I picked up a Dragon 1/35 Tiger II 'Premium' edition kit. It came with photo etch and a turned aluminum barrel. I thought it was very cool to include what are usually aftermarket items in a off the shelf kit.

The hobby shop also had several Dragon 'Smart' kits. My question is what makes up a 'Smart' kit? Are they as good as the Premium kits? I was hoping for a little feedback about them before forking out the cash for one.

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

Kirk

If you open the box and leave glue and paint next to it on the table.
By the light of the next full moon, the kit will assemble itself

Lol...I think it means it gives the modeler more choices and variations in the build, (the kit comes with all the goodies)
Man, I'd love to tackle that one...

Steve

The Premium kits are old Dragon kits, reworked to varying degrees, and with extra parts added. For example, their old, original Panther Ausf. D was pretty much "all plastic". You got their old style tracks molded on the sprues, and while the kit had seperate periscopes for the turret and hull, they were molded in grey plastic along with the rest of the kit. The gun barrel was plastic, and the tank's torsion bar suspension was molded to the lower chassis.

For the "Premium" reissue, Dragon gave you a new, larger decal sheet, a metal barrel, some basic photo etch for the engine deck screens, a clear parts sprue with the vision devices from the old kit now in clear, new pre-cut Magic Tracks, and a new chassis with individual suspension arms. The kit is 80% the old kit, with some improved parts added and then the metal, etch, etc.

The "Smart Kits" are generally new tool kits from the ground up without much extra outside of the plastic parts. Newer smart kits have more photo etch, but the idea is to have basically a highly detailed but essentially all plastic kit that is quicker/easier to build. One of their first Smart kits (the Aufklarungspanzer 140/1 came with some pre bent photo-etch grenade screens for the turret and that was about it. I dont think the Smart Panzer I had any photo etch at all or just the muffler screens.

If you open the box and leave glue and paint next to it on the table.
By the light of the next full moon, the kit will assemble itself

Lol...I think it means it gives the modeler more choices and variations in the build, (the kit comes with all the goodies)
Man, I'd love to tackle that one...

Steve

LOL! That was my first thought - A kit that builds itself.

The Premium kits are old Dragon kits, reworked to varying degrees, and with extra parts added. For example, their old, original Panther Ausf. D was pretty much "all plastic". You got their old style tracks molded on the sprues, and while the kit had seperate periscopes for the turret and hull, they were molded in grey plastic along with the rest of the kit. The gun barrel was plastic, and the tank's torsion bar suspension was molded to the lower chassis.

For the "Premium" reissue, Dragon gave you a new, larger decal sheet, a metal barrel, some basic photo etch for the engine deck screens, a clear parts sprue with the vision devices from the old kit now in clear, new pre-cut Magic Tracks, and a new chassis with individual suspension arms. The kit is 80% the old kit, with some improved parts added and then the metal, etch, etc.

The "Smart Kits" are generally new tool kits from the ground up without much extra outside of the plastic parts. Newer smart kits have more photo etch, but the idea is to have basically a highly detailed but essentially all plastic kit that is quicker/easier to build. One of their first Smart kits (the Aufklarungspanzer 140/1 came with some pre bent photo-etch grenade screens for the turret and that was about it. I dont think the Smart Panzer I had any photo etch at all or just the muffler screens.

Thanks for the reply, Nick. Since the Smart kits are newer tooling, are they generally more accurate than the older kits? Or is that too broad a statement to make? Is there a good site for reviews of these that would address accuracy issues?

The Perth Military Modelling site (I dont have their url but PMMS is easy to find) has good reviews.

The trouble with many/most Dragon kits is their insistance on using sprues from other kits to make a new kit, which usually winds up being a hybrid... Lots of bells and whistles, but often low marks for accuracy.

Thanks again Nick - That Perth site does have a ton of good info there. I will be spending some time tonight reading reviews for sure :thumbsup: