Barcode: 0 89195 86695 0
Case Pack: 48 pieces per master carton
Box Size: 6.4" x 10.2" x 1.5"

Subject: Review - DML 1/35 scale German Infantry Bivouac

Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 scale ‘39-‘45 Series Kit No. 6695; German Infantry Bivouac; 121 parts (119 in grey styrene, two etched brass); pre-order price US$18.95 via Dragon USA Online

Advantages: nice instant vignette kit; casual poses for figures

Disadvantages: nothing major noted

Rating: Highly Recommended

Recommendation: for all German and vignette fans

DML has now released the second “instant vignette” kit in recent months. As it has evolved among most modeling organizations, a vignette is a group of five or less figures with or without a vehicle with a central theme.

This set provides three German soldiers making camp for the night. They have erected a small lean-to shelter made from two ponchos – zeltbahn – clipped together with a central stake. One soldier is kneeling with his opened pack and a second one is lowering his pack to the ground. The third man is on the lookout, and as he is not armed probably for the evening’s chow.

The box art shows them with the light infantry howitzer but the gun is not provided in this kit; the previous one had a 3.7 cm PaK 36 as its central point.

The figures are in the normal breakdown of six parts (torso, legs, arms and head) with two of them having separate headgear and the third man bareheaded. The special kit needed for this set is provided on their sprue, and the now standard DML “G” and “W” sprues for “Gear” and “Weapons” come in the box as well.

Two straps are provided in etched brass, and close examination of the box directions shows them to be the shoulder straps for the standing figure with pack.

The box art shows blankets and other items inside the lean-to but these are not provided. Also there is no interior detail on the zeltbahn ponchos.

Box art is by Ron Volstad and is the only set of painting and finishing directions for the kit.

Overall this is a nice set and a good candidate for either a stand-alone vignette or a nice addition to a single vehicle on a base.

Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.

Cookie Sewell

Sprue Layout:

6695 29 Three figures, two zeltbahn ponchos, kit

G 60 Generic German Kit - helmets, canteens, bread bags, gas masks, etc.

W 30 Generic German Weapons - Kar 98K, MP40, MP44, MG34, MG42, Gw 43

MA 2 Etched brass

There’s a saying – ‘The army sleeps under the stars, the navy navigates by the stars, and the navy chooses its hotels by the number of stars!” This newest 1/35 scale figure set well and truly represents the former. The box contains three German Wehrmacht anti-tank crewmen along with a temporary bivouac they’ve set up in the field. This is such a typical scene on any battlefield, but no kit manufacturer has bothered to represent it thus far. Such a shelter could be swiftly created by erecting a triangular M1931 pattern Zeltbahn (‘shelter quarter’). The Zeltbahn was a very handy and crucial item of kit, as it could also be used as a rain cape, emergency stretcher, flotation device, or combined together to form a complete tent. The kit includes such a beautifully detailed Zeltbahn in which a soldier can rest.

The three soldiers are sharply sculpted in casual poses as they await the war to reach them. Appropriately, they’re in various states of casual dress. One is wearing a woolen pullover while the other two are in shirts and braces. Various accessories such as a haversack and a range of personal gear are valuable for a diorama scene, though the 7.5cm leIG18 light infantry gun shown on the box-top isn’t included in the set. This domestic scene, especially with the erected M1931 Zeltbahn shelter, fills a gap in the range of plastic figures currently available on the market. While it would best suit an early-war scene, the figures are versatile enough to be mixed and matched to fit multiple scenarios planned by the modeler.