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Panzer III.N


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How do chaps,

Thought it was about time I got back in to the saddle and did a build.

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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 :wicked: ) 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) :whistle:

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Lower hull with axles fitted.

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Etch grill fitted.

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Exhaust and heat plate? fitted to rear hull.

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Upper hull started. No problems here.

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Spaced armour fitted to the hull front. This was a bit fiddly to fit and needed some jiggling about to sit straight.

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Hull top sat on the lower hull, just to see how it looks :coolio:

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The kit is just falling together so far.

More to follow soon,

Regards,

Steve

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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 by Vally G
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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 :coolio:

I'm going to go with the Tunisia scheme

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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

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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

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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 by fatfingers
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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.

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Here's the RAL 8000 mix.

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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

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G

That's brilliant and will be a great help when it comes to painting. Very many thanks indeed! Much appreciated :coolio:

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

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How do chaps.

Pics of recent work done.

Various bits added to the upper hull and the turret shell made up.

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Hope to get more done over the weekend.

Regards,

Steve

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Thanks for the comments guys :)

Main hull and turret just about finished. So i decided to have a play about with some stowage.

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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! :huh:

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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

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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! :thumbsup2:

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! :winkgrin:

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! :mental:

The uprights are L beam and the plank is made from a wooden coffee stirer from a well known burger chain...

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It does look a little over scale, but once loaded up I think it looked ok...

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The stowage came from Academy, Tamiya and Value Gear. I also decided to add some side bracing at this point.

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The spare tracks came from this kit and a Tamiya PzIII.L thats in the 'to do' pile.

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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 :winkgrin:

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Back to work tomorrow, so painting will have to wait til Friday when I'm next off

Kind regards,

Steve

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looking really good.

regards oz!.

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