Fonderie Miniature 1/35 Peugeot DMA
By Carl Kietzke
Overview
The Peugeot DMA was introduced by Peugeot in 1941. It was powered by a 2.1 liter 4 cylinder gas engine rated at 45 hp The DMA featured a 2 ton capacity with a top speed of 70km/h (about 40 mph). The primary buyer of the DMA from 1941 until 1944 was the German Wehrmacht. Over 12,000 were built during the war and almost as many again from 1945 until it was replaced in 1951. According to the few references I have found, the DMA ran its complete production cycle without any significant changes.
The Kit
Upon opening the box, one will find 2 gray sprues, plus one bag each of resin and white metal parts. The cab, body and frame are in plastic, all suspension parts are white metal, and the wheels are resin. A sheet of acetate and a small decal sheet round out the contents. The plastic parts are sufficiently detailed for the scale, but could use some help. All parts have rather deep mould draft requiring significant cleanup. The white metal running gear is well molded, but lacks positive locating points. The resin wheels are a bit funky, but presentable. Since all the glass on the real vehicle is flat the provision of sheet acetate is not a problem.
Accuracy
Well it looks right, proportions compare favorably with a 1/87th scale DMA I have. I think I’m going to hold judgment on this one, until I can either get more information, or build it to compare with its little brother on my shelf.
Conclusion
I think this is a seriously overpriced kit for what you get. I have been planning multiple projects for this kit during the 4 years since it first appeared in FM’s catalog. However at 6o bucks, it does not lend itself to my building a major fleet of DMA variants. I still have to decide if this will stay box stock when I build it. Maybe I’ll just not secure the body and build myself a collection of interchangeable ones for it. I obtained this review kit through Skyway Model Shop.