Dragon 1/35 Leichte (Funk) Pz.Kfw. 1 Ausf. A
By Joe Lotz
Item No.:6591
MSRP: $44.95
Although the PZ.Kfz. 1 was initially intended as a training vehicle for the fledging Panzer Divisions of Germany, it ended being the most significant German armored vehicle of the early war years. The irst examples of the Pz. 1 put into service were without a turret and meant to be driver- and maintenance training vehicles. After the first batch the Pz.1 received a small turret with 2 MG.
Starting with the Spanish Civil War, it also saw combat in Poland, Low Countries, France, Balkans, North Africa and Russia, where it was mostly used as light reconnaissance tank but also to bring up the numbers in the Panzer Divisions. A number of Pz. 1’s were given to Spain and about ten Pz.1 were exported to China were they fought in the Sino-Japanese War. Even though well of 6,000 Pz.1’s of different versions had been produced it was pretty gone from service by 1941 when better tanks in greater numbers reached the front lines.
One of the variants of the Panzer 1 was a command vehicle which is represented in this kit. These command vehicles had a fixed superstructure instead of the turret and were equipped with additional radios and additional personnel in a very confined space.
The Kit
The kit comes in the standard Dragon top opening box. It includes 13 light gray sprues of different sizes. Further included in the kit is a large sprue with clear parts, two small PE-Frets, 16 PE brass rings, a small decal shield, the lower hull and a bag of tiny magic track links.
The plastic parts are all nicely molded with crisp detail. There was no sign of flash or prominent mold parting lines. Ejector marks on parts were all in hidden places. As always, Dragon made extensive use of the ejector stubs on the parts. Not all parts included in this kit will be used.
The total parts count according to Dragon is given as over 400.
The kit includes a full interior with radios, transmission and final drives. No engine is provided.
The assembly is your standard tank assembly starting with the suspension and wheels, followed y the interior. Next are the exterior parts like fenders, exhaust, lights, tools etc. The final step is the assembly of the superstructure.
The painting and marking guide gives options for 3 different vehicles. The first option is for a vehicle of an unidentified unit in 1938 in a two-tone camouflage of RAL 7021(Gray Black) and RAL 8002(Signal Brown). The second option is for a vehicle in overall RAL 7021 for an unidentified unit with no markings at all and the third option is for a vehicle of the 1.Panzer Division in 1935 with a 3-color camouflage of RAL 8010(Brown), RAL 8002 (Earth Yellow) and RAL 6007 (Green).
Conclusion
This is a nice little kit with a lot of parts. As far as part quality is concerned, Dragon did a great job as always. If you are into German WW2 vehicles, then this is the kit for you. With the full interior and the transmission it gives some options for display even without an engine.
I would like to thank Dragon USA for this review kit.