_GOTOBOTTOM
Armor/AFV
For discussions on tanks, artillery, jeeps, etc.
Hosted by Darren Baker, Mario Matijasic
News
Dragon: Sd.Kfz.234/1 Premium Edition
varanusk
Staff MemberManaging Editor
ARMORAMA
Visit this Community
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain / Espaņa
Joined: July 04, 2013
KitMaker: 1,288 posts
Armorama: 942 posts
Posted: Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 11:15 AM UTC


Dragon's 1/35 scale kit Sd.Kfz.234/1 has been upgraded to contemporary standards as a Premium Edition kit.

Read the Full News Story

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
johhar
Visit this Community
Alabama, United States
Joined: September 22, 2008
KitMaker: 476 posts
Armorama: 447 posts
Posted: Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 12:26 PM UTC
Good improvements, to be certain. Hopefully these improvements will follow for all Dragon 234/x variants.
petbat
Visit this Community
Queensland, Australia
Joined: August 06, 2005
KitMaker: 3,353 posts
Armorama: 3,121 posts
Posted: Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 03:46 PM UTC
Ho Hummm. Chuck in the same sprue K wheel set they originally put in the 234/3 kit and cut off a plug on the back of the wheel ball joint that anyone can do with the original set, and then call it an upgrade....

The original etch screens need replacing too, with their tab hinges fitting into cut outs on the turret that should not be there. The etch stowage box tops are too big for the boxes (which lack side detail which, if corrected would be an upgrade of sorts!).

Given the penchant for upping the price on "improved kits" I would get the old one at 1/2 the price and buy the Voyager 234/1 set with turret and maybe resin wheels and you will not be out of pocket and disappointed.

No I am not knocking Dragon per se. I have a stash full of their kits and many built ones (including the original 234/1). Just not feeling the love for unwarranted hype.
M4A1Sherman
Visit this Community
New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 08:24 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Good improvements, to be certain. Hopefully these improvements will follow for all Dragon 234/x variants.


I wouldn't hold my breath for the same "improvements" to be incorporated into DRAGON's other 234s- They have a penchant for being "lazy" that way...
M4A1Sherman
Visit this Community
New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 08:30 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Ho Hummm. Chuck in the same sprue K wheel set they originally put in the 234/3 kit and cut off a plug on the back of the wheel ball joint that anyone can do with the original set, and then call it an upgrade....

The original etch screens need replacing too, with their tab hinges fitting into cut outs on the turret that should not be there. The etch stowage box tops are too big for the boxes (which lack side detail which, if corrected would be an upgrade of sorts!).

Given the penchant for upping the price on "improved kits" I would get the old one at 1/2 the price and buy the Voyager 234/1 set with turret and maybe resin wheels and you will not be out of pocket and disappointed.

No I am not knocking Dragon per se. I have a stash full of their kits and many built ones (including the original 234/1). Just not feeling the love for unwarranted hype.


Hi, ALL!

This might be good for the modelers who "missed out" on DRAGON's earlier kits of the same subject. The REALLY GOOD part is that one can still get this and the other variants of the DRAGON 234 kits on Ebay for HALF the money...

Hi, Peter!

AGREE with you on ALL of the points which you've made in your post. VOYAGER and GRIFFON are the way to go if you're going to improve the DRAGON 234s with PE/multi-media upgrades. These are also good base kits if you're going to build some of the "odd-ball" permutations of this vehicle.

I LIKE this kit, and I bought several of these and the other variants of this kit when they first came out some years ago... My recommends...
TheoBraat
Visit this Community
Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: April 21, 2017
KitMaker: 113 posts
Armorama: 113 posts
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2019 - 02:22 AM UTC
Good to have this 234 variant available again, after a few years OOP. Let's indeed hope that the other main variants follow suit, regardless if they call it Upgrade or whatever.
germanarmorfan
Visit this Community
United States
Joined: February 29, 2016
KitMaker: 20 posts
Armorama: 20 posts
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2019 - 07:08 AM UTC
Dragon have all ready done the "improvements" to the 234/3 and 234/4 variants some time ago,
added the steerable wheels to both and called them premium kits. Used to be premium kits came with metal barrels and some photo etch upgrades but Dragon has cheapened out on content in recent years while raising the prices on these "improved" kits by ash as much as 100%
Petition2God
Visit this Community
Colorado, United States
Joined: February 06, 2002
KitMaker: 1,526 posts
Armorama: 1,294 posts
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2019 - 09:17 AM UTC
I hope these become 60% off during dragon usa online's Xmas sale later this year.
m4sherman
Visit this Community
Arizona, United States
Joined: January 18, 2006
KitMaker: 1,866 posts
Armorama: 1,808 posts
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2019 - 12:14 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I hope these become 60% off during dragon usa online's Xmas sale later this year.


