Here''s a slightly belated look at the new Marder II from Dragon....... which I recieved the day before I traveled to Expo, hence the slight delay!

Vinnie

Dragon's Marder II



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Vinnie:

A nice review of a kit that really has my attention. If I may make one comment... If I interpretted correctly what you wrote, you expressed some concern about the hieght of the top of the gunshield relative to the fighting compartment walls. I just did a quick skim of "Panzer Tracts 7-2" and this issue is addressed there. Specifically, it is the "conversion" vehicles on which the gunshield rises above the fighting compartment; on vehicles that were built new, the height of the top of the shield is level with the surrounding walls. I hope that I have not misconstrued what you wrote in your review, and thought that this tidbit might be interesting.

I've just been waiting on some initial reviews before purchasing this kit. Since you seem to think quite highly of it, now I only need to decide whether the Cyberhobby add-on is worth the additional $17. Thank you for providing the review.


Dave

Thanks for the info Dave! I couldn't tell from the pictures I had whether it was a converted or 'new' one! I'll amend what I sadi in the review!

Vinnie

Hi Vinnie,

Thanks for yet another excellent review of a model that I am looking forward to hitting the shelves so that I can get my sticky paws on one. I just wish that the add-on set was included but there you cant have everything................now in a perfect world........

Regards,

John

Great review Vinnie - I think this will be my next build. Is there any good AM ammo that can go in the ammo lockers?

Brian

Thanks Brian. Armorscale make a really nice set of 9 shells, which contains 3 of each of 3 different types of shell. Armour-piercing, sub-calibre AP and HE. They come with separate loads as well, for 12 Euros.

Vinnie

Wow. Another great kit from Dragon. I have been waiting for this one for awhile. I cant wait to see what their secret item is. Thanks for the in depth look Vinnie.

Keep it up Dragon

Vinnie:

I hope that I'm not promulgating misinformation, as I'm a novice. The vehicle depicted on the kit box art seems to be a later production version as it has a single headlamp with Tarnkappe and later style arrangement of pioneer tools on the superstructure (however, the box art seems also to show the driver's perisopes (K.F.F.2), which were eliminated after December 1942). Anyway, in Jentz and Doyle's "Panzer Tracts" 7-2 they have a photo of a converted Ausf. F. In the photo, they comment on a "higher armor guard made out of three plates on the superstructure roof" (and it is certainly much taller than the six piece guard on the production Marder II which is the subject of the kit). Also noticeable in the photo of the conversion vehicle is that the gun shield sits considerably higher than the superstructure walls. In the photos that depict the production version, the gun shield is most definitely level with the superstructure sides. I have supposed that the difference in relative gun shield height is due to this difference in the "armor guard." So as not to misrepresent Jentz and Doyle I should clarify my earlier comments and mention that they do not specifically address this aspect. Further, the production photos all have the travel lock in use, while the conversion vehicle has the gun tube elevated. It's entirely possible that the difference in gun shield height is due to the elevation of the gun in the photo of the conversion vehicle. Now, disclaimers asside, I think that it is correct that the gun shield height is more or less level with the superstructure sides. The cover of "Panzer Tracts" 7-2 shows a Marder II with travel lock engaged. You can see a scan of the cover at discountmodels.com: http://www.discountmodels.com/images/pzt7-2.jpg .

Sorry for such a lengthy post, but I did want to clarify my earlier (more brief) remarks. I want make sure that I am not promulgating misinformation using Jentz' and Doyle's names. Suffice to say, I will surely be buying one of these kits! :-)


Dave

There are some images showing the variation between Marder IIs on this page from Panzernet, but you have to pick them out from the Ausf D/E versions. See photo number 5 especially

Marders

Thank you for pointing out the photo. By my understanding, this is one of the converted vehicles (as indicated by the higher armor guard at the base of the gun shield). Indeed, even with the travel lock in use, the gun shield is higher than the surrounding superstructure walls. In contrast, photos 8, 11, 13, 15, 19, 20, 27, 30, 31, 35, and 38 on the same page show production version vehicles, and the top of the gun shield is more or less flush with the superstructure. Thanks. (Oh so much learning yet to be done. )


Dave

Vinnie, thanks for the in-box review ! Looks like yet another amazing Dragon kit. This Marder II kit has been announced for months now, and I cant wait to get these in stock. All of my Nordland AMPS buddies want this kit as well.

I bet Dragon goes ahead and does a series of Pz Kpfw II's now.

Cheers !!

Alpen

Dave, Mucho thanks! Seems you have quite a reference library already! And I don't mind at all anybody pointing out errors, since taht's the only way we can get more accurate! Thanks again!
Robert, get 3.....they're that good!

Vinnie

this kit looks awesome i love spgs they look so menacing, im real excited about getting mine, " hint hint " heh.

Vinnie:

I'm glad that I didn't offend (it only struck me in hindsight that my comments could be percieved as sniping or unkind). I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of the Panzerjager and I was just thinking out loud (hoping for feedback on my obserrvations from those more knowledgeable than I). I am still quite impressed with your review and am grateful to you for taking the time to post it.


Dave

Thanks Dave!

Vinnie

Is anyone aware if Cyber-Hobby is planning to release a upgrade set for this model?

Frank

Frank, they are, it should be out within a couple of weeks if not days. They had flyers showing it at Dragon Expo, along with the 234/1 set, which of course was released for review last week!

Vinnie

Thanks Vinnie!

Great review Vinnie.

Im banging thru the kit at the moment as well:

http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2312&st=0

Ive noticed overall that the kit seems to have been a little rushed into production, it could have done with having a couple more builds done on pre-prodction samples or something. I found that more than a few parts needed some finessing to get the fit just right, which is odd considering the quality of the other DML new releases.

Sam