Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/72 scale Armor-Pro Series Kit No. 7437;= Neubau-Fahrzeug Nr. 25; 77 parts (75 in grey styrene, 2 DS Plastic track r= uns); pre-order price US$19.95 via Dragon USA Online
Advantages: third and last kt of this vehicle in this scale in styrene comp= letes the family; use of slide molding simplifies construction
Disadvantages: nothing major noted
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all small-scale early war German armor fans
DML has now finished its take on the Neubaufahrzeug tank with a kit of the= second prototype (No. 2).
As before, the =93Neubaufahrzeug=94 (new construction vehicle) =96 Nb Fz f= or short =96 vehicles used Rheinmetall developed hulls, first with a Rheinm= etall rolled plate turret and then a faceted Krupp one. Prototype 1 had the= former and Prototype 2 the latter design, and all three pre-production mac= hines used the Krupp design. The Rh-B turret also mounted its unique twin g= un arrangement (one 3.7 cm antitank gun and one 7.5 cm support howitzer) on= e above the other, whereas the Krupp turret placed them side by side (7.5 c= m on the right). Initially the small turrets were planned to mount twin MG =
13 7.92mm machine guns, but in reality only fitted single weapons. A third = MG 13 was mounted in the mantlet of the main turret as well.=20While all of them were built between 1934-35 they were still under test in= 1940 when it was decided to send the three O-series tanks to Norway. One w= as destroyed but the other two were later returned to Germany.=20
This kit is basically the same as the Nos.3-5 kit from a while back but wi= th different decals. The box art states it has a new turret shell and hull = to replicate the soft steel of the prototype. As before, the entire upper h= ull and sponsons are molded as a single piece with many of their details in= place, and it is a spectacular piece of work. The lower hull is actually a= single piece belly and two running strips for the suspension units; howeve= r, here all of the bogies comprise a single unit with only the lead bogie w= heel separate.
Much of the kit=92s design parallels the larger ones but wisely here the t= racks are single piece DS Plastic runs.
The two =93wing=94 turrets consist of four pieces each with closed hatches= . Only the commander=92s hatch in the main turret is a separate part. It co= mes as a two-piece =93dustbin=94 cupola with a split small head-sized hatch= inside a larger one. If you wish the hatches opened you have to split them= yourself, but due to the size and shape you will probably have to scratchb= uild them.=20
As this another prototype version of the tank, the directions provide for = two one options for the one vehicle. One is in in grey and brown camouflage= as with Pz.Abt.z.b.V. 40 in Norway and one is for a three-color camouflage= scheme in Germany in 1935 (sand/olive green/brown). A tiny sheet of Cartog= raf crosses are included but not shown on the directions.=20
Overall this should exhaust any options for the NbFz in this scale.
Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.=20
Cookie Sewell