Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 scale '39-'45 Kit No. 6261; 15 cm s.IG. 33 Infantry Gun Mechanized Towing w/Crew; 265 parts (242 parts in grey styrene, 10 DS plastic, 9 etched brass, 3 clear styrene, 1 turned aluminum); retail price estimated at US$29.95

Advantages: first kit of this gun on this carriage in styrene; crew figures offer many different poseable options due to large number of spare arms

Disadvantages: none noted

Rating: Highly Recommended

Recommendation: for all German early war and artillery fans

The 15 cm German s.IG. 33 dated back to World War I, but was evolved during the interwar period by the Germans to introduce this new model in 1927. They later converted them for both mechanized towing (e.g. rubber tired wheels vice steel or wood) and self-propelled mounts.

This is the same s.IG. 33 used on previous DML "Smart Kit" SP variants but it now comes with the full lower carriage and trails, two sprues with its wheels (one for the wheel accessories and one for the new "highway" wheels with rubber tires) and one more for its ammunition. This provides eight rounds of 15 cm ammunition and also two of the 97 kg "Stick Bomb" rounds for clearing obstacles. Four DS plastic "rattan" like shell cases for transport and two rattan mats are also provided.

The howitzer now offers two different sets of cradle parts but only one (B sprue) is used its entirety. The directions here are much better than some in the past and cover most options. The only thing not covered seems to be how to use the "Stick Bomb" projectile as once its launch (firing) tube is added it will not fit in the muzzle of the aluminum barrel.

The simulated rubber tires are molded using "Slide Molding" with the sprue attachment points on their outer edge so that the treads can be molded cleanly. These are also handy as they reduce the amount of cleanup time .

The figure set is the same one offered for the 54/60 cm "Karl Geraet" SP mortar and comes with a total of 17 arms for six figures. Each base figure comes in six parts (head, torso, legs and then arms) but no weapons are included (which is more accurate for indirect fire artillerymen). However, the original Ron Volstad artwork is now reduced to blue, black and grey on white, so you will have to use the box art for reference (which does NOT look like any of Ron's work).

The project was supervised by Hirohisa Takada and technical assistance Tom Cockle and Gary Edmundson. Artwork is by Ron Volstad.

Two finishing options are provided along with a sheet of targeted Cartograf decals: basically either grey or sand brown. The decals provide for section/battery letters (A-G).

Overall this is a very nice kit of a stocky but effective weapon (and also beats the competing AFV Club weapon to the market).

- Cookie Sewell