Dragon Ambush ! Eastern Front 1944 Gen 2

The release of Dragons Gen 2 figures continues steadily , with the promise of allied figures to come the ever popular german figures are being well catered for .



Unusually on first examination of the box top , the first of the Gen 2 figure sets to not have a Ron Volstad box art is immediately apparent , in what to me is a bit of a let down . I would say that the figures are not cohesive would be the best description , all would be ideal individually but there does not seem to be any tie between the actions of one to another .



If looking at the Officer first then something seems to be wrong with his stance anatomically ( not so much with the box art but definately with the instructions ) the neck seems to be too long & the legs need to be splayed a bit . He wears a camo smock which is well done & is other wise in a nice action pose .

The second figure looks like he is taking an after battle breather , wounded , he comes with seperate hair above the bandage that could easily be changed for a helmet , he carries a grenade & a Tellermine with a rifle slung across his chest , he wears the SS pattern reversible smock & I actually think would look cooler with the white side out ! Mine will anyway !

The third figure has a panzerfaust under arm & looks like he is stopping traffic with the other , he wears a camo smock like the officer . a more unusual pose than the others as he is facing the direction he is beckoning to halt !

The fourth figure has the very late short cut field grey blouse with camo pants he holds a Panzerfaust in both hands & looks like the only figure who could be co-ordinating with the officer .

Besides the figures are the usual DS equipment sprue with ammo pouches , bread bags etc for six figures , again heaps of spare bits , the same applies for the other standard sprue with entrenching tools , canteens , helmets etc .

Weapons are abundantly supplied with two german gun sprues each with 2xMP 40's a GW43 rifle & MP44 assault rifle , a panzerfaust sprue with two panzerfausts with option of cocked or safe weapons plus a carry box & two new sprues , a pistol sprue with two flare guns , one opened & one closed , a Walther P08 , Walther P38 & a Luger plus spare mags for each as well as four tiny flare gun catridges \"madness \" ! & a grenade sprue with four early stick grenades , four late model stick grenades & six egg grenades .

Rounding off the kit is a etch fret with slings , belt buckles etc & a decal sheet with decals for the panzerfaust & Carry case .

In summary I feel that in this case the figures were designed before the box art , all as individuals & just boxed together without the co-ordination of most dragon releases , the figures are in unusual positions with the officer needing quite a bit of surgery .Where dragon provide lots of extras in abundance , the quality of poses of these figures is a bit yuck ! I would rate it 80% not there best Gen 2 release to date . :?

These figures were sculpted by the renowned Yoshitaka Hirano. While he has sculpted a lot of nice figures (under his own brand and for other plastic manufacturers), this is IMHO his weakest effort. Unfortunately for manufacturers, they won't know the "mood" of the sculptor until it's too late.

Laz

Mighty Ninja wrote:These figures were sculpted by the renowned Yoshitaka Hirano. While he has sculpted a lot of nice figures (under his own brand and for other plastic manufacturers), this is IMHO his weakest effort.

i wholeheartedly agree LQ - whenever i see this figure set i burst out in laughs because of karate kid and the cro-magnon swinging his panzerfaust club! i just cannot help myself!

I didn't much care for this set of figures, I purchase at least 3 sets of all Dragon figures, but only one of these went on my shelves.
Panzer

Hey, all

I recently purchased Dragon's U.S. Armored Infantry and was blown away by the addition of rifle slings. I used to make my own out of stiff paper. However, as usual, they don't include a "how to" put such things together. I found a web site that had a reviewer try to explain how to properly bend and weave them into place, but it appeared rather daunting, especially with aging eyes and bumbling fingers. Is it just me, or do photo-etched parts seem to be getting smaller and smaller. It's hard enough just getting them off the sprue.
Has anybody been able to successfully "build" these slings?
And, what's with having to "build" epilets? (You know, those thingys on the shoulder). What purpose does it serve? If it's aggrevation and fear of dropping them and losing them in the carpet -- mission accomplished. I ended up using the figures for painting practice.
To end on a positive note, the poses are good, I believe they're supposed to accompany a halftrack.