Dragon No. 6286 DAK Tiger I 3 in 1
I was lucky enough to buy this kit after hearing about it on Armorama. I hadn't been really active in the forums and jut happened in their one day to find Jim Rae had put up a news article about it. I decided anything having to do with the new Dragon Tiger was going to be a big deal so I bought one on the spot. Now they are getting a little hard to find, so I am happy I got one.
The decals are Cartograph, and offer basic numbers for tank numbers 142, 112, and 141 of 1.Kompanie, S. Pzr.Abt 501 in Tunisia. Cartograph is one of the industry leaders in aftermarket decals.
The extras pack has the standard Tiger I multimedia parts including PE exhaust heat shields, turned aluminum barrel, cast metal tow shackles, etc. As the Tiger I initial before it, the DAK tiger parts are all excellently done. There is a ton of brass, both turned and PE. The PE is exceptional. The detail is superb and the relief is distinct. There is enough for all the pioneer tool brackets. The PE fan shrouds are an interesting addition. There are PE bases for the turned brass ammunition, engine deck grills, S mine discharge brackets, and the now famous bucket. The S mine dischargers themselves are of turned brass. The tow cables are made from two widths of steel wire. The air filter hoses can be modeled in either plastic or nylon tube.
Sprue L is the clear sprue and offers vision ports and periscopes for all stations as well as headlight lenses.
The hull is produced using Dragon' new slide molding. As is all the molding on the kit, the detail is extraordinary. It lacks sides in order to be universal to all the Tigers released by Dragon recently. The turret is asymmetrical and provides small bosses for bracket location. Unlike most older kits, these bosses do not necessarily need to be removed to make a nice kit, they are positioned so that with the addition of some plastic cement, they turn into nice weld joints. The turret stowage box has the brackets molded in place. They extend out from the box and seem pretty delicate. Take some care with that part. Some pieces that have a rather innovative approach to slide mold include the tow cable eyelets, exhaust heat shields, and the air intake filters.
As stated before the detail on the molded parts is just incredible. I don't even begin to have time to go into all of the details that stand out, but I will point out a few nice ones. There are two ammo crates and 6 more plastic rounds, as well as empty cases. The main radiator grills are two piece to more accurately reflect the s shape to them. The is a full gun breach included for those who want to do an interior. There are three gas cans with accompanying PE center layers for the crimped sheet metal effect. If you are careful with them the torsion bars can be moveable for a rough terrain effect. The tracks are of the magic track variety which you snap together, position the cement in place. There is a template for doing the front and rear of the tracks to ease in installation. There is a track cable in plastic for the right that has a more realistic droop than most plastic "cables." However the included metal cables seem to be a much more visually interesting, albeit more difficult, option.
There are enough parts to do all the important details in either multimedia or basic plastic, so whatever your experience level it can turn out nicely for you.
Overall I rate this kit a 10 out of 10. I haven't found much to complain about at all. I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on one. Mine is going back into the box to either be enjoyed much later or sold for millions in 2050 to support my retirement. Cheers.
Rob McCune - 3 Feb, 2006