introduction
The Panzer IV Ausf.E from Dragon was seen as a landmark release from Dragon when it was released last year. Despite criticism, it remains as possibly one of the best releases of the year.
set contents
Inside the usual Eduard clear envelope, you’ll find two frets of photo-etch, one large, the other quite small, and 5 sides of instructions. Eduard offer complete replacements for the two front mudguards, as well as a retaining strip for the spare track on the hull front, which Dragon didn’t supply. Eduard also supply brackets to hold the spare track on the glacis plate, again something Dragon missed. There are a few small enhancements for the machine gun including some wing nuts etc, which go some way to improving it’s look, if it was needed, and unusually Eduard have attempted to reproduce the jacking block in metal. Actually it looks rather good, with fine detail on all sides, and when used with the photo-etched brackets it is an improvement over the kit part, although to be fair, Dragon did include a photo-etched bracket for this in the original kit.
Although there are a lot of basic improvements to the kit parts offered, Eduard have again gone the way of offering photo-etched replacements for photo-etched replacements included in the original kit. I find this hard to understand. The engine ventilation louver covers are offered, although already offered by Dragon. The rear fenders are also offered, along with the angle-iron cross-member for the rear wall, and brackets for the Rear convoy light and reflectors.
A full set of photo-etched tool clamps are provided, again redundant because of the original kit parts, and some small improvements for the turret race bearing, and finally a new clasp and padlock for the turret stowage bin. This last part might be useful since the kit supplied one was notoriously difficult to use.
in conclusion
It’s a nice set, but most of it seems redundant since it replaces photo-etched parts already supplied in the original kit release, and therefore difficult to recommend.
Further information is available here
Eduard
My Thanks to Eduard for the review sample.