I second that hope. I looked for this version, so I would have both turret types, and came up empty. It's not worth 60 to 75 plus 15 shipping. The going cost on the evil bay site today.
Taeuss
Visit this Community
Manitoba, Canada
Joined: January 03, 2016
KitMaker: 3,791 posts
Armorama: 3,778 posts
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2019 - 01:07 PM UTC
In their day these and the others in the 234 family were premium kits in their own rights and Cyber Hobby released limited-production upgrade sets for them that -among other things- replaced the fender panniers to allow the doors to be posed open. Excellent kits even now, but I agree that a simple and cost effective upgrade is to buy one on E-Bay and then upgrade the PE. The mush about the multi-segment wheels is hardly important and wasn't even uniformly offered across all four variants.
brekinapez
Visit this Community
Georgia, United States
Joined: July 26, 2013
KitMaker: 2,272 posts
Armorama: 1,860 posts
Posted: Friday, March 22, 2019 - 03:30 PM UTC
Yes, I have a premium of one of the 234 variants that has all these 'upgrades' that I bought about five years ago. I don't know how they are claiming this is 'new' unless its maybe that they didn't premium this particular variant when they did the others.
M4A1Sherman
Visit this Community
New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Saturday, March 23, 2019 - 07:46 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

I hope these become 60% off during dragon usa online's Xmas sale later this year.


I second that hope. I looked for this version, so I would have both turret types, and came up empty. It's not worth 60 to 75 plus 15 shipping. The going cost on the evil bay site today.


Ebay is not "evil"; just a very few people on it... $60-$75 bucks is the going rate for top-notch plastic these days, so GET USED TO IT. Want cheaper prices? WAIT for the DRAGON "Sales Events" and wait a few months before you think about buying on ebay- The prices nearly ALWAYS go down after a particular kit's "novelty" has worn off...

I NEVER buy "brand-new" kits; I always wait until the prices come down...
M4A1Sherman
Visit this Community
New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Saturday, March 23, 2019 - 07:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Dragon have all ready done the "improvements" to the 234/3 and 234/4 variants some time ago,
added the steerable wheels to both and called them premium kits. Used to be premium kits came with metal barrels and some photo etch upgrades but Dragon has cheapened out on content in recent years while raising the prices on these "improved" kits by ash as much as 100%


What "used to be" and "what is" today, are two distinctly different things. I don't like it either, but what're ya gonna do? That's LIFE...
m4sherman
Visit this Community
Arizona, United States
Joined: January 18, 2006
KitMaker: 1,866 posts
Armorama: 1,808 posts
Posted: Saturday, March 23, 2019 - 01:58 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

I hope these become 60% off during dragon usa online's Xmas sale later this year.


I second that hope. I looked for this version, so I would have both turret types, and came up empty. It's not worth 60 to 75 plus 15 shipping. The going cost on the evil bay site today.


Ebay is not "evil"; just a very few people on it... $60-$75 bucks is the going rate for top-notch plastic these days, so GET USED TO IT. Want cheaper prices? WAIT for the DRAGON "Sales Events" and wait a few months before you think about buying on ebay- The prices nearly ALWAYS go down after a particular kit's "novelty" has worn off...

I NEVER buy "brand-new" kits; I always wait until the prices come down...


I call it evil bay because it does evil things to my wallet.

Sadly, the ones on the bay ARE the ones left after the novelty has worn off. With any luck they will be dumped when the new version comes out.
M4A1Sherman
Visit this Community
New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Sunday, March 24, 2019 - 08:41 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

I hope these become 60% off during dragon usa online's Xmas sale later this year.


I second that hope. I looked for this version, so I would have both turret types, and came up empty. It's not worth 60 to 75 plus 15 shipping. The going cost on the evil bay site today.


Ebay is not "evil"; just a very few people on it... $60-$75 bucks is the going rate for top-notch plastic these days, so GET USED TO IT. Want cheaper prices? WAIT for the DRAGON "Sales Events" and wait a few months before you think about buying on ebay- The prices nearly ALWAYS go down after a particular kit's "novelty" has worn off...

I NEVER buy "brand-new" kits; I always wait until the prices come down...


I call it evil bay because it does evil things to my wallet.

Sadly, the ones on the bay ARE the ones left after the novelty has worn off. With any luck they will be dumped when the new version comes out.


Sounds like you could use a new wallet!

I kind of have the same problem with MY wallet- My wallet says "yes", but my brain says "NOOOO!!!"
 _GOTOTOP