Since I sell Dragon and Tamiya kits it's only natural I build mostly models from these manufacturers and thought why not attempt to do a review of what I build. Who knows, it could be informative to those who intend to have a go at them. Here's a pic of DML's 1/16 scale German Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer" which is still hot from my workbench.
This kit is molded in grey and has 50 parts including a black plastic pedestal base for the built up model. It is currently unavailable from me so I can't quote the price.
The horse's mane, ears and inner thighs of the hind legs come in two separate parts respectively and some filling and sanding was required. The rider's head comes in back and front halves and no putty is needed since they join along the helmet's chin strap. The neck has an obvious joint line when attached to the body and planning ahead is advisable whether you want to glue it on first or paint the face first because work on this tougher to reach area can be a chore. I opted for the latter. I figured that the camouflaged smock has no natural stitch seam on the shoulders so I filled and sanded the arms joints. Sub-assemblies are the three parts which make up the rifle and four for the gas mask cannister. Construction was straightforward and the single sheet instructions included colored painting guide with Gunze and Italeri paint codes. I didn't follow this exactly and allowed my artistic license and common sense to take over.
No reins, rifle sling, stirrup strap or saddle bag sling for positioning over the horse were included. These had to be scratchbuilt and so was the hook thingys ( is this called the "bit" ? ) connecting the reins to the bridle. This I fashioned from wire with the use of a plier. I managed to make both look indentical at the expense of sore fingers. They were fashioned after Tamiya's 1/35 scale Mounted Werhmacht Infantry kit parts as examples. No scale measurements were taken into consideration but they looked right to me so I let it go at that. Ammo pouches comes in six separate pieces and the rest of the parts are molded in the same fashion as DML's 1/35 scale German figures.
After the base coat was applied ( I air-brushed pre shades on both the figure and horse ) I gave the smock an oil wash and worked the other large surfaces entirely in Windsor and Newton's artist oils like an oil painting in 3D. Details were later picked out by a brush and dry brushing. As usual a final flat coat was applied to seal in the goodies.
I didn't time myself with this build so I can't really say how long I took. It was touch and go as and when I felt like it but it did seem to take a long time mainly because I had to work on two large figures.
So there you have it fellas. Hope this is useful to anyone who wishes to build this kit. I welcome critism both on the model and my feeble attempt at reviewing a kit.
Best Regards
Patrick
