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Stug III - First armour project in a l-o-n-g time


Ian

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I've mentioned elsewhere, that my airbrush is 'offline' at the moment until a replacement nozzle arrives fron 'Blighty'. In the meantime, I re-ordered my stash and dug this out:

Stugbox_zps7be3234c.jpg




and some bits and pieces I bought over a period of 18months:

Stugxtras_zps30aacd7b.jpg



Got a few references too !!

Stugrefs_zps572344ab.jpg

And this morning I made a start:

Stugzim2_zps4ae53bc8.jpg



Stugzim1_zpsa177819a.jpg



The running gear/suspension just dropped into place exactly as it should, then came the Eduard etched Zimmerit. Something entirely new for me, and so far it seems to be working-out very well. It's measured precisely for the Tamiya kit and Eduard do need to be congratulated on getting that 'spot-on'. All looks very good so far, but I'm fully aware that can change as fast as a very fast thing !!

Thanks for taking the time to look. As ever I'll try to answer any questions and comments.

AFN

Ian

Edited by Ian
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Encountered my first 'issue' this morning when I was assembling the gun-mount, mantlet and barrel. The Jordi Rubio part that I bought to replace the kit barrel, is a generic KwK 76, not specifically designed for the Tamiya StuG so therefore is 28mm too long.

Measure, tape, saw, pray.

Results later !!

Ian

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So here’s the aforementioned ‘cut’ measured, marked and taped ready for the saw.

Stugbarrelcut_zpsa43f9422.jpg

It worked fine and over a couple of weekend sessions I finished-off all the main construction:

Stug1a_zps52782565.jpg

Stug1b_zps41f09ced.jpg

Stug1c_zps08300dd3.jpg

Stug1d_zps891e2e15.jpg

As this is written all seems to have gone pretty much to plan, and the next task, getting an undercoat on it should go smoothly later in the week. Especially so since the new nozzle for my airbrush arrived in the mail this afternoon.

Thanks for all the comments so far. I’ll be continuing this build alongside the F-100 and RF-4 (posted in the appropriate forums), in the next few weeks. More soon.

Ian

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And here it is in a thin coat of Tamiya (acrylic) Khaki.

Stug2a_zps0e6541b0.jpg




Stug2b_zpsafb0817b.jpg



Stug2d_zpsa3b159d8.jpg



Stug2c_zpsfec55c64.jpg



Will finish the upper hull work next and shoot another light coat of Khaki, then start the pre-shading. More toward the end of the week. Thanks for taking the time to look and/or comment.

Ian

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Stug3a_zpsf3226a69.jpg

Stug3b_zps9d538e14.jpg

Stug3c_zpsc1d52280.jpg

Stug3d_zpscb54f4ce.jpg

Today was a good day !!

It's a VERY wet Friday here in NZ, and because I'm working all over the weekend, I decided to take today off and do a little modelling.

Over the last couple of evenings I've finished the upper hull construction and last night arranged the 'clutter' for the rear deck. not too much to add here, as I plan to 'time-frame' the model on the 5th of June 1944 - the day before everything changed, and with that in mind I'm aiming for a combination of 'ready for business' and 'relaxed'.

A large tarp roll from the Tamiya Horch and few bits and pieces from Italeri & Academy. The figure is from the Tamiya 'Tank Crew at Rest' set with head-swap. I know it's 'old school' but I still like folded tissue paper & dilute white glue for the odd sheet or two.

More soon.

Ian

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So when I got into the garage this morning, I intended only to lay-down some pre-shading, but things didn't go according to plan...

Stug4a_zpse2377114.jpg

Stug4b_zps7b41baee.jpg

Stug4c_zps7bb0890e.jpg

Stug4d_zps0c20ecf4.jpg

Stug4e_zps470244de.jpg

...I DID do the pre-shading, (black, Khaki Drab, 'Panzer' grey and buff - all Tamiya acrylics), but then I mixed some of the buff into Tamiya 'Dark Yellow' and things sort-of got out of hand !!

By the time 1400 had arrived I was at this point...

Yep, today was (definitely) a good day !!

Ian

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  • 3 weeks later...

Made a fair bit of progress over the last two or three weeks. Best illustrated by ‘then and now’ images. The first of each pair was taken on the 23rd of May, the second just yesterday.

Stug5a_zpsc4f61277.jpg

Stug6a_zpsdda8008e.jpg

Stug5b_zps9a442d5c.jpg

Stug6b_zps2fedf544.jpg

Stug5c_zps26a3c710.jpg

Stug6c_zps3da1c7a1.jpg

Stug5d_zps77fcc0cd.jpg

Stug6d_zps40e29ced.jpg

I’ve gone from first ‘black oil wash’ into the natural recesses through to decals, dry-brush, first pigment application, then overall brown wash, detail painting and finally, the latest pigment run.

All going to one side for a few days to settle-down, then tracks (ughhh !!).

As ever thanks for taking the time to look. All comments, questions and criticism welcomed.

AFN

Ian

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very nice... I am starting to dig up references for my build... will be back to look at how you have the stowage, mine is going to be very heavily laden

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Looking great, excellent progress, been wanting a Stug for ages, will have to go and get one for my stash now, thanks!

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very nice... I am starting to dig up references for my build... will be back to look at how you have the stowage, mine is going to be very heavily laden

Hi Rob

I had in-mind to place mine on 5th June 1944 'Somewhere in Northern France'. The idea being, it would be relatively 'unweathered' - just generally dirty, and loaded as if ready to transfer to the 'front' wherever that may be. So ready for action not actually 'in action'.

All of these consideratons 'informed' the size and placement of the stowage. I still have a few small items to add, and the 'relaxed' figure of course !!

Ian

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Ian, this is probably the first build where PE zim has been used where I think it

really works mate. I followed this one from the start and thought "PE Zimmerit ...run away "

You pulled it off fella, well done it really does look good, quality build. Now no pressure lets see the figure painted up :winkgrin:

Dan

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Thanks all.

Really great feedback and much appreciated. Not certain how to attack the figure just yet, but years and years back I did a few which weren't great but weren't too bad either and (believe it or not) got my only ever 'class win' at the IPMS Nats with a Verlinden 'Top Gun Pilot' - but that was when we were at Stoneleigh, I'm guessing whatever skills I had back then have faded with time. :frantic:

Ian

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