I took a hiatus from the hobby for a bit (almost a year). But, wasn’t Tristar going to release a Karl Morser? What’s the deal?
They were going to release it, but they may have given up after the releases by DML and Trumpter. Just a guess from me, though.
The DML was a nightmare though. I read a list of modifications, did some research, added to the list an gave up. Mine ended up going to Canada via Ebay. I don’t know about the Trumpeter yet, only thing I heard was at least the rifling was spiraled rather than straight.
Now that Panzer Tracts has released the #17 Armored Supply/Ammunition Carriers, which includes the Munitionsschlepper fur Karl Morser I’d like to build the pair, but only if there’s a good Karl kit out there. Judging from my Tristar Pz.IA I think they might do it (more) right.
Judging by what I saw of the Karl Morser in the box at my LHS and it is an amazing kit. The detail is very sharp and the tracks for the Karl are very nicely done. Every part is separate so it will be a very involved build. I want to buy one, but I can’t justify the high cost. Maybe a year so from now it will come down in price enough for me to buy it.
How come the Dragon Karl Morses has such bad comments?
What is wrong with the kit?
I personally had my eye on it, but now I am not too sure.
What do you mean? THey have the plans for the Munitionsschlepper? If they do, is there ANY way you would be able to scan those plans to me. I’ve been breaking my back trying to get some…
On to your question:
I’m not aware of Tristar releasing or planing to release the Morser Karl. Personally, I think it’d be a stupid step to take considering the fact that two manufacturers have beaten them to the game, not to mention the CMK resin kit.
As for the Dragon kit, to be honest, it’s just a normal Dragon kit. Due to the size of the model, they oversimplified a lot of the detail, and the detail that is there, for the most part, is quite soft and not well defined. To cap it all off, Trumpeter released their Morser Karl, and it is a far superior kit to the Dragon offering. Again, if you’re an obsessive rivet counter, go crawl back under your rock, as this probably won’t make you happy either. However, it is a VERY nice kit, crisply moulded and with plenty of detail. I got one recently. Didn’t start building it, but I am looking forward to it. It is much more expensive than the Dragon offering, but it comes with the railway carriers for it as well. Only gripe is the fact that the tracks are rubber-band type, but personally, I think they’re done well.
Here’s a review and comparison of the two:
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/trumpeter/tr00209.htm
on this site, you’ll also find individual reviews of each of the releases.
I haven’t received the Panzer Tracts #17 yet, they usually put drawings in there (so I’m just hoping), they do have (from site) “Large -format photographs provide details of all three types of Munitionsschlepper auf Panzer IV (Ausf.D, E, and F)”. So, if there aren’t drawings, I’ll make my own from the sources I already have, and the aid of the photos in the book. The only problem area I’m left with is the inside of the cargo area, where the rounds were stowed. I guess I should just break down and splurge on the CMK Karl and Munitionsschlepper kits, but that would blow my budget for a long while.
I saw a build-up of the Trumpeter last night on a site, but it’s all in Japanese and the Google translation tool make giberish out of much of it. But it was still informative to see what that builder was doing with the kit. The rubber-band style tracks do look like a big drawback, especially if you want to display the model in firing position - where there would be a LOT of sag. Here’s that site:
http://geraet040.web.infoseek.co.jp/karl_trumpeter_kit.html
And I hate to admit it, but I do tend to gravitate towards the annoying “rivet counter” type.
One of the things that bugged me the most about the Dragon kit was the lack of detail on the gun carriage, espescially for how visible it is. As well as the need to rebuild the trunion box and the need to drill out all of the guide horns on track links (something I’m going to do now on my PzIA anyway [banghead]), and I would’ve rebuilt the crew railings all the way around, etc. I figured it would take me about a year to complete with all of the mod’s I had listed for myself - time I could spend doing NUMEROUS other builds.
lol, well at least you know exactly what all your options are. If you are of the rivet-counting breed, more power to ya. Personally, my research skills leave something to be desired, as I’m mostly limited to what’s available online, and that isn’t much.
AFVModeller did a buildup review of the Dragon offering, with a lot of improvements made by the author, in issue 12. If you don’t have the mag, you can either order the back issue, or you can order the article alone as a .pdf file, and print it off your computer:
http://shop.afvmodeller.com/customer/home.php?cat=256&XCARTSESSID=388a463e6472420759f709d254ce29b0
The Trumpeter kit may be more accurate (I really don’t like the belt-style tracks, though), but it’s over-engineered and over-complicated, a common problem (?) with Trumpeter kits. The Dragon kit, in my opinion, ain’t all that bad, and looks pretty much like a Karl to me. It’s also a lot cheaper than the Trumpeter kit.
Not Trumpeter-bashing here, as I love them, too!
Just saying the Dragon kit is not a bad product at all.
If Tristar does indeed release a Karl (why they would is beyond me…the world needs THREE kits of what is optimistically only a mildly popular vehicle??), I’m sure it would be the best of the three, as Tristar makes exceptional models.
But, I received a free Dragon Karl recently, and one’s enough for me!
Can’t beat free!