Jan Etal reviews and builds the 1/72 scale Dragon Armor Pro Sd. Kfz. 260 Kleiner Panzerfunkwagen.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Jan,

Thanks for gracing us small scale folk with another super review. I read your 223 review a while back and it appears that this one has similar problems to that kit. I like these vehicles and think that with proper painting they can look great. Speaking of painting, will you be doing a finishing Blog and what paint scheme are you going to do? I know this one has a yellow sand base so will you be doing the camo version or something not on the instructions?

On a side note, I got the 223 kit but recently also picked up the 222 kit and am wondering if most of the issues in your two reviews might pertain to it?

Regards,
AJ

@tread_geek – Jan,

I was debating with myself as to weather I should add this vehicle to my stash or not and after reading through your excellent and to the point review I've come to the conclusion that I will. There is enough detail and stowage items in the kit to, as you put it, personalize your model. And being that this vehicle was in service up to the end of the war it falls in line with the Panzer ’46 army I have in the works.

One thing that I don’t understand is Dragon’s reasoning in offering the modeler a complex set of water-slide decals and not go and provide a lesser complex photo-etch anti-grenade screen option? The kits plastic molded anti-grenade screen successfully achieves very high marks in bringing the finished model to look like a toy no matter how well the screen is painted – just MHO. On a lighter note it wasn't that long ago where the Braille scale modelers didn't have many building choices or kits as there are now.

Jan, thanks again for another excellent kit review.
~ Eddy

Thanks AJB and Braille for dropping in and commenting. Now I'll get to your respective queries.




I have intentions of doing a finishing Blog like I did with the 223 and Type 97 tank but it might not be for a bit (due to hurricane Sandy). I am aiming to do the three colour scheme in the instructions.




AJ, the 222, 223, 260 and the upcoming 261 should all be identical as far as the lower hull is concerned. Fenders and what is on them will vary and the 222 turret should have the same issues as the 223.




Eddy, all the extra pieces and stowage are almost a kit in themselves. Besides what I mention in the review you basically get the 223 and 222 turrets that appeared on a few other vehicles, including some field modified ones.There will be extra or left over fenders, license plates, jacks, to name a few.

[quote]The kits plastic molded anti-grenade screen successfully achieves very high marks in bringing the finished model to look like a toy no matter how well the screen is painted – just MHO.[quote]

That is the most disappoint part of this model and will also pertain to the 261 variant. The Dragon screening shape might be somewhat more accurate but that for the ICM PE version would be close enough and they should have copied that, IMHO. The modellers only other option would be to disguise the styrene version by putting a tarp over it. There are numerous images on the Internet to support this practice.

Cheers,
Jan

@tread_geek – Jan,

As I have yet to do a multi-color camouflage scheme in this scale it looks a bit intimidating for me so I’m looking forward to your finishing blog. Wishing you and the wife a good outcome with the upcoming hurricane coming your way.

BTW thanks for the tip on the ICM kit and tarp idea on the anti-grenade screen.

~ Eddy

Thanks for the info on the 2XX kits, Jan, and I can't wait to see the finishing process on this one. Just curious, do you have or have you looked at the 222 kit? Is there a chance someone here (You?) might be doing a review of it? I'd like to start on one of them but wonder what issues the larger turret might pose.

Hope you faired well with the recent storm. We've had some power outages but other than that have been fairly lucky compared to some areas.

Regards,
AJ

@Braille-Eddy,

I'm still debating as to what method to use for the camouflage but am leaning towards airbrushing with masking. Just a couple of notes about your other points.

-One issue with the ICM kit is that from what I've researched, I never found a 260 with the antenna placed on a projection as on that kit. For that matter, I'd be curious to see if the ICM PE would work with the Dragon kit as a substitute for the styrene version. I think that the combination of those two kits with a scratched interior would have potential.

As for the tarp business, just do a Google search for "SdKfz 260" pictures. In truth, there will be quite a few pictures of the 261 also but you'd get the idea.

@weathering_one-AJ,




AJ, I recently got the 222 kit and have at least looked it over. I *might* do a In-Box review of the kit if nobody else beats me to it (hint: you got the kit, you try a build review? ) Since you also have the 223 kit, you'll have two full spare turrets in case the first doesn't turn out.

@Both-Eddy,AJ,

[/quote]Hope you faired well with the recent storm. We've had some power outages but other than that have been fairly lucky compared to some areas.
[/quote]

Thanks for your concern and I believe that the high winds have finally left us. I am pleased to report that at this time we seem to have faired far better than some, despite all the dire predictions for our area. There's still a few more days of rain to deal with before the storm finally leaves us behind.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan,

Thanks for the encouragement and I've been thinking about doing a Blog. One question that might not belong here but, would you chop off the back piece of the 222 bar in the turret where the seats go as you did in the 223's case?

Regards,
AJ

@weathering_one - AJ

Sorry to take so long in responding but I've been a bit distracted lately. As for your question, while I haven't really studied the 222 turret interior that in depth, you might need to do something different. The arms that support the elevation trunnion(s) are actually quite far back in the turret. There is also the seat attachment point to take into account as you'll need enough material for their vertical frame. So at this point, I doubt it would serve much purpose to cut away the small bit of material that isn't needed. Just do a Google search for interior pictures and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Cheers,
Jan

P.S. - I had a link to a great site that I used and had tons of information about the 222 and 223 variants. Unfortunately that site is no longer available.

It's been a while but as I've finally gotten to work on a few builds, I decided to get the license plates of the 260 out of the way. To those that haven't read the review, the letters and numbers on the plates are individual decals of the "roll your own" type. These are the smallest that I've ever had to deal with and have a height of just under 1 (ONE) millimetre.

I first put down the white blank plate and then applied a gloss coat (Future) to it. Placing the alphanumeric characters on the plate turned out to be an extremely slow and "painful" process. One can only do one character at a time, wait for it to dry, apply a decal setting solution, wait for that to dry and then proceed to the next character. This process is not for the faint of heart and to do both plates took an entire afternoon.

Here's some pictures of the process (images taken with 5X macro filter). Please note, I felt it best to start with the first centre-most number ('0') and then alternate from side to side to attempt to get proper spacing.









As you'll see in the review, this is your only option for the plates as Dragon does not provide any ready made versions. Also, the characters for the 260 plates are smaller than those for their 223 version and the plate itself is also not as tall. Questions or comments about the process cheerfully accepted.

Cheers,
Jan C[ }