supply as photo etch either for that matter, however DML has done a good job in getting it as thin as they can make it without creating issues for the modeller when it is assembled.

The parts that are missing from the instructions are parts B26 and B27; both of them do need to be used and connection points have been supplied for them on the rear of the gun shield. These parts represent the leather holder for one of the gun’s sighting devices and the information plaque; the pictures below clarify their position. One omission here that really surprises me is the failure to include the coiled rope that’s usually stored on the front left hand side of the gun shield as you would look at it, although it’s something that a modeller can easily replicate.