Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn
Dragon Kit No. 6166
1/35th Scale
First Look Review by Terry Ashley

The Kit:
The kit has 357 parts in light gray plastic plus another 240 for the individual track links, a small decal sheet and a small sprue with a selection of nicely moulded infantry weapons.

The parts are moulded to the same high standard as the Panther kits and as you would expect most of this kit is the same as the Hornisse kit.

This new kit has additional sprues f, L, M and P while sprue H from the Hornisse kit is eliminated.

All my comments from the Hornisse review apply here while the new sprues give you a new gun shield, new front half for the barrel and travel lock for the front hull. New open ammo bins for the rear fighting compartment with seven 88mm rounds to put in the bins, new exhaust pipes plus a numbr of smaller detail parts for the fighting compartment and rear hull.

One ommission is the rear cradle clamp (Part H1), with sprue H not being in this kit, this part is also not there, but from what I can see from the Nuts and Bolts Nashorn book it should be?

Another point to note is you are given a choice of Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf E and J drive sprockets as with the Hornisse kit, but the instructions show the Aust E sprocket throughout, it would be better to use the Ausf J sprockets for this Nashorn version.

Markings are provided for two vehicles, one each from Schwere Heeres Panzerjäger, Abteilung 525, Italy, March 1944 and Schwere Heeres Panzerjäger, Abteilung 519, Russia, Winter 1943-44.

Instructions:
The instructions are the now normal colour photos of the parts during assembly but I found that some of the sequences were a little confusing especially with the gun assembly. The photos show a number of the smaller parts already assembled with only arrowed numbers pointing to the individual parts and careful study of the instructions before gluing would be advisable.

The big question is “has Dragon fixed the many errors in the Hornisse instruction sheet?” The answer is yes and no…..

The errors in the Hornisse kit instructions are shown in italics with the Nashorn equivalent in normal red type.

• Step 4; H19 and H20 should not be glued to C1. Parts H19, H20 are meant as jigs only for placement of part H1 in Step 24 (see also below)
  Step 5; Parts M14 and M15 (equivalent to H19 and H20) are clearly shown not to be glued to part C1.
• Step 9; D37, which is glued to D39 (breech), is shown up side down in the instructions.
  Step 9; D37, shown the correct way up in the instructions.
• Step 11; For elevating the gun, D53 should not be glued to D2 and D3.
  Step 11; Clear indications given not to glue parts D53 and D2/D3 together.
• Step 17; The tracks in the instruction are in the wrong directions. You should put them the other way around.
  Step 17; The tracks are still shown the wrong way around.
• Step 18; C4 is shown backwards in the instructions.
  Step 17; C4 is still shown backwards in the instructions.
• Step 19; The location of H30 should be on upper right of the muffler, underneath the cleaning rods. It is actually a crew step.
  Step 19; Part of H30 not included in new kit.
• Step 19; H5 and H6, lifting eyes on the rear plate of fighting compartment, are shown the wrong way around in the instructions. Their upper end should face inward not outward as shown, H5 should be installed where H6 is shown and visa versa.
  Step 18; L4 (replacements for H5 and H6), lifting eyes on the rear plate of fighting compartment, these are correct but the instructions show them facing slightly outwards, they should be vertical.
• Step 20/21; Parts C20 (side periscopes) are shown the wrong way around in the instructions, they should be facing outwards, not inwards.
  Step 20/21; Parts C20 (side periscopes) are still shown the wrong way around in the instructions.
• Step 22/23; The head light mounts are shown on the wrong sides in the instructions. Part B39 should be on left fender and B40 on right fender. Following the instructions will end up head lights facing backward.
  Step 22; Only one headlight mount on the left fender is used on this version but it still indicates the wrong part which faces the wrong way. Use part B39, not B40 as the instructions indicate.
• Step 24; H1 is shown backwards in the instructions.
  Step 24; H1 is not included in this kit.

Conclusion:
Another superb kit from Dragon with very nice surface details and plenty of other details and will be welcomed by German armour fans.

The Sprues:

References:

Nashorn Sd.Kfz.164 Nuts & Bolts Vol.14

Ground Power No.105 February 2003

Page created 21 February 2003