Kit Review: cyber-hobby.com 1/35 Accessory Sets for DML Kit No. 6320 StuG III Ausf. G Early Production - Smart Kit:

Kit No. 3832, Set 1: 56 parts (48 etched brass, 2 preformed etched brass, 6 brass tubing sections); price about US $10.98
Kit No. 3834, Set 2: 89 parts (43 in grey styrene, 43 etched brass, 2 turned brass, 1 turned aluminum); price about US $16.98
(NOTE: DML USA is offering a special deal on its website with both accessory kits and the base kit for US $59.98)

Advantages: upgrades the base kit with etched brass and provides both accessories and additonal details

Disadvantages: shell catcher is only available here and not in base kit; add-on kits somewhat defeat the concept of the "Smart Kit"

Rating: Highly Recommended (see text)

Recommendation: for all German StuG III fans

DML's boutique hobby line of cyber-hobby.com is now offering two upgrade kits for their very nice new StuG III Ausf. G Early Production kit, and each one covers different aspect s of the model.

Set 1 offers brass fenders with very nicely done non-slip patterning as well as extra brass such as the exhaust deflector and the attachment bolt strips for the casemate. It also provides brass smoke grenade launchers for the casemate as well.

Set 2 offers interior parts – etched brass ammo racks, small arms (two sets of their "WB" German sets with two MP40s, one MP44 and one Gewehr 43 in each set), ammo pouches, a shell casing catch basket for the 7.5 cm gun, two turned brass 7.5 cm rounds, and a turned aluminum barrel. This set also includes a sheet of Cartograf decals with three different finishing options, but as is unfortunately consistent with these sets, no listing of who they belong to or where these vehicles were serving. I personally find this an annoying trait as it does not give any information to the general modeler, and requires a very heavy library of references to ensure you can determine which is which.

The directions still require you to guess at where to insert the parts as they are not keyed to the kit's directions. This would make them much more handy, given the busy directions DML uses with their stock kits.

The one big ding on the original kit was the lack of the shell catcher, and it is an odd thing to leave off.

Overall, these two kits answer the mail for many of the "must have brass to be a good model" types out there, but the base kit (less the boo-boo on the shell catcher) is fine as is so anyone not into brass doesn't have to fear it being incomplete without the brass parts.

Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review samples.

3834: Upgrade for StuG. III Ausf G early production
1/35 photo etch, turned shells, turned barrel and decals

Dragon's newly tooled StuG III Ausf G Early set a new standard for 1/35 StuG IIIs and includes much of the interior. This upgrade set provides the remaining key parts for the interior that would be visible when the kit’s roof is left off, as well as some additional parts.

For the interior this upgrade set provides photo etch parts for the two ammunition racks. These racks include not only the main frames, but also smaller detail such as securing strips and fasteners. One rack sits to the side of the gun's breech and the other near the forward bulkhead. Two turned brass coloured metal shells are provided.

Other photo etch parts include the forward bulkhead and brackets for a gas mask canister and two MP38/40 submachine guns.

A one piece turned metal barrel is designed to be a drop fit into the kit’s mantlet and will work with the kit’s own slide molded muzzle break.

A slide-molded spent shell case for the StuK 40 L/48 provides detail not in the 1/35 StuG kit. Other injection plastic parts include the MP40s and the ammunition pouches. As the small arms are provided on two generic Generation 2 weapons sprues some useful spares, such as two Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifes and two Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifles, are included.

A crisply registered Cartograph decal sheet has markings for three StuGs. These are large font black with white outline “307” and red hollow outline “1024” both with Balkan Crosses. The third StuG marking is an unusual Balkan Cross with a black outer and white inner profile. All three StuG have a dark yellow base and “307” has thin green camouflage lines.

The set comes in a sturdy plastic package with a one page A4 instruction sheet, which includes three view colour profiles of each of the decal options.

This upgrade set provides a very effective way to complete the new Dragon StuG III G with a well appointed interior, which is a drop fit into the Dragon kit. Definitely recommended.