Dragon 1/72 Neubau-Fahrzeug #3-5

Germany’s first attempt at creating a heavy tank was the Neubau-Fahrzeug (literally, “New Construction Vehicle”), although the design was in fact too ponderous for the blitzkrieg tactics that were being developed. Nevertheless, a total of five vehicles were made, and three of them saw combat in Norway in 1940. The multi-turreted Neubau-Fahrzeug was conceived in 1933, with the main armaments being a 7.5cm KwK L/24 gun and coaxial 3.7cm KwK L/45 gun. There were two other turrets fitted front and rear with machine guns. While the Neubau-Fahrzeug offered good propaganda value, the vehicle operated by a six-man crew wasn’t truly effective in combat. Three tanks fought in a specially created Panzerabteilung in Norway, although one was demolished after getting stuck in a swamp. By 1942, all these heavy tanks had been scrapped.

One nice thing about Dragon 1/35 kits is that there is an excellent chance that the kit will be reproduced in 1/72 scale. So it is with the ponderous prewarNeubeu-Fahrzeug heavy tanks. This kit is of the later three builds and like the big brother has a number of similar features. Among the ones that I like are that all the road wheels are on a single piece and the kit uses those great DS tracks. No photo etch is used or required in assembling this 90 piece kit, yet it seems to have all the detail that is needed for this scale.

I'll let Dragon's PR blurb point out the various features:

- Newly tooled Neubau-Fahrzeug Nr.3-5
- Complicated exhaust system accurately recreated
- Delicate engine deck reproduced
- Headlamp on front hull can be folded up/down
- Slide-molded upper hull produced w/intricate details
- Slide-molded turret w/MG reproduced
- Slide-molded 7.5cm KwK L/24 and 3.7KwK L/45 produced
- Side fenders w/pattern detail
- Intricate on-vehicle tools molded
- Drive sprocket and idler wheels accurately recreated
- One-piece suspension system produced for easy assembly
- Delicate DS track produced

The kit provides five markings options, including those used in the 1940 Norway campaign. Base color is Panzer Grey with large dark brown bits being applied to some of the tanks later on in their operational career. Some of the options have large white numbers on the back of the main turret.

If you like prewar/early war tanks and perfer to model in 1/72 scale, then this is a kit you should have in your collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neubaufahrzeug

February 2012

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. Get yours at your local shop or on-line retailer.

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