Dragon 1/35 Sd.Kfz.184 Ferdinand Kursk 1943
By Joe Lotz
Item No.:6495
MSRP: $49.95
History
The Sd.Kfz. 184 Ferdinand was a heavy Tank Destroyer based on the chassis of Porsche's VK4501(P) design, which was in competition with Henschel's design for the Tiger I. Henschel won the contract for the Tiger I, but Porsche had already manufactured about 100 chassis. And instead of scrapping those chassis it was decided to use 90 of the chassis and mount the then newly developed 88mm PaK 43. The result was the Ferdinand, named after its designer Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. All 90 units build were earmarked for Operation Citadel in 1943. The start of the operation was delayed numerous times to iron out the many technical problems of the Ferdinand. Many of it were still present when the offensive started. Another shortcoming was the absence of secondary armament, which made the Ferdinand vulnerable to attacks from soviet tank-hunter teams. About 40 Ferdinand were lost during the battle of Kursk, most abandoned by their crews after mechanical break downs. The remaining tanks were sent back to the factory to add a new commander cupola and a MG 34 bow machine gun and renamed Elefant. The tanks were then used as stop gaps on different fronts including Italy, were their weight proved to much for most bridges. One interesting design feature was the petrol/electric drive were 2 Mayback HML 120 engines drove two electric motors which in turn drove the sprockets. Two Ferdinand/Elefant survived the war. One is at display in restored condition at the US Army Ordinance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, and the other is on display at the Russian Kubinka Tank Museum near Moscow.
The Kit
This is Dragon's Premium Edition of the Sd. Kfz. 184 Ferdinand as it appeared at the battle of Kursk during operation Citadel. Since this is a Premium Edition, the box comes full with goodies. Included in this kit are 12 crisply molded, light gray sprues with the detail we come to expect from Dragon. Furthermore there are 1 clear sprue for the drivers periscopes, 3 PE Frets, 1 aluminum barrel, 1 braided metal tow cable, a small metal chain for the pistol ports, the lower hull, the superstructure, 4 metal tow shackles with metal pins and 2 metal pins for the mud guard hinges. And last but not least, 2 bags of magic tracks. The decals are printed by Cartograph.
This Kit has a couple things I have never seen with a Dragon kit before. The PE mud guards are etched with a tread pattern on both sides. Another new feature is the paint call out during the assembly steps for parts like hull, glacis plate etc.
The assembly process is pretty straight forward starting with the suspension and tracks. Caution is advised when assembling the tracks. There are 2 different types of links. The next steps involve the assembly of the glacis plate and rear armor, followed by the pioneer tools and the gun breach. When attaching the fender/mud guards, there is the option of either using plastic or PE parts. The front PE mud guards can be hinged. The tool boxes on the side also come in plastic and PE. With the added bonus that the pioneer tool can be added to the PE tool boxes. The final steps include the superstructure with hatches, engine deck and gun barrel.
Painting and marking instructions are provided for all vehicles of s.Pz.Jg. Abt. 653 and 654, during their deployment at the Battle of Kursk.
Conclusion
This is another nice offering from Dragon. With the option of building every vehicle involved during the Battle of Kursk, especially diorama builders could have a lot of fun with this kit. But every armor modeler with a few kits under their belt and some PE experience shouldn't have a problem with this model. I would like to thank Dragon USA for this review kit.
