T-34-85 UTZ Mod.1944
Dragon Kit No. 6203
1:35th Scale
First Look Review by Terry Ashley
The kit consists of 211 parts in light grey plastic plus another 210 for the individual track links plus a small decal sheet and short length of twine with the standard of moulding crisp and flash free as we have come to expect from Dragon with their recent Panther and Hornisse/Hummel kits.
This new T-34-85 is basically the same kit as the T-35-85 Mod. 1944 (kit No.6066) with new parts for the UTZ features.
A basic rundown of the kit sees a fairly conventional breakdown of parts of lower hull tub with the main feature being separate internal suspension spring channels and separate axle stubs for good detail definition with it being easy to articulate the suspension if you wish.
The single upper hull has all the major features such as driver’s hatch, forward machine gun coaming, engine deck details and rear exhausts as separate parts for good detail definition plus many other small detail parts as separate items.
One of the differences for this kit is the rounded front fenders which require you to cut off the square fenders from kit 6066. The instructions show the older square fenders except for the step showing the surgery but that’s only a minor point.
Another major change is the starfish wheels which have perforated rubber tyres and different style wheel rib details with the outer idler wheels also have different details from the first kit.
The turret is again basically the same as the first kit with a new commander’s cupola and you will need to remove the small ridge on the left side of the turret under the cupola and care will be needed not to damage the weld seam detail around the turret edge.
The tracks are individual link designed to be glued together and have quite good detail that should look okay when fitted.
The decal sheet has a matt finish to the decals and provides markings for 3 vehicles from 1944/45.
Conclusion:
Overall a simple yet well detailed kit that will look good out of the box
or with any amount of added details.
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Page created 16 September 2003
