Well
How long have we been looking/waiting for this?
(and it's sister the Vk 45.02 Turm Hinten)

I got this in the mail yeterday!
First was the Art on the Box.....
very catchy,





Opening the box I see the instructions, 3-4 sets of sprue, the tracks and decals.
Lets start with the instructions....
as with the Ersatz, they are very simplified,
but unlike the Ersatz this was not a bad reflection on the kit.
(I'll explain as I reach of these points)
























First...let's look at the turret.....
for those of you that have a keen memory.....
you will recognise that this comes "directly" from thier,
King Tiger (P) - Kit 7231

No Changes.
So It suffers from the same deficets as when it first came out.
The "molded on" MG Ring on the Copula.....



and the huge spikes that hold the spare tracks.
These of course should be removed for doing this Tank variant,
mostly because the spare tracks dont match the running gear.





The suspension is also well know to us......
this was taken directly from the Elefant(and it's Variants) kits.
This is Sprue "E" from those kits.


The Tracks are supposed to be the DS (Dragon Styrene)
but since they were first used for the Ealfant and variants....
there seems to be a look of a dirty mixing of the Black rubber and the DS matrial.
The outside details are kinda soft.


and the Inside is where the channel for the material injection is attached,
so during the mold separation some of the guide teeth are ripped out.


they even did a curious thing here.


Here are the outer and inner sides for viewing.


"I" would have prefered the "Hard" tracks
that Dragon offers with the
SdKfz. 181 Pz. VI(P) - Porsche Tiger - Kit 7209
BergePanzer Tiger(P) - Kit 7227, and the
SdKfz 184 ElephantKit - 7253

Now let's look at the hull.....
this being "new" molding the details are very qrisp,
and finely detailed.
I was actually quite pleased with this.
(with a few exceptions, that you will see as get to them)


The details of the engine grills is very nice.
Although "incorect", I guess this is just thier (Dragon's) interptitation.






Now, I was disapointed in the molded on cables and tools.
These are because the model was first produced as a "prebuilt/diecast"
I wouldn't be so disapointed if they were a little "thicker".




Now at first I was confused by these two "huge" holes in the right side.....


Then I realised it was for the "only" tool not molded on.....
"the" Shovel.


Now here is my biggest disapointment in "molded on details".
The headlights:


But Back to the positive.....
That armor lap joints are well defined,
and with a little extra efforet they can be done out quite nicely.
However, they neglected to carry this through to the lower hull.












Now one thing that I don't understand is......
why dont they inspect the molds every now and then?
Then They can catch problems like this.
It seems that one half one the mold is so worn out
that the plastic comes out like a big "blob" surrounding the part.
This is supposed to be the Hull mounted MG.




I will look through my stash of kits to see if I still have one
(nice and clean) on a sprue, and edit this review
with a pic of how the part should look.

All In all, I am not too disaponted in this kit,
But it should not be under the "Armor Pro" Banner.
The saving grace of the kit,
is that they used "good" parts from other kits,
to make this one (but even these parts can use a little attention).
when I build mine.....I'll use the "Hard Track".

Damn

I read your review on "Ontheway"

Will give this one a miss I think.

I think you got confused somewhere making the topic Title, that is a "Turm Vorne" model, not a "Turm Hinten".

Your Right,
What was I thinking?
I tried to make the Correction
however the system will not let me Edit the title.
My Bad

@CPL-Overby - Ken,

I am currently doing a review for Armorama of this kit's brother, the VK.4502(P)H. I am sad to report that I had already noted similar deficiencies with my kit with a couple exception. My tracks appear to be more uniform in colour and with only two teeth missing near the ends where they join. The other exception is that the hull MG is totally okay. Perhaps you got a kit that was an earlier production run (left over vinyl in the mould?) but nevertheless, Dragon should be ashamed at labelling this mediocre effort as a "Armor Pro" kit. ;|

--Jan

I fully Agree,
I in fact am presntly writing the same review.
(Turm Hinten)
I am also working on "Correction sets" for each.
Just as I did for the Ersatz M10.
Look there, and scroll to bottom.

Ken,thanks for the review.I was excited when I saw that Squadron had this new kit.Now...not so much.There does seem to be a lot of difference in the quality and parts you get from Dragon in their Armor Pro kits Jeff T.

I was about to say, "Woo-hoo! Opening turret hatches," but the rest of the kit totally defeats that.

Hi Jeff,
I think that Dragon has made one fundimental error ......
They think that the making of Diecast Collector's item is equal to the making of a "Model" kit.

Had they Labled this as a "Beginner's Kit" for the Novice Builder,
I think we all would have been much more accepting of it,
but to Package it under the "Armor Pro" banner,
has really ruffled more than a few feathers.

So many of the kits that are "labled" Armor Pro
are "Good" kits, and that spoiled us.
We (the Modeling Comunity) expect a certain level of detail.
Esp for the prices that are being charged.

In MY opinion,
They would have done much better (financialy)
to procede this way.
Make the Diecast(s) to wet everyone appitites,
saticfy the need of War Gammers, and Collectors.
(remember these are made with simplified construction
more to prevent damage done by a "sweat shop" of workers
assembling and painting.
Than to apease the model builder.)
Then (at a later date) come out with a kit,
that is truely worthy of the Armor Pro banner.

Then Maybe you'll be pleased with my work?
I am currently working on a corrections set for this.
:)