Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Ausf. E/F~DML

[Jamie Tainton]

Okay so this is the Dragon Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Ausf. E/F, which I did the artwork for, BTW. Done with Gouache on art board. No Photoshop. Clouds done with airbrush. It's a bit wonkty but as time goes by I like it more and more.






The parts list.

[Jamie Tainton]

So since I seem to have stated with this kit I will focus on it as the first experiment in this huge group build I am undertaking on this subject. I guess the earliest version of this vehicle I have in the collection is the Tristar B - http://tinyurl.com/6ofpz5j and we will get to that one in due course, but for now this will be the lynch pin of the series.
I think the way I will approach this is to do one step at a time for all the kits, posting the parts list and images of the parts that are in that step. Sometimes there maybe a deviation because of the various spin offs of this chassis but I'll try and present it in a way that is consistent so a comparison by the reader can be made a easily as possible. I will try and keep the comparison thread up to date as well, but I am thinking that each of the individual build blogs will end up having the thickest data groupings.
So the way I am going to approach this is to take each step - look at the parts and then look at my references for how these parts compare to the real ones. The main reference that probably has the most accurate info is the book from the Panzer Tracts people on this vehicle.
So lets start with Step 1.


Well the first thing we notice is that Dragon's kit offers the modeller two types of Idler and Drive wheels. One thing one can say about Dragon is pretty generous in what the include with their kits. Back in the old days their kits would have been looked at with awe as we use to have spare boxes back then that were not so easily filled. But with most of DML's offerings that spares box gets filled pretty quick.

The difference in the two choices are the earlier version and more usual production type. The early (for want of a better description) drive and idler wheels seem to appear mainly on the variants of this vehicle such as the Grilles and Marders and it was hard for me to find any photos showing the early type on a standard tank, although I did find a few. So in that case I will use the standard for my build here.
So some photos of the wheels now.


So the early or less often seen type of drive wheel, the ones without the lightening holes, (bottom left in the pic) is labelled as parts A3 and A4. The corresponding idlers appears to be from photographic evidence to be the ones with the circular holes in them (upper right). The more commonly seen drive wheels with the holes in the around the circumference of the outer section are parts A24 and A25 in the front page parts call out sheet (bottom right). The other set of idlers have a tear drop type of lightening hole in them, parts A5 and A6 (upper left). Part A15 is used as a cap on the drive wheel.
I will probably use the extra set of wheels from this kit on the Maquette builds, just to jazz those up with more accurate parts.

[Dario Risso]

Yeah, I've been waiting for this blog !

The choice of the wheel was the first issue I see when I look the instructions; thanks for solving it
Waiting for updates
Darío

[Jamie Tainton]

[David Madsen]

[Jamie Tainton]

Yes I have done 18 for Dragon over the years, but I am pretty much out of that game for now. I found the demands on my time and the way things were done not worth it in the end. Great experience and I haven't shut the door on it but it is hard to do a good painting when I am working 50 to 60 hours a week on a movie, which is how I make a living, painting sets for live action productions.
The money I got from Dragon while pretty good, was basically a third of what I would make in the same time painting sets on a movie.
Also, any free time was sucked up by the box art, and I had no time for model building which I really enjoy as a stress relief, (most of the time).
As I get older there just seems to be less and less time.
Here are a couple of shots showing the idler and drive wheels glued together. I have to say- the fit of the two halves of the drive wheel do go together better than the Tristar ones, which really need some attention when gluing together. (Of course the Tamiya ones have the best fit.)
At this point I will say that I like the Dragon plastic better that the Tristar plastic, which is very fragile and brittle. You need to be very careful when cleaning the Tristar parts up as you can have blemishes at the sprue attachment points, because it is not a forgiving plastic ,as much the DML or Tamiya formulas, at any rate.




May as well get the road wheels up.

[Jamie Tainton]

So let's take a look at how the Dragon parts look next to a photo of the real deal.
Here is a factory shot of a Pzkpfw. 38(t) E or F at the factory.


Now the drive idler and road wheels. I'd say they look pretty decent although the tear drop shape on the DML idler is more curvy and more light bulb shaped than the real one.






Here is a picture- one of the only ones I have been able to find that has the solid surface on the outer ring of the drive wheel.

[Jamie Tainton]

Here is shot showing the suspension parts. Not as refined as the Tristar offering, but adequate for what will be seen and definitely better than the Maquette or Italeri ancient offerings.
It is however easier than the Tristar to assemble together.
Unfortunately the lower part, (with the two dots on it) on the "T" shaped part is molded on and is not appropriate, if you want to display the suspension in any other position other than dead centre. The Tristar kit's part is separate and is more faithful to the real deal.
That being said the one cool thing is that Dragon offers the modeller the choice between two types of leaf spring parts. Parts 23 have a slot in the front (and back as seen here), which I gather from perusing the references is an early feature, more appropriate for an E type. The other set (Parts 9seen below the first one) has shielding and is solid on the front face, The Tristar E/F only has the one set with the solid face. I will be using the slotted ones for this build and donate the spares to the Maquette kit.


The hull comes in one piece which is unique when comparing to the other kits I will be discussing, excepting the Kirin Grille kit which also comes as one piece. This definitely assures a perpendicular and square platform for future assemblies to attach. The other kits will require careful assembly of their three part hulls.
I believe that this kit came out after the Pz38(t) Ausf. G from DML and it can be seen that there has been some improvement over the previous Ausf. G kit. For example the side armour plate has a more correct depiction of all the rivet heads on the lower hull armour plates. The earlier kit's one piece hull from Dragon is simpler, without any rivet detail, (as is the Tristar offering).
Here is the side view with part of one of the suspension assemblies constructed. The front damper is molded onto the hull where as the Tristar kit's are seperate and has two parts. I believe the Tristar rendition is more accurate with this detail. You can see the damper is a bit squat in the second picture following.




Look here at the earlier kit from DML- the Ausf.G- it has the proper slant to the front armour but is missing the rivet detail. Tristar also skips this.


This is the Pzkpfw 38(t) Ausf. G hull, simpler, like the Tristar one.
"E" on the left and "G" on the right




upper one is the E


Dragon includes two front lower plates with a proper pre "F" type. Somewhere during the production of the F series front armour was augmented with a standardized bit of kit to hang spare tracks. This can be seen in Fs and later Gs etc.
The early type, as seen pre Ausf. F


the later version, which is what the Tristar kit has.


Test fitting with the wheels for these photos






The return roller mounts are separate pieces


The rear plate. Dragon include a covered and uncovered track tension adjustment point, here are the exposed bits, Parts D28, (which I think were incorrectly marked as D29 in the instructions.


There is a conical part, (B70) that is meant to go over the central area but I left mine of to show the detail here.


The front lower armour added with the separate braces and tow hooks attached.

[Tim Coulson]

Looking good.

Useful comparison, thanks.

[David Madsen]

Great presentation, looking forward to this!