Heuschrecke Ivb 'Grasshopper'
Heuschrecke Ivb 'Grasshopper' Ref. # 6439 Scale: 1/35 Manufacturer: Dragon Price: Unknown Material: Styrene. PE. For larger resolution photographs, please see the gallery album. | |
IntroductionI have to confess to knowing almost nothing about this vehicle, and indeed could find nothing about it in my meagre references! As far as I can discover there were only two prototypes of it built, both somewhat different to each other and built by different manufacturers. The vehicle this kit represents is as far as I can tell supposed to represent the one built by Krupp, and at present resides at Aberdeen in the US. The vehicle was basically a Pz.IV chassis, adapted by the installation of a 10.5cm le.F.H.18 Howitzer. | |
The KitThe kit is supplied in 13 large sprues, 5 small ones, and a small transparent sprue. Separate parts for the lifting gantry are included, as well as separate hull and turret parts. A photo-etched fret and decal sheet finish it off. Dragon obviously had a choice with which Panzer IV hull to supply, having the 'Smart Kit' series one and the 'Super Kit' one to choose from. They've gone for the one from the 'Smart Kit' series, which is far simpler to assemble but it just as well detailed., although the lower hull has been re-tooled to replicate the extended nature of the one used in this kit. As with the Panzer IV F2 and now G, there is a set of 'Magic Tracks' included in two small bags containing left- and right-handed links, both of which are produced in slightly different shades of grey styrene to prevent getting them mixed up during assembly. | |
The real 'meat' of this kit is of course, the 10.5cm leFH 18. Dragon have produced the kit so that this can be displayed dismounted on a ground pad, and for this they've supplied the two large wheels, which if the gun is shown mounted on the vehicle, are displayed mounted on the rear of the hull. The ground mount is made up of the parts shown in picture 14, which fit together to make a square mounting platform with the wheels attached, and the gun still in the turret is mounted atop this assembly. Dragon even supplies the securing spikes should you wish to use this option. After the initial assembly of the running gear, the assembly of this kit begins to divert from that of the Pz.IV, with different detail being present on the rear of the hull, mostly to represent the dismounting mechanism and gear, and modified exhausts. Assembly continues with the installation of a new fighting compartment floor. The interior of the kit being reasonably 'busy', which of course would be a necessity since the kit can be shown with the turret dismounted and used as a field gun. What we get are ammunition lockers, and a battery compartment that can be displayed opened or closed. With the addition of some wiring and crew gear strewn around, it should be possible to make this area of the kit look quite busy. | |
The hull roof is all new, having circular driver and radio operator hatches and new engine deck. Interestingly, the instructions direct you to install two different drive sprockets. Presumably this is a feature of the original vehicle at Aberdeen? The mechanism for dismounting the turret with gun can be built and displayed in different positions according to where you're going to display the turret, and if built carefully can be made moveable. It's quite a complicated looking assembly though, so care will be necessary when following the instructions. The gun itself looks really good, Dragon using slide-moulding technology to it's best. The turret has a full interior, including full breech, gunner's seats, radio equipment etc., and again with some additional wiring etc, will really look the part. To help this along, Dragon include one of the Second Generation personal kit sprues, which includes all the kit you would need plus some for the spares box too. The photo-etched fret included, contains grills for the engine deck, brackets for crew kit inside the vehicle, fender support brackets, and inserts for the ground mount gantry's. Decal wise, with the vehicle being a prototype, there really wasn't a lot Dragon could offer us in this regard, so we're given a small decal sheet containing just four small Balkancreuz, to represent the vehicle in dark yellow. | |
ConclusionWell...although I know next to nothing about this vehicle, Dragon have certainly given us some fantastic options with this one, and hopefully in the fullness of time we'll see all these options being displayed by different modellers. Mounted, dismounted, partially dismounted etc. A great looking kit, with sharp moulding, no flash, and good engineering. What more could we ask for? Recommended. My Thanks to Dragon for the review sample For full information on all Dragon products, please see their website, Dragon Models Ltd. |
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