With the release of the new Dragon Hummel Late variant, I would like to build a Hummel. To my knowledge, Dragon makes the only 1/35 Hummels out there; the initial, early, and late. I can’t find very much about the Hummel online or in my personal references. So I have a couple of questions.
What is the difference between the Initial and Early variants?
I have found that the Hummel served on the Eastern Front a lot, but did it, like its brother the Nashorn, serve in Italy and on the Western Front like Normandy?
Are the Dragon Hummels any good? I have had good experiences with Dragon armor but would like to here some thoughts.
Does anybody now the marking selection for the Dragon Hummel Late?
And if anybody has built both a Dragon Hummel and the Nashorn, which did you like better?
The main difference between the early and the late is the design of the driver’s compartment. The late has a squared off section for both the driver and the radio operator while the early had a protruding compartment for the driver only.
DML is the only game in town in terms of styrene offerings for the Hummel. I’ve only built their early, kit # 6150, back in 2004, and it built up well enough but had the color photo-style of instructions vs. the traditional line drawings. I don’t recall any major issues with it and the upcoming Late version will likely take advantage of the new-tool offerings for both the 15cm gun and the Pz IV kits they’ve released, so should have superior detail as a result. I’ve got the Premium Nashorn in the stash but haven’t built it yet so can’t compare the two. HTH such as it is.
One of the major omissions in the directions is that there are two parts used as templates to place correctly the interior gun travel lock. What is omitted is that it’s not clear that these parts are only used for placement and then tossed and should not be glued in.
There have been several Hummeln that have even been featured in top AFV magazines where the builders didn’t notice this.
I asked almost the same questions a month or two ago… no, I haven’t ordered any Hummels yet tho’…
And I do believe the Hummel did serve in the western front… not sure in Italy, though’.
Also, the kit features some figures… one features an entire crew and another features 2 Germans on horsebacks… but I don’t remember which did include what… Doog should remember
Those are some really nice Hummels. Did you prefer one over the other or not?
I did read about those jigs in some reviews. I did see that the Initial comes with a crew and the Early comes with two Germans on horseback. Anybody know if the Late comes with figures?
Since they did probably serve on the Western Front, does anybody know if they were in the Panzer divisions around Normandy or the Falaise Gap? And what variant would have most likely been used.
I am kind of leaning torwards the Late variant becasue it comes with Magic Tracks and you don’t have to clean up every single track you snip off from the tree.
I have photos of both early and late model Hummels serving in Normandy, but the units are not identified. With only a brief look, I found one color plate of a late model serving with the 2nd SS Pz.Art.Rgt. Das Reich.
Yes, Echelon does make a decal set for the Clauswitz. I found them on greatmodels.com. I think I am going to build a late with those markings for one in Normandy.
It was a real mix of good and bad molding. Some areas were fantastic while some were horrible… The premiums are better than the original releases obviously… The tracks are awesome. The biggest gimmick is the PE engine vents… The PE ones included are far too thin to represent the armored grills of the real ones. I scratchbuilt mine from styrene and it wasn’t difficult at all, just a little time consuming. I used the PE tub with Styrene inserts.
Just take your time and make sure all the upper armor fits nice and tight… Nothing major just don’t rush it…
I noticed that someone (Bill, I think) addressed the differences between the Initial and Late Hummels, but what about the differences between the Early and the Initial? Are they the same, but DML packages them with different stuff, or is there some feature that distinguishes the one from the other?
Would you happen to know which parts those are? I took a look at my Hummel instructions last night after reading this, and was unable to identify such a two-piece template.
