John Van Kooten
Hi Daniel,

This is actually a very nice King Tiger kit 👍

There is only one downside and that is that there are only DS tracks included. Personally I think DS tracks are not a suitable solution for a King Tiger track. But that's just personal preference of course😉

On the upside, the suspension parts and the wheels are already cut from the sprues and cleaned! That's a really nice touch. A kind of "Magic Suspension" if you will 😄
And also note that there are sets of four wheels included in that suspension set that are attached to one another. Do NOT cut them from their attachments. This is actually another very clever invention because if you leave those four wheels attached it allows you to PERFECTLY align all of the wheels! The attachments between the wheels will be hidden behind the other interleaved wheels that go in front of them. Really smart thinking there on Dragon's part and a very helpful trick! 👍
Obviously, if you want to display this KT on uneven ground then this trick will get in the way and you will have some thorough cleaning to do on those wheels because those attachment points are VERY large! Then again, placing this KT on uneven ground with the DS tracks will be nigh impossible anyway😉

So if none of the above bothers you, I'd say go for it! 👍 🙂

Daniel Smith
Thanks for the information John, a lot of the parts look similar to the Battle of the Bulge kit. The instruction sheet almost looks identical. Those DS tracks will make assembly faster. On the Battle of the Bulge tracks, each side took me an hour to glue up. Does this kit come with any photoetch?

John Van Kooten
Yes, most of the sprues/parts are indeed the exact same ones as those in the Bulge KT kit.

And absolutely, DS tracks are much easier and faster to assemble. So if you prefer that over the individual links then this is definitely the kit to go for! 🙂

There is no PE included in this kit. But to be honest, I personally don't feel it really needs PE. It's a nice kit that will build into a great looking KT right out of the box. But obviously with a PE set you can improve the detail level a great deal. This is something everyone would need to decide for themselves whether or not they feel it's necessary 🙂

There is also no metal barrel, which I forgot to mention in my previous post. Sorry about that! So that might be the one thing you would need to replace with an after-market one. The plastic two piece barrel isn't really that bad but a metal one would most definitely improve the looks. Especially since the large gun is one of the main focus points of such a big cat 🙂

Daniel Smith
Thanks for the information, I'm starting to lean towards getting one of the other Kings Tiger Kits. This cyberhobby kit is starting to look like it's not for me. 😄

John Van Kooten
Then I am glad we had this exchange of information, saving you from maybe getting something you wouldn't like 😄 👍

Hunter Cummins
Do you guys think all of dragons king tiger kits that they release from here on out will have these shitty DS ?!?!?!?!? And for that matter, will they be in all kits of new releases????

John Van Kooten
Hey buddy! 😄

Well... looking back at recent history and the kits they are releasing... I fear the very worst... 🙁

Hunter Cummins
Hey john🙂
Well if it comes to that I might have to quite buying recent kits unless they are like the old ones loo

John Van Kooten
Yeah, I am actually already doing exactly that 😉 I will not buy any kits that 1) are stupendously high priced + 2) have DS tracks.

The only kits where I accept DS tracks as a viable option are Shermans because Shermans have live tracks, that have no sag. But then Dragon adds DS tracks which are 2 links too long... 🤔 and that's a big deal! Ever tried shortening DS tracks by two links? It SUCKS!!

Hunter Cummins
Havent tries it but will have the eventually. I will use some very thin solder mabey and will glue them and let tyem sit loo
I also got the issues of the weathering magazine in my tablet 😄 im so excited. The kursk issue is the best and the newest one (K.O vehicals is the worst in my opiniin

Fabian D.
I guess that´s what we´re all doing. As soon as I read DS-Tracks, I´ve read the whole review😉
I have an eye open for kits made while Tristar was still producing kits. Their competition brought out some great kits.
BTW: I got one of the Jagdtigers (#6285) with all the "bling-bling". I wasn´t too surprised, but the whole stock was gone within a few days...

Hunter Cummins
I got one two they arent supposed to have the metal barrel or metal shackles but mine did lol oh and the metal shell haha

John Van Kooten
As for correcting the length of Sherman DS Tracks: the problem is not so much cutting of shxt but trying to keep intact the connectors on the side of the tracks. Because they overlap with each tracklink. So you have to carefully and meticulously make cutouts in very soft and flexible plastic... it's virtually impossible to make it work without at least some visible damage to the tracks.

