fatfingers Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 How do chaps, Thought it was about time I got back in to the saddle and did a build. I built the original PzIII.L version some years ago and was really impressed how it went together. It dates from 1993 and still stacks up really well (and better in some instances ) against todays kits. Etch parts and alu barrel that come with the kit. These also come with the StuG III A/B kit that Tamiya produce (on my to buy list) Lower hull with axles fitted. Etch grill fitted. Exhaust and heat plate? fitted to rear hull. Upper hull started. No problems here. Spaced armour fitted to the hull front. This was a bit fiddly to fit and needed some jiggling about to sit straight. Hull top sat on the lower hull, just to see how it looks The kit is just falling together so far. More to follow soon, Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vally G Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) Hi Steve, I am not a big fan of German armour, but I do like the Panzer III and will be watching this with interest. Things are looking good so far. Any idea yet what scheme you will do? Kind regards, Adam Edited March 20, 2014 by Vally G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubster72 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Nice one Steve. I do like the early angular Panzers, there's a lot of scope for colour modulation with them. Look forward to watching this one. Cheers Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 How do chaps, Hi Steve, I am not a big fan of German armour, but I do like the Panzer III and will be watching this with interest. Things are looking good so far. Any idea yet what scheme you will do? Kind regards, Adam Hi Adam, I'm not overly keen on German armour myself to be honest. BUT I do like Panzer III's and have a few kits of various marks in the stash I'm going to go with the Tunisia scheme Not too sure of the colours that Tamiya suggest tho. I read somewhere once that some Pz III's in Tunisia were painted in a 'pea green' colour. Will have to do more research me thinks! Patrick, I may have a go at this 'modulation' gubbins with this one. Cheers fella's Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveinns Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Not keen on German armour !!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Not keen on German armour !!!!!!!!!! Its all tham squiggly paint jobs that put me off it! Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Grumpylee Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Just getting comfy for this one...looking good so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Good solid work so far. Tamiya's oldie is a charming kit and builds into a good looking replica. As far as North Africa, The last Pz III's delivered were the N models. Perusing hundreds of photos leads me to certain conclusions: #1 The Pz III's from sPzAbt 501 were most likely RAL 8000 overall. Remember the restoration of the Bovington Tiger? Everyone was shocked to see the original colors were RAL 8000 with RAL 7008 splotches. The Pz IIIN's were no doubt painted accordingly BUT I have yet to see indications of a camo pattern of RAL 7008 on them. #2 The other Battalions received Pz IIIN's delivered in the Tropen colors of RAL 8020 with RAL 7027 splotches. That was the proscribed scheme from April 1942 until the end. #3 Green Tigers and Panzers. Tunisia has very different terrain than Libya. It's been postulated that crews used left over RAL 7008, a dark gray green khaki color, or RAL 7027, a light "pea" green gray color, to cover the majority off the vehicles as that made them blend in better. I love the DAK period and nearly all my reference material is dedicated to that theatre. Most if not all my German armor is DAK related. G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 (edited) Good solid work so far. Tamiya's oldie is a charming kit and builds into a good looking replica. As far as North Africa, The last Pz III's delivered were the N models. Perusing hundreds of photos leads me to certain conclusions: #1 The Pz III's from sPzAbt 501 were most likely RAL 8000 overall. Remember the restoration of the Bovington Tiger? Everyone was shocked to see the original colors were RAL 8000 with RAL 7008 splotches. The Pz IIIN's were no doubt painted accordingly BUT I have yet to see indications of a camo pattern of RAL 7008 on them. #2 The other Battalions received Pz IIIN's delivered in the Tropen colors of RAL 8020 with RAL 7027 splotches. That was the proscribed scheme from April 1942 until the end. #3 Green Tigers and Panzers. Tunisia has very different terrain than Libya. It's been postulated that crews used left over RAL 7008, a dark gray green khaki color, or RAL 7027, a light "pea" green gray color, to cover the majority off the vehicles as that made them blend in better. I love the DAK period and nearly all my reference material is dedicated to that theatre. Most if not all my German armor is DAK related. G Thanks G As German DAK armour is a new avenue for me, you've given me some very useful info to work from. It will save me a lot of digging about for colour schemes! Much appreciated. Regards Steve Edited March 23, 2014 by fatfingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Glad to help Steve. I have Tamiya paint mixes for the RAL colors if you need them too. