f matthews

Thanks for the wonderful comments!

Fantastic build and finishing!

It’s also in the Dick Taylor Armor Photohistory volume. There’s a good buildlog here too:

In The Vally, as well as just about every other source. The Mk1 wheels in the AFV kits were only used on Mk1s and a very few non-combat Mk IIs. The MkII wheels in the Tamiya kit came after MkI production, so wouldn’t have been available on the prototype. If you are looking for accuracy, this is an error-if you are simply enjoying the build, it matters little!

The AFV Vally II has the wrong roadwheels-the ones in the Tamiya II/IV are correct, or you can source aftermarket ones-I used a set of Accurate Armour ones. Otherwise, AFV makes the best Vallys and they have fully-workable suspensions. It’s likely too late now, but swapping the wheels you used in the prototype Vally with the AFV Vally Mk II would be correct for both tanks. I really need to get back to this build, but it’s taken a backseat to Panzer III builds for the moment.

That’s not rust-it’s Europe dust pigment. German tracks almost never rusted.

Have always liked that kit a lot-since first seeing it in the Tamiya flyers that came in the kits in 1976 or so. I need to eventually build the one I have and hope it comes out remotely as nice as yours! Excellent stuff!

Dragon’s excellent Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. F. built as a vehicle of the 2d Panzer Division in Greece, 1941. Finished with Lifecolor paints-Friul tracks and Aber main gun barrel added.

Finished the base, mounted the tank and will start taking better photos tomorrow when it is not raining (hopefully!). Looks like this one’s about wrapped up.

As always, interesting and informative discussion. The whole half-track thing is another can of worms that I dare not open (but would love to know answers to)!

I had to cut out the from the inside ring (fortunately Dragon’s decal is not solid inside the outer circle). Once the outer circle was set, a lot of decal softener helped out with some minor paint touchups where required. If I were to do it again, I would have fixed the pistol port covers after the decals!

That’s a great photo. In almost fifty years of modeling, I’ve never seen anything like that. It still isn’t white, but elfenbein is close enough. The best part of that shot is the detail of the inside of the hatch door. Thanks for posting. It still sticks out like a sore thumb on models to me (especially white), but I am not too old to learn something old. …now about those squirrels!

Those two photographs are ones I’ve seen before and there has been debate as to whether the hatches were interior-coloured or were reflecting light or weren’t covered in dust/dirt in the photographs. The Germans it seems, were very much sticklers for regulations-particularly in the early war years and most photos of factory interiors show the hatches painted in the exterior colour. I have yet to see a photo of British or Soviet hatch interiors that weren’t also in the exterior colour. In any event, the Germans never used white on interiors, so a white hatch is always going to look wrong to me.

There seems to be a trend of late of painting hatch interiors white. I’ve seen some otherwise stellar builds with this error and it sticks out like a sore thumb, which is why those hatches weren’t painted white to begin with. Is there a heavily-watched online reference or video series that touts this or something? I hadn’t seen much of this since the 1970s and assumed it was just common knowledge at this point. I know that there is much more in life to be bothered by, but this bugs me-especially on really nice builds. I’ll go back to yelling at squirrels in my yard now

Not sure which T-34/76 you are building, but AFV’s engine on the T-34/76 kits has redundant air cleaners. Earlier T-34s used the air cleaner that we’re used to seeing on auto engines (the “disk” type with the round filter inside). The AFV “/76” kits have those AND the dual filter cannisters that continued through the rest of the series. None of the tanks would have both, but check your sources to determine which one you need to use (but not both). I’ve built the Miniart interior kit and it is stellar, although complex. The AFV kit appears simpler, but very competently done. I have two AFV T-34/76 kits with interior and want to start one soon!

I think you’ll like the Lifecolor paints. They spray nicely for me out of the bottle. As for the StuG A, it’s the ancient Dragon kit based on the late 1980s Gunze-Sanyo Pz.III kits. Not terrible and fairly accurate, but a far cry from the more recent (2007 and up) Dragon Panzer III kits, which are stellar. I’ve built the old A, B and last summer finally finished off an old Ausf. E that I started over a decade ago when I was on a StuG kick. That came to a screeching halt when Dragon, Bronco and others started putting out kits that were better. The newer Dragon early StuGs are pretty pricey these days, so I picked up some of the Bronco ones, which look really good too. I’m not motivated enough to try a newer-tooled A or B because frankly, the old Dragon kits were fun, quick builds and look really good if you swap out tools and some detail parts. You’re really diving in on the StuGs which is awesome. I am doing some of the Miniart Pz IIIs right now, but have paused at the tracks since they look daunting-your post makes me feel a lot better about them-so I will get back to business on those builds so they have tracks to run on! I agree that the metal tracks are best, but they’ve doubled in price so I’m just using whatever I had on the shelf these days!

A few better-lit detail shots: I promise to not post any more shots until this one is mounted on the finished base!

The tank is now complete. I added tow cleat pin chains, then weathered the mufflers. Finally, I dusted and dirtied lower hull and running gear and installed the tracks. Next up is the display base… Box art often inspires my builds.

I’ll be following this one with interest!

Spectacular-love the shots showing off the exquisite interior!

No-the circle should be red, not blue like in the Bronco instructions. I posted that so you have the unit info, etc better. They got the squadron symbol (the circle for “C” Squadron) wrong.

The circle should be red, not blue, but here is the info from the Bronco 1/35 kit.

Also, the F2 with globular brake had visor flaps on the turret sides that were deleted on the Gs.

Looking really good!!

Indeed!