by Mark Staszewski
1/350 Z-39 Zerstorer Type 1936A(Mob) (Dragon)
Dragon Models recently released a 1/350th scale German destroyer hot on the heels of Trumpeter Models version of the same ship, much to the joy of ship modelers everywhere. Having built both I will give my (humble) opinion on the Dragon offering and finally compare the two manufacture’s kits. I won’t go into the history of these fine vessels as other, more qualified builders have, but only comment upon my experiences in assembling the kit.
Dragon’s kit is most impressive right out the box - it’s brimming with lots of very detailed parts, three frets of P/E, a nice display base, and six injection molded figures. The figures are nice - better than P/E ones, and I wish Dragon had included a lot more of them to populate the vessel. The moldings are very good. I was particularly impressed with the funnel - steam lines and rivets (which may be a tad overscale), but look real nice when painted and dry brushed.
The hull is in two pieces, making it easier to build a waterline version, and fits together well. The main deck is one piece and also fits like a glove. There is a small lip running around the edge of the deck that really helps attaching P/E railings - nice touch! The deck houses are one piece moldings except for the upper bridge which is several side panels which fit well. The builder has the choice of plastic or P/E doors to add to the houses - I used the P/E, but the plastic doors are also very nice. For an open door I used the P/E and for a closed door I used the plastic example.
The moldings are very nice, exhibiting petit detail - as I went along painting and dry brushing the detail really began to pop. The P/E frets are also very nice, adding very minute detail that this modeler goes goofy over - but some of the parts are so tiny they became problematic to assemble. The real gems of the kit have to be the armament. The twin 40mm bofors mounts have sixteen pieces each! Woof! A mini kit in themselves! If you’re like me the more detail the better - but I have to admit they did try my patience after a while.
I started assembly with the hull and deck, then moved on to the deck houses, stacks, and mast assemblies. The masts were multi-part affairs that were a bit fiddly, but did fit well. In fact everything on this kit fit well, which is a very good thing as there were a lot of very small parts. After the main components were fitted I began the armaments. Again, excellent detail on the torpedo launchers, main gun turrets, and the secondary AA. I used UNI-Canais fly tying thread to rig my Zerstorer, added the ship’s numbers decals , and mounted it on the display base.
All in all a very enjoyable build, but not without a few pitfalls. My main difficulties lie with the assembly instructions - or lack thereof. The instructions left a lot to the imagination as far as parts placement. As an example the drawings show only one view of the small AA guns with arrows pointing generally where the tiny parts go, leaving the modeler to fiddle and scratch his head as to where the parts actually fit together. I spent much time flipping back and forth through the drawings looking for different views of the assembled guns, and then spent more time looking through my reference books and online photos of the guns to see what they really looked like. There were also many parts that were omitted from the instructions but shown later on in some assembled views. A few part numbers were reversed - I found that out while assembling and then having to remove the correct part, and then add the original part to the other side!
Okay, lets recap my journey. What I liked about this kit is the beautiful, petit detail throughout. The very good fit of the components. The very nice P/E included, and the neato crew figures. What I did not like about this kit is the poor assembly instructions, the lack of clear diagrams showing just how everything fits together, no P/E railings included, and only six crewmen. (More would be nice!)
While I found both kits have their merits, there are some distinct differences between them. It’s easier to list them so here goes: Dragon’s kit is far more detailed in the quality of moldings. The AA guns are real gems despite the difficulty in assembling them. One piece deck houses. A two piece hull (great for you guys who build waterline). Three frets of really nice P/E. Hollow gun muzzles. And crew figures.
Trumpeter’s kit is much easier to build (less parts). The detail is okay. The AA guns are very simplified. The hull is one piece - you gotta get out the razor knife to waterline it. It does include mines though. The instructions are clear and concise - no head scratching!
Neither kit includes P/E railings - that seems to be the standard now. They are both nice kits and I would recommend either to build. You just have to ask yourself what kind of modeler are you? It’s like the old adage - comparing apples to oranges. They’re both fruit, they both taste good, but which do you prefer? One kit is much more involved, with more detail and parts, and the other is more simple but still very nice. As far as apples and oranges, I like ‘em both, and I like both these kits! I hope this helps my fellow modelers decide which kit is for them. If I can give any advice (humbly) - build ‘em both!
