FineScale Modeler 05 1999

Consisting of the M26 tractor and the M15 semi-trailer, the M25 was one of the biggest vehicles the U.S. Army fielded in World War II. Used exclusively in Eur-ope, it was a capable battlefield armored recovery vehicle and could haul everything from supplies to landing craft. It was also infamous for tearing off corners of buildings on tight turns! The Dragon Wagon soldiered on into the Korean War and found additional users in the European civilian market. Tamiya pulled out all the stops for its "Commemorative Thirtieth Anniversary kit." The plastic parts (nearly 600 of them!) are cleanly molded in olive styrene and are supplemented by photoetched, metal, and vinyl parts. Detail is top notch. The cab interior details match photos in the U.S. Army technical manual and even features the vehicle commanders desk. All the lights have chrome reflectors and clear lenses. Photoetched parts are provided tor tread plates. The trailer features wheel guards, ramps, tie down chains, and tire blocks. The 19 vinyl tires are beautifully molded, as are the four seated crew figures.

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Model Magazine International 03 2006

Like all the new Dragon kits there is a wealth of plastic sprues in the box as well as three sets of photo-etched parts, two brass shells, a turned aluminium barrel and two alternate hulls plus a bag of Dragon's fantastic Magi-Tracks. On looking through the instructions, you realise this is a 3 in 1 kit. You can choose from an early version, a late version, or the German Africa Korps. With ten different decal options ranging from the Eastern front - Autumn 1941, right through to Tobruk -April 1941. I decided to go for the DAK version because it opens up huge scope for weathering and showing vehicles not looking their best. I was building this kit 100% out of the box (bar the stowage on the rear deck - I was quite disappointed not to find a little bit more clutter for the rear deck included in the kit as the box artwork is slightly misleading). Construction begins as most kits do with the running gear. Each pair of road wheels comes in nineteen parts but when finished makes a quality set of working suspension. Whilst constructing these parts I noticed that the plastic tyres had 'Continental' printed on the sides and I then realised Dragon had excelled themselves again! I built the kit following the instruction in sequence without any major problems.

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FineScale Modeler 01 2003

I've always been fascinated by modeling. 1 still remember the multi-colored Matchbox kits I built when I started in the hobby back in the 1970s. Recent kits are exquisitely detailed, fit well, and usually need nothing more than careful assembly and a nice paint job to look like the real thing. Tamiya's 1/48 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4/7 falls firmly into this category: a kit with almost perfect fit and fine detail inside and out! It features recessed panel lines and separately molded slats, flaps, and rudder that allow the model to be built in more realistic poses. A complete set of decals provides markings for three machines, including the one I chose, a beautifully camouflaged E-4 of 2./JG 27 that flew in North Africa.

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Model Magazine International 02 2008

It's amazing to think that Tamiya have released one hundred kits in the 1:48 aircraft range, especially considering that the line had been largely dormant for a good number of years, but with the 2007 issue of the Fieseler Fil56, the 'century' has indeed been reached, and what a superb kit with which to celebrate the occasion! For starters, the box itself is rather special, featuring a full-length sleeve carrying the boxart, which depicts Rommel in his camouflaged Storch, banking over a column of DAK vehicles in the desert - very dramatic and worthy of framing for a modelling workshop wall! Inside the kit box, we are presented with a card platform carrying a pressed metal main spar, bent-wire undercarriage stiffener and a small photo-etched fret with four supplementary parts. Also sitting on the platform is the sprue holding the two halves of the fuselage moulding, which in this model is rather interesting. The large glazing area of the Storch must have presented Tamiya's brilliant designers with some unusual challenges, and they solved the main one, ie; making a clean join where the side windows meet the fuselage edge, by moulding the clear panels integrally with the opaque plastic of the airframe. It's extremely effective, just leaving the modeller the job of masking the clear parts (masking sheet supplied) so the inside and out of the fuselage can be sprayed. Including the fuselage, the box contains seven sprues of grey styrene, plus one of clear, which carries further elements of the extensive canopy, including configuration options. A beautifully detailed 1:48 replica of the Argus V8 engine is provided, made up from individually moulded cylinders, engine block, sump, exhaust and gearbox - very nice indeed. The narrow 'tandem* cockpit is an elegant piece of model kit design, and includes all the delicate framework and structures that can be seen through the large canopy panels, in fact with the engine in place, the central portion of the model will look like a little jewel when complete.

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