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Panzer III Ausf.J (A1378) 1:35 Airfix Designed in the mid-1930s to be part of a pairing with the larger Panzer IV, the lighter Panzer III was originally intended to be sent up against other tanks, as well as to push through gaps in enemy lines to cause havoc with supply lines and generally disrupt the enemy's battle plans. Production began in 1937, with few of the early marks reaching series production, using up A through D as prototypes, of which the Ausf.B was used in the Polish campaign briefly before being put out to pasture as a training vehicle along with the remaining Cs and Ds. The suspension was a work-in-progress, using leaf springs until the Ausf.E, which moved to torsion bars that were then seen on most new German designs during WWII and beyond. During the early period of WWII the Pz.III continued to do its prescribed task until the T-34 tore through their ranks, brushing aside the lighter armoured Pz.IIIs and necessitating an up-gunning of the Pz.IV with a new high velocity gun to combat its sloped armour. By 1942 it was relegated to tasks where its light armour and 3.7mm pop-gun wasn't an impediment, such as close support of troop advances. For some of the Ausf.J production the gun was upgraded to a 50mm long-barrelled unit for additional penetration to keep it in service longer, but by this time it was clear that it was past its sell-by-date, and that the Pz.IV had much more development potential. The chassis went on to be used for many other developments, some of which were quite successful, such as the StuG III. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2020 tooling from Academy, who Airfix have a reboxing arrangement with until their own range of kits is broad enough. It’s a modern tooling that arrives in the traditional red-themed Airfix style top-opening box, and inside are eleven sprues of sand-coloured styrene, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE), a decal sheet and instruction booklet, which is printed in spot colour on glossy paper. Construction begins with drilling several 1.0mm holes in some of the major hull parts, some of which depend on your choice of decal options. The lower hull is first to be built, starting with the floor and adding the sides, lower glacis and rear bulkhead plates along with a pair of internal bulkheads that help to keep everything square by using pins and sockets. The suspension detail parts are applied to the hull sides, and includes the final drive housings and additional dampers, then a set of three paired return rollers, plus six paired road wheels are fitted to each side, adding two-part idler and drive sprockets front and rear. The tracks are link and length on this kit, each side having a one-part run along the lower length, and creating the top run and wrap-around sections from the individual links that are found on the four track/road wheel sprues. The diagonal straight sections are moulded in one part too, and a scrap diagram is provided to show the correct arrangement of the different sections. With the tracks complete, the fenders are clipped to the top of the hull sides on pegs, and the glacis plate with transmission inspection hatches is applied to the front of the hull, along with the forward sections of the fenders. The upper hull box is made up under the turret ring, which has the armour added over the top of the side walls, plus a shell splash deflector on the roof, armoured visor for the driver, and the bow machine gun in the kugelblende. At the rear are a pair of lifting eyes, and the instructions have a numbered order in which to assemble the armour panels. When finished, the assembly is lowered onto the hull, mating with recesses in the hull top, and joined by the inspection hatches in the glacis plate, the optional appliqué armour to the front of the upper hull, headlights, and a length of spare track that is lashed to the lower glacis by a long C-shaped bracket. The fenders have stiffening brackets added down their length and are then dotted with the pioneer tools, spare wheel pairs, stowage boxes, jack block, jack and fire extinguisher, the wheels mounted on two-part triangular brackets. The rear bulkhead has an armoured panel added, then has the twin exhausts, large towing eyes, metal ducting and the armoured overhang with PE grilles, plus five PE chain lengths hanging down representing the smoke generator. The engine deck insert is detailed by adding the two inspection hatches and their armoured covers to the front section, then adding an insert to the insert (inception, anyone?) that has the styrene towing cables and vents on it, and a couple of lifting hooks to the forward corners. Another pair of PE grilles are added over the radiator outlets on the sides after gluing the insert to the rear deck. The turret is made from an upper section that has the armour panels added over the top after cutting off a few raised areas, and a floor with moulded-in turret ring. The turret front has the inner mantlet, armour insert and the thick frontal armour glued on, then a choice of long or short-barrelled main gun and its recoil tubes, joined with a short two-part breech behind the mantlet, and with the gun shroud slipped over the barrel and mated to the mantlet. The completed assembly is then mated to the turret, which is detailed with vision hatches, clamshell side doors and lifting hooks. The big bustle-mounted stowage bin is made up from three parts and slotted into grooves in the back of the turret above two conical inserts. Optional appliqué armour is made up from five extra parts and slipped over the mantlet, and the commander’s cupola is built up on the bottom ring, which has five styrene vision blocks with a choice of external face slotted into it, to be locked in by the toroidal hatch surround and the clamshell hatches that can be posed open or closed. A mushroom vent and grab handles over the side hatches are the last plastic parts, with a PE sighting blade fixed to the roof in front of the front vision block of the cupola. A set of PE bumpers are applied to the sides and around the bottom of the bustle stowage bin, with a scrap diagram showing their location and telling you to use instant glue. Markings There are two markings options on the decal sheet, one in panzer grey, the other wearing a coat of winter distemper. From the box you can build one of the following options: 6 Kompanie, II Battalion, Panzer Regiment 3, 2nd Panzer Division, Russia, 1942 8. SS-PanzerRegiment 2, Kharkov Offensive, Russia, February 1942 Decals appear to have been printed in Korea by Academy’s usual partners, and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The first decal option uses the short-barrelled gun, and wasn’t fitted with the additional armour packages that were applied to later vehicles in order to improve their survivability. The second decal option was fielded later with up-armoured mantlet, glacis and long-barrelled 50mm Kw.K 39 L/60 gun, the parts for both of which are included in the kit. Conclusion The Panzer III is a popular subject with modellers, and this is a modern high-quality kit of the later Ausf.J that saw action in WWII despite its relative obsolescence by that time. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of