And if you're thinking of making simple straight cuts and glueing them together, forget it. Won't work. I tried. It will also look reeeeeally ugly.

Had those been Magic Tracks then I'd just use two less links and be done with it. No work at all. Ah well... I guess people asking (sometimes begging, almost) for Magic Tracks are just stupid, ignorant whiners... right?

You two are very lucky 😉 three out of four of my JT kits didn't have the metal items. Plus Dragon DontCare told me I would not be getting them either, since they weren't supposed to be in the box in the first place... even though they are still mentioned on the sides of the box... you have to love Dragon for stupidity like that... 🤔

What I WILL be doing is continue to venture out to other brands. Simply because they (AFV-Club, Academy, Bronco, Tasca/Asuka, ICM, Italeri, TrisStar, MiniArt, Masterbox, Zvezda, etc etc <- lots of alternatives right there) offer quality as well (also slide molds!), have a LOT of very interesting subjects and are much more reasonably priced, which in its turn leaves a lot of room for upgrades like track sets and/or PE sets. And then they'd still be cheaper than Dragon. So in my case Dragon is on losing streak... and I was a truly big Dragon fan...

Sooo... I guess with this post it seems that I am officially no longer a Dragon fan 😛 they have pushed me to "the other side".

Hunter Cummins
I will try to "fix" DS tracks and if it doesne work, well then I am screwed loo or I will just go buy a cheap afv club rubber band track or something loo and I will buy dragons older kits because they have magic tracks, pe and are just great loo

John Van Kooten
I can recommend looking into the Bronco plastic single link, workable tracksets, if you are looking for replacements. They are not too expensive and look great! 👍

I have a number of sets for Panther and Shermans and they are really very good!

Hunter Cummins
I heard that but I heard if ypu add thinner/turpinoide over them e.g. a wash or pigment fixer they come apart. So I dont know about them but I will try them🙂 !!

Urban Gardini
DML is indeed shooting themself in their foot with their inclusion of DS shit in every kit and their lousy customer support and their lack of turned aluminium barrels and their pricing and their... Well, they can stuff it for all I care as they fail to understand how to be a good company.

John Van Kooten
@Hunter: Yes, I have read that somewhere too. And the same was said about the AFV-Club track sets. Particularly about the small pins that were "melting". But honestly, I have never had a problem with them. And I also use loads of thinner (for filters, washes and pigments). I do put on a good coat of primer and let it dry (cure) thoroughly though. Maybe that makes a difference?

@Urban: I fully agree!

Gábor Bélik
IMO: I like the DS because it is really easy to work with. Nowadays if want semi link tracks, I go for Friuls or spadeace.

John Van Kooten
@Gábor: I can assure you, when you need to shorten Sherman DS tracks, they are not easy to work with 😉 one of the problems with DS tracks is, is that the length they come in is what you have to deal with. If you need to change length, you're screwed. Especially, of course, when they are too short! 😛 just ask the braille scale (1/72) guys about that 😉
Other problems are that they are often flattened or wavey, because of the way they were packed and/or ejected from the molds. I have two DS track sets that were packed in the black long container (to protect them from deforming) but the black container was jammed between a couple of sprue bags, in a way that half of the track horns were flattened and the DS tracks were no longer straight, rendering them useless.

Single link tracks (from any brand) have none of those problems.

But like I said, I don't really have an issue with the DS tracks themselves and I definitely understand why people like them. They are much better than the old rubber bands. It's the fact that they are the only option, pretty much rammed down our throats, even with so many people complaining about them (for good reasons).

With the current prices of Dragon kits I really don't want to dish out another 30 Euro for a set of Friuls. Especially not when Dragon already has a perfect solution that they could have easily included and make everybody happy. It's just that they won't... for some reason...

Gábor Bélik
I can completely understand your points and I realised that I have a DS with flat horns 🙂

M.Julian Marles
I will have to check my kits..I do have a couple of the old DML transport track kits so maybe I will use those instead!