German Large Rubber Dinghy with Pionere
(Grosser Flosssack 34)

Shanghai Dragon

Reviewed by Cookie Sewell

 

There are times that some kits come on the market and, when examined, inspire the question, "Why?" DML seems to have run out of other German subjects, and while engineers have been neglected for many years, this kit seems to offer little to any modeler other than a rigid model of a rubber boat and nine statically posed figures.

The kit comes with a large rubber raft and its accessories (two air bellows pumps and eight oars) which, while nicely done in the typical DML style, is very stiff and lacking in character. There appears to be a nice seam around the place where the floor of the hull fits into the two-part toroidal sides. A section of nylon cord is included as the carrying rope for the crew to use when handling it.

The crew consists of nine figures, three sprues of three figures each. All are in very static marching poses and there is little which can be done out of the box to animate them. While the box art shows shells bursting around them, they look more like toy soldiers on a parade ground. This is unfortunate, as combat engineers lived probably the most dangerous lives of any combat troops, and newsreel shots of those in France in 1940 show a more concerned and frenetic approach to their duties by the engineers.

This could have been a really nice effort, with some nice action poses, detonation charges, assault gear, or other items used by German Sturmpionere. It would have been great having the figures loading or unloading the raft from a truck. But, it does not, and unless you need the boat or static position marching German infantry, it is a tough choice to make for your modeling dollar.

Thanks to DML for the review sample.

Review by Cookie Sewell, April 1998.
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Page Created 30 April, 1998.
Last updated 22 July, 2003.

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