Overview

This is the second model in Dragon’s range of 1/35th military vehicles covering the Type 95 Light Tank “Ha-Go”, the first one being an “Early Production” vehicle, released in 2012. Unlike the battles in Europe or the Middle East in World War Two, tanks in the Pacific Theater were not used in the massive numbers seen in Europe, nor in any major tank vs tank battles. Tanks were mainly infantry support vehicles, both on the Japanese side as well as the Allied side. The Type 95 tank saw combat against Chinese and Russia forces in Manchuria on the mainland, as well as taking part in all the Imperial Japanese Army island campaigns in WW2. The tank was fairly light, weighing just 7.4 tonnes and it was designed primarily as an infantry support tank. It was the most produced tank in the Japanese arsenal with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries constructing about 2,300 vehicles. Being relatively small, it only had a crew of three.

Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182. It is also known under the informal name Königstiger (German for "Bengal tiger"), often mistranslated as King Tiger or Royal Tiger by Allied soldiers.

The Tiger II was the successor of the Tiger I, combining the latter's thick armor with the armor sloping used on the Panther medium tank. The tank weighed almost seventy metric tons, was protected by 100 to 180 mm (3.9 to 7.1 in) of armor to the front, and was armed with the long barreled 8.8 cm Kampfwagenkanone 43 L/71 gun. The chassis was also the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer.

History

During WWII, the use of tanks revolutionized the way war would be fought. It was known as “Blitzkrieg”, and the German Panzer tank was the key vehicle in this new style of war. The Panzer medium tank had a number of major modifications during the course of the war. The MK IV featured a 75mm main cannon and two 7.9mm machine guns. However, the MK IV was not heavily armored and suffered greater losses as the war developed. The PZKW was conceived in 1934 and went into limited production by 1936. The MK IV version went into full production in 1943 and reached large production numbers. After the first version of the PZKW, the MK IV became the basis for numerous armored vehicles, ranging from self-propelled guns to munitions carriers and bridge-layer tanks. Its poor armor protection was supplemented by armor skirts on the sides and around the turret.

Kit

This is another of Dragons “Black Label” kits. The model is boxed in a sturdy box with a nice painting showing the vehicle used in West German markings. Inside you will find seven spruces molded in grey plastic. Also one clear spruce, lower hull section, four Dragon DS track links, small decal sheet, instruction fold out sheet, and a photo reference sheet with photos of a vehicle at the famous Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster located in Germany. The parts are flash free with some mold lines that clean up very well. Dragon includes a correction instructions sheet for step 15. The correction is a simple one in that all is needed is to cut off a piece of a part and glue it in a different area. The parts count is just right and I found that there are only two parts left over after the build - something that I’m not used to with a Dragon kit as my parts box usually gets stuffed after a Dragon kit build. No PE fret is included in the kit.

Dragon Models offers a complete lineup of the Pz.Kpfw. III family tree in 1/35 scale, including several kits released in this past year alone. The subject of this review is the Pz.Bef.Wg. III Ausf J from their Smart Kit series. Pz.Bef.Wg., short for Panzerbefehlswagen, identifies the vehicle as a specialized command tank, containing long range radios.

The Pz.Bef.Wg. III Ausf J

The Panzer III was a medium-class tank that, at the outbreak of WWII, was designed to be the primary platform of the all-conquering panzer divisions. With the advent of more heavily armored and up-gunned enemy tanks, the role of the Panzer III became secondary to that of the Panzer IV, and its production finally ceased in 1943.