Masterbox LTD.

1/35 Die Skatspieler German Tankman, WWII

Kit Number: MB3525

Reviewed by  James Kelley, IPMS# 42106

MSRP: $9.95 Provided by Dragon USA (www.dragonmodelsusa.com ) As long as there are soldiers and a bit of "downtime", there will be card games. Easily stashed in a pocket or a rucksack, a deck of cards are an easy way to kill a few or a lot of minutes between missions, during mealtime, or whenever the opportunity for a brief respite from the alternating drudgery and horrors of war arises. Distributed by DragonModels USA, Master Box LTD. offers the armor or figure modeler "die Skatspieler", or, simply translated, "The Card Game". Depicting four SS Panzer Division tankers sitting on Jerry Cans and playing cards, this set offers the modeler an interesting diorama or vignette opportunity. Molded in 43 pieces of tan plastic, "die Skatspieler" provides 4 soldiers, 6 Jerry Cans, and 1 tiny puppy. The parts all have heavy molding seams that require removal with a hobby knife blade edge and sandpaper. Most pieces had some amount of flash on them as well. The quality of the sculpting of the figures appears to be inconsistent. The uncapped, seated figure with the puppy tucked into his shirt is sculpted and cast as nicely as many resin figures I've seen, while the standing figure that is peering over his comrade's shoulder is reminiscent of the old Esci figures, which were soft on detail to say the least. The other two seated figures are nicely sculpted and cast, although in terms of crispness, they seem to fall somewhere between the other two.

All of the figures require some filler on all joints, especially between the lower bodies and torsos. A fair amount of sanding to square the upper and lower bodies up is also needed. The "instructions" are numbered sketches of each figure on the back of the box, along with basic color callouts for Vallejo (Model Color line), Tamiya, Lifecolor, Humbrol, and Agama paints. Also included, for reference, are one photo each of the completed set, and a B & W archival photo the set was apparently based upon. All in all, this set is an interesting choice for modelers to have, and should provide some life to any diorama or vignette setting in a manner that is rarely seen. Recommended. My thanks to DragonModels USA, and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.