After years of Tamiya kits that just fall together in some cases, I started my first DML kit. I got a STUG IV on sale at Hobby Lobby. It is the older Dragon kit. I have heard about the iffy engineering of DML kits but thought “How bad can it be?” I got through the hull, superstructure, I made some brass parts to replace some of the kit parts and was feeling pretty good about the whole venture. I went to start on the tracks and the whole thing fell apart, the tracks are wider that the drive sprocket. I pried one sprocket apart and filed it down to fit… sort of. The other sprocket will not come apart. Is this normal on Dragon kits or is it just a fluke? I like the range of kits they produce but if they all are this questionable?
Some of their older Imperial Series kits (IMO), can have some fit issues. some of the issues are quite small to I’m-gonna-go-test-the-aerodynamic-qualities-of-this-kit issues. They do produce a nice range of kits and if you persevere with it you can turn out a sharp looking kit.
Cheers
Dave
Never heard of that before, but I only have a couple of the older kits. So far nothing bad to report.
Like many manufacturers, DML’s quality has definitely improved over time. The older kits with a #90xx kit number are from their “Imperial Series” and represent either full or partial re-boxes of molds that DML purchased from other manufacturers. As a result, their quality can vary widely but overall are still buildable with a little TLC. Kits with a #60xx number are all DML designed kits and those that have a very low number in that range can sometimes be more problematic when it comes to accuracy, fit, level of details, etc. as in many cases DML was still trying to find its feet in terms of producing kits on their own.
For the most part they now represent the cutting-edge of model kits in terms of quality and level of detail. That’s not to say that the kits are perfect, far from it in many cases, but generally speaking anything that’s got a #6200 or higher number has been released within the 6-7 years. HTH as it can be confusing trying to sort out all the different types of kits they have produced over the years. Don’t judge the entire line by just the one kit or you might find yourself missing out on some truly great kits that they have and continue to produce. [;)]
Hiya bud,
The DML StuG that is my current WIP is a 1996 ‘Imperial Series’ kit.
Apart from missing an antennae and having no locator stubs on the front drive wheel housings she seems to be spot-on. I’m loving this build! I’m buying Fruil aftermarket tracks as every single individual track link has a horrid EP pin mark in it-I don’t fancy filling 200 plus EP holes!
Imo I think Fruils will make all the difference anyway!
The newer kits are VERY good indeed, the instructions can be a bit misleading [*-)] but like Bill and others have said put in the work and you’ll have a truly superb piece of scale armour!
ATVB & stick with it!
Ben [:)]
I will stick with it eventually. I was just surprised that such a basic part of the kit was so off. I will probably get after market tracks and ditch the kit parts. Or build up my skill sets a bit more and tackle it OOB. I have the Tiger early and an Easy 8 Sherman in the stash and the Sherman may just be for parts, I won’t go into the problems on that one. The Tiger looks really good so I can’t wait to tackle that one.
Ben