DML 1/35 Upgrade and Conversion Kit for StuG III Ausf. G Early Production First Look
By Cookie Sewell
| Date of Review | January 2007 | Manufacturer | DML (cyber-hobby.com) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Upgrade and Conversion Kit for StuG III Ausf. G Early Production | Scale | 1/35 |
| Kit Number | 3834 | Primary Media | 89 parts (43 in grey styrene, 43 etched brass, 2 turned brass, 1 turned aluminum) |
| Pros | Upgrades the base kit with etched brass and provides both accessories and additonal details | Cons | Shell catcher is only available here and not in base kit; add-on kits somewhat defeat the concept of the "Smart Kit" |
| Skill Level | Intermediate | MSRP (USD) | $16.98 |
First Look
DML's boutique hobby line of cyber-hobby.com is now offering two upgrade kits for their very nice new StuG III Ausf. G Early Production kit, and each one covers different aspect s of the model.
This set offers interior parts – etched brass ammo racks, small arms (two sets of their "WB" German sets with two MP40s, one MP44 and one Gewehr 43 in each set), ammo pouches, a shell casing catch basket for the 7.5 cm gun, two turned brass 7.5 cm rounds, and a turned aluminum barrel. This set also includes a sheet of Cartograf decals with three different finishing options, but as is unfortunately consistent with these sets, no listing of who they belong to or where these vehicles were serving. I personally find this an annoying trait as it does not give any information to the general modeler, and requires a very heavy library of references to ensure you can determine which is which.
The directions still require you to guess at where to insert the parts as they are not keyed to the kit's directions. This would make them much more handy, given the busy directions DML uses with their stock kits.
The one big ding on the original kit was the lack of the shell catcher, and it is an odd thing to leave off.
Overall, this answers the mail for many of the "must have brass to be a good model" types out there, but the base kit (less the boo-boo on the shell catcher) is fine as is so anyone not into brass doesn't have to fear it being incomplete without the brass parts.
Thanks to DML for the review sample.