PMMS
Dragon
Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn
Dragon Kit No. 6166
1/35th Scale
First Look Review by Terry Ashley

Following on from the earlier Hornisse kit (No.6165) Dragon have now released the Nashorn main production version with the Hummel (kit No.6150) still to follow.

The Kit:Dragon
The kit has 357 parts in light gray plastic plus another 240 for the individual track links, a small decal sheet and a small sprue with a selection of nicely moulded infantry weapons.

The parts are moulded to the same high standard as the Panther kits and as you would expect most of this kit is the same as the Hornisse kit.

This new kit has additional sprues f, L, M and P while sprue H from the Hornisse kit is eliminated.

All my comments from the Hornisse review apply here while the new sprues give you a new gun shield, new front half for the barrel and travel lock for the front hull. New open ammo bins for the rear fighting compartment with seven 88mm rounds to put in the bins, new exhaust pipes plus a numbr of smaller detail parts for the fighting compartment and rear hull.

One ommission is the rear cradle clamp (Part H1), with sprue H not being in this kit, this part is also not there, but from what I can see from the Nuts and Bolts Nashorn book it should be?

Another point to note is you are given a choice of Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf E and J drive sprockets as with the Hornisse kit, but the instructions show the Aust E sprocket throughout, it would be better to use the Ausf J sprockets for this Nashorn version.

Markings are provided for two vehicles, one each from Schwere Heeres Panzerjäger, Abteilung 525, Italy, March 1944 and Schwere Heeres Panzerjäger, Abteilung 519, Russia, Winter 1943-44.

Dragon
Dragon

Instructions:
The instructions are the now normal colour photos of the parts during assembly but I found that some of the sequences were a little confusing especially with the gun assembly. The photos show a number of the smaller parts already assembled with only arrowed numbers pointing to the individual parts and careful study of the instructions before gluing would be advisable.

The big question is “has Dragon fixed the many errors in the Hornisse instruction sheet?” The answer is yes and no…..

The errors in the Hornisse kit instructions are shown in italics with the Nashorn equivalent in normal red type.

Conclusion:
Another superb kit from Dragon with very nice surface details and plenty of other details and will be welcomed by German armour fans.

Dragon

The Sprues:

Click on thumbnails for larger view
DragonDragonDragonDragon
DragonDragonDragon
New Nashorn Sprues
DragonDragon
Click Browsers BACK button to return to page

References:

Nashorn Sd.Kfz.164
Nuts & Bolts Vol.14
Book
Ground Power No.105
February 2003
Book


Page created 21 February 2003

Click Browsers BACK button to return to list
Home / Reviews / Vehicle Reviews / Dragon