Dragon Models 6654 – Ghost Division Blitzkrieg 1940
Generally armour manufacturers don’t include a full crew with their kits, at best you might get two or three figures but often just a token commander or even none. That’s not generally a problem as there are many figure kits of tank crews out there, unless of course you’re building early war or pre-war, in which case tough luck buddy boy. So when this kit came out recently it was great news for early war armour builders, and hopefully heralds the start of many.
This kit comes in the usual small open-ended DML figure box, on three sprues moulded in light grey, one large one holding the four figures and two smaller ones holding the Gen 2 weapons and equipment. There is also a small photo etched fret for the headphones though you only use one of the eight parts it holds. The moulding is the usual Dragon Models quality of finish, no flash, minimal mould seams, and clear sharp mouldings. The Gen 2 equipment is of course excellent and still continues to set the benchmark in injection moulded kit equipment.
The four figures represent three dressed in early/pre-war black panzer uniforms with the fourth being an infantryman likewise dressed in an M1939 jacket to keep with the France in 1940 theme of this set. The level of detailing is excellent with some very nicely done insignia included, and the faces are up there with the best, including fully defined ears. In keeping with the 1940′s theme you also get two cigarettes to use.
Two of the panzer crewmen wear the old style oversized Schutzmütze beret with the internal hard rubber shell, the third wears a feldmütze ( field cap akin to the U.S. equivalent overseas cap ). The other two are walking, one holding a P08 Luger, the other looking to be holding his arm. I’m not quite sure what they are going for with these poses but the two of them give the impression of the armed one escorting the injured one which just seems odd.
The other panzer crewman is standing holding his headphone cords and one of the cigarettes. The cords are a bit overthick so would actually look better replaced with thin nylon. His headphones are made up using one of the supplied PE straps and he also gets pair of goggles, which would look better with the centres drilled out and replaced with clear lens.
The infantryman gets the other cigarette and his kit includes the gas mask cape pouch often worn on the front of the gas mask container strap in the early days and he also has a case for a pair of binucolars. The instructions have him wearing a pair slung around his neck for which he has finely detailed straps moulded in place not just on his torso but on the gas mask cape pouch. This is a very nice look and I like the way this has been done.
He is shown with a Kar 98K rifle and the appropriate ammo pouches, but given the ammount of extras on the generic Gen 2 weapons and equipment sprues you could easily change this for an MP38/40 if you wanted to.
The equipment sprue is a generic Gen 2 sprue which means you only use nine of the sixty pieces of equipment you get. Big bonus day for the spares box when you get this kit. The helmets are very nice and include the rivet and vent detail ( they do look more like an M1942 than an M1935 or M1940 to me but then in 1/35 the differences are barely dicernable ).
The weapon sprue is also a generic Gen 2 sprue and again will bulk out your spares box as you get four Kar 98K rifles and you only need to use one. The other weapons are an MP40 with the stock moulded in the folded position, an MP38 with the stock folded in the folded position, and an MP40 with a seperate stock to use it in the extended position ( there is also a P08 and a P38 on the equipment sprue ). You also get two seperate MP38/40 magazines and four 7.92mm ammo clips. These are all very nice little pieces with terrific detail and sharp moulding.
Conclusion. Dragon are really setting the standard with their figure sets these days and are rapidly closing a gap on resin figure manufacturers ( they’ve passed several of them ). The only thing missing from this kit that could have made it any better is a sheet of decals to add uniform insignia and helmet decals. If DML starts doing that with their figure sets then a whole new standard is going to be set. A must have for early war german armour fans.
Click Images to enlarge ( opens in new window )
