Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale '39-'45 Series Kit No.
6282; Hohenstaufen Division, Normandy 1944 - Gen2; 307 parts (269 in grey styrene, 32 etched brass, 6 in grey DS plastic); price estimated as US $11.95Advantages: beautifully sculpted figures with very nice weapons set; excellent choice of options and equipment, stencils for painting cases included
Disadvantages: lots of tiny parts
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all German fans
The 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" fought on the western front at the end of the war, and was one of the two divisions which Operation "Market Garden" was unlucky enough to enough to encounter at Eindhoven. This new kit from DML (avoiding the "SS" cachet again) presents four figures in camouflage smocks with a selection of weapons, including two Panzerfaust with a choice of "carry"position with folded trigger and sights or "fire" position with the sights open and trigger cocked. Six "DS" plastic helmets with camouflage covers are also included.
The Panzerfaust are very nice, with each one coming with four parts
- rocket and tube, open sights, closed sights, and an etched brass safety pin. The kit takes pity on most of us with weak eyes and unsteady hands, and provides a good selection of decals for the two Panzerfauste to dress them up. But in a first, DML also includes two different stencils for their packing crates, which the modeler must attach and then use an airbrush to spray the contents label on the case itself. This is a very nice idea, and one that I am surprised took this long for somebody to latch on to!
Each figure follows current DML breakdown and has a total of 17 parts to the basic figure: chest (2), legs (2), feet (2), hands (2), head (2), arms (2), skirt (4), and collar (1). Surprisingly, given that the kit comes with a total of eight weapons (2 x Kar 98, 1 x Gewehr 41, 2 x MP-40, 1 x MP-44, and 2 x Panzerfaust (either 60 or 100, I'm not sure)) there are only eight hands and eight arms, so the builder will have to make do with what comes in the kit.
A nice set of painting directions from Ron Volsted are included, and they should help get them to look "right." (Note that the collar tabs are "PC" and left blank.)
Overall this appears to be another nice offering from DML.
Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell