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Dragon Models Limited
Dragon Models Limited (Dragon or DML for short) is a Hong-Kong–based manufacturer of plastic model kits, diecast models and military action figures. Founded in 1987, the company's products are distributed globally and can be found in most major hobby distribution channels and retailers. The company is headquartered in the Tsuen Wan district of Hong Kong, and operates a sales and distribution office in Shanghai China. They are known for their attention to historical accuracy and detail, and have worked with many renowned military experts for their product designs. Since its founding, it has released more than 1,000 items.
Dragon was established in 1987, as a sister company to model retailer and distributor Universal Models Limited (UML), to design and manufacture their own plastic model kit products. In their early years, Dragon primarily focused on model kits featuring military vehicles topics, with their first ever item being the Typhoon-class submarine. The item became a hit due to the subject being heavily featured in the film The Hunt for Red October.
In the 1990s Dragon diversified into multiple different product lines including ready-made collectibles and action figures. These new products include a series of die-cast collectibles including 1/72 scale military vehicles Dragon Armor, 1/400 scale airliners Dragon Wings, and 1/72 scale military aircraft Dragon Wings: Warbirds. In 1999, Dragon introduced its 1/6 scale New Generation Life Action figure series, which featured life-like head sculpts and ultra-detailed uniforms, weapons, and gear. The series was met with acclaim and helped revive the action figure industry with collectors who view it as the successor of the more traditional and toy-like G.I. Joe products. This series features both historical and modern military soldier topics, as well as movie-licensed and pop-culture subjects. This series currently encompasses more than 600 releases.
The original and most well-known product category in Dragon's catalogue are their series of scale model kits featuring military vehicles (1/35, 1/72, 1/144, and 1/6 scales), aircraft (1/32, 1/48, and 1/72 scales), warships (1/350 and 1/700 scales), figures (1/35, 1/9, and 1/16 scales) and spacecraft. The series mainly focuses on World War II-era military subjects, although they also offer a range of modern military topics such as the M1 Abrams. Their model kits are known for their accuracy and meticulous detail, as well as their sophisticated engineering and manufacturing techniques to accurately portray such details. Each kit is thoroughly researched by physically measuring the real-life vehicle (when available) and consulted by military experts that specialize in that particular vehicle. Dragon is also the originator of the terms Initial, Early, Mid, and Late Productions when describing the variation of World War II tanks, a term that is now widely adopted in the industry.
Dragon kits are also renowned for their box art, and they frequently collaborate with esteemed military-subject artists such as Canadian artist Ron Volstad and Japanese artists Masami Onishi, Yoshiyuki Takani, Shigeo Koike, and Ueda Shin.
Inside a box of Dragon Models kit usually contains the plastic parts to assemble the vehicle, as well as additional metal parts, photo-etch, instructions, and decals. Their kits usually contain many parts, and occasionally feature 3-in-1 or 2-in-1 items where the modeller can build 2 or 3 variants of the vehicle from one kit. Throughout the years, Dragon has developed multiple engineering technologies and features with the goal of enhancing the modeler's experience.
'Magic Tracks' are individual track links that come in a bag, ready to be assembled without the tedious work of removing them individually from sprues. Magic Tracks are designed to snap together through a tight friction fit, so that the track can be more easily assembled than traditional model kit tracks. These can be effortlessly assembled by placing each individual track link together and then glued once the desired effect is achieved. This feature is designed to reduce the time spent on assembling the tracks by modelers.
A few of Dragon's newer kits, such as its Sherman M4A2 kit, include one-piece tracks made from 'Dragon Styrene 100' (DS), a plastic developed by Dragon's own Research and Development team. A cross breed of polystyrene and vinyl, DS is an attempt to combine the advantages of the two materials. Delicate details can be reproduced with DS using under-cut molding, reducing the number of small parts. The Tiger I hollow guide horns, for example, can be replicated on DS using slide-mold technology. These tracks can also be joined with normal plastic cement.
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Dragon Models Limited
Dragon Models Limited (Dragon or DML for short) is a Hong-Kong–based manufacturer of plastic model kits, diecast models and military action figures. Founded in 1987, the company's products are distributed globally and can be found in most major hobby distribution channels and retailers. The company is headquartered in the Tsuen Wan district of Hong Kong, and operates a sales and distribution office in Shanghai China. They are known for their attention to historical accuracy and detail, and have worked with many renowned military experts for their product designs. Since its founding, it has released more than 1,000 items.
Dragon was established in 1987, as a sister company to model retailer and distributor Universal Models Limited (UML), to design and manufacture their own plastic model kit products. In their early years, Dragon primarily focused on model kits featuring military vehicles topics, with their first ever item being the Typhoon-class submarine. The item became a hit due to the subject being heavily featured in the film The Hunt for Red October.
In the 1990s Dragon diversified into multiple different product lines including ready-made collectibles and action figures. These new products include a series of die-cast collectibles including 1/72 scale military vehicles Dragon Armor, 1/400 scale airliners Dragon Wings, and 1/72 scale military aircraft Dragon Wings: Warbirds. In 1999, Dragon introduced its 1/6 scale New Generation Life Action figure series, which featured life-like head sculpts and ultra-detailed uniforms, weapons, and gear. The series was met with acclaim and helped revive the action figure industry with collectors who view it as the successor of the more traditional and toy-like G.I. Joe products. This series features both historical and modern military soldier topics, as well as movie-licensed and pop-culture subjects. This series currently encompasses more than 600 releases.
The original and most well-known product category in Dragon's catalogue are their series of scale model kits featuring military vehicles (1/35, 1/72, 1/144, and 1/6 scales), aircraft (1/32, 1/48, and 1/72 scales), warships (1/350 and 1/700 scales), figures (1/35, 1/9, and 1/16 scales) and spacecraft. The series mainly focuses on World War II-era military subjects, although they also offer a range of modern military topics such as the M1 Abrams. Their model kits are known for their accuracy and meticulous detail, as well as their sophisticated engineering and manufacturing techniques to accurately portray such details. Each kit is thoroughly researched by physically measuring the real-life vehicle (when available) and consulted by military experts that specialize in that particular vehicle. Dragon is also the originator of the terms Initial, Early, Mid, and Late Productions when describing the variation of World War II tanks, a term that is now widely adopted in the industry.
Dragon kits are also renowned for their box art, and they frequently collaborate with esteemed military-subject artists such as Canadian artist Ron Volstad and Japanese artists Masami Onishi, Yoshiyuki Takani, Shigeo Koike, and Ueda Shin.
Inside a box of Dragon Models kit usually contains the plastic parts to assemble the vehicle, as well as additional metal parts, photo-etch, instructions, and decals. Their kits usually contain many parts, and occasionally feature 3-in-1 or 2-in-1 items where the modeller can build 2 or 3 variants of the vehicle from one kit. Throughout the years, Dragon has developed multiple engineering technologies and features with the goal of enhancing the modeler's experience.
'Magic Tracks' are individual track links that come in a bag, ready to be assembled without the tedious work of removing them individually from sprues. Magic Tracks are designed to snap together through a tight friction fit, so that the track can be more easily assembled than traditional model kit tracks. These can be effortlessly assembled by placing each individual track link together and then glued once the desired effect is achieved. This feature is designed to reduce the time spent on assembling the tracks by modelers.
A few of Dragon's newer kits, such as its Sherman M4A2 kit, include one-piece tracks made from 'Dragon Styrene 100' (DS), a plastic developed by Dragon's own Research and Development team. A cross breed of polystyrene and vinyl, DS is an attempt to combine the advantages of the two materials. Delicate details can be reproduced with DS using under-cut molding, reducing the number of small parts. The Tiger I hollow guide horns, for example, can be replicated on DS using slide-mold technology. These tracks can also be joined with normal plastic cement.