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Glad to help Steve. I have Tamiya paint mixes for the RAL colors if you need them too. G Yes please! Thanks Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Ok you asked for it! I have mixed all these and like them as I really prefer Tamiya. RAL 8000- Tamiya XF 52 Flat Earth with equal parts XF 60 Dark Yellow. Add to that about 1/3 the total XF 4 Yellow Green. This is just a shade light in my opinion, but gives a good base for weathering. This is the best mix I've found yet. RAL 7008- Tamiya XF 49 Khaki 3 to 1 with Tamiya XF 62 Olive Drab. Lighten this with a bit of buff or Deck Tan so as to not become too "gray". RAL 8020- This is a stinker but I found a 60/40 mix of Tamiya XF 57 Buff and XF 15 Flat Flesh gets you right there. Add a drop of Deck Tan if you think it's too pink. RAL 7027- Take the RAL 8020 mix and add a drop or two of XF 49 Khaki. You want a color very similar, but with just enough green to appear darker on the tank. Period photos show a contrast between these two colors that is not usually present in bottled hobby paint. Here's the RAL 8020/7027 mixes pre weathering. Here's the RAL 8000 mix. I've mixed the RAL 7008 but haven't used it on a build yet. I did do a "paint brush comparo" inside the hull of the Befehlspanzer. I'll shoot that and post it later. G 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 G That's brilliant and will be a great help when it comes to painting. Very many thanks indeed! Much appreciated Made a bit more progress last night with various bits added to the hull and the turret shell made up. Will post pics up later. Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 How do chaps. Pics of recent work done. Various bits added to the upper hull and the turret shell made up. Hope to get more done over the weekend. Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Looks like this will be a good build K ps. I love your mug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Coming along nicely! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darson Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Looking good so far Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Coming along really good mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Very nice. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thanks for the comments guys Main hull and turret just about finished. So i decided to have a play about with some stowage. In the end I decided to put a run of spare track on the turret roof and add some L beam to the rear hull, and will add stowage thus. The gap between the packs will be filled with some jerry cans when I can find them! I'll fix the stowage and then paint in situ. I did this with a recent Sherman build and was very happy with the overall result. The stowage itself is from Value Gear and is great stuff. No huge casting blocks to be sanded off and the detail is really good! Will also paint the wheel inners before gluing the two halves together, so I can get into the nooks and crannies of the running gear. More soon, Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 This is an outstanding build. There is a lot interesting information coming out as well. I shall follow this with interest Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Looking great. I will be painting one of my DAK panzers soon, so I'm looking forward to yours as well. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 How do chaps, This is an outstanding build. There is a lot interesting information coming out as well. I shall follow this with interest Roger Thanks Roger, AgentG has provided some great paint advice! Looking great. I will be painting one of my DAK panzers soon, so I'm looking forward to yours as well. G Thanks G I'm looking forward to seeing how your DAK panzer turns out! Today, I have mostly being doing stowage. I decided to have a go at scratching a stowage rack as the boxes looked like they would drop off once the tank set off! The uprights are L beam and the plank is made from a wooden coffee stirer from a well known burger chain... It does look a little over scale, but once loaded up I think it looked ok... The stowage came from Academy, Tamiya and Value Gear. I also decided to add some side bracing at this point. The spare tracks came from this kit and a Tamiya PzIII.L thats in the 'to do' pile. I also added the etch grills to the engine intakes. The insides of which were brush painted in black to add shadow, as these areas could easily be missed with the airbrush later. The back of the stowage box on the turret was also pre painted in camo black brown for the same reason Back to work tomorrow, so painting will have to wait til Friday when I'm next off Kind regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz! Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 looking really good. regards oz!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 coming along nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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