MiniArt Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.B w/Crew (35221) 1:35

[Mike]

Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.B w/Crew (35221)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models

 

 

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 day.  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.II continued to do its prescribed task until the T-34 rained on the Nazis parade, tearing up 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.  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, like the StuG III, and our review of the O-series can be seen here, which incidentally shares some parts with this kit.

 

The Kit

We reviewed the original issue of this kit in 2015, which you can see here, and this is a slightly revised tooling with the addition of a full set of crew figures in era appropriate tanker gear, including the large berets worn at the time before comms became standard fit, necessitating a change to caps.  There are a staggering 48 sprues of grey styrene, three hull and turret parts, a clear sprue, a revised Photo-Etch (PE) fret, decal sheet and instruction booklet with the figure painting guide in the front cover, and the markings & schemes in the rear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kit is ostensibly the same as the original, so if you want to read about the build, have a quick click on the previous review above, but for those of you averse to clicking, a quick summary follows.  The lower hull is made up from numerous slabs, with leaf suspension and running gear added to the sides in pairs.  The individual track links click-fit together and are secured by the addition of the pins in batches of seven, still attached to their sprue runners until they are fitted, after which you can break or cut them off.  The additional PE parts are used in providing in-scale louvers for the engine deck, as well as the trapezoid boxes on the sides of the deck, which improves detail.  The upper hull is fitted to the lower in sections, each of which is detailed with small parts during application, while the breech, turret basket and zwilling coaxial MG34 machine gun mount are all present in the turret that has openable hatches with PE lips on the inside.  Fenders are detailed with pioneer tools, fire extinguisher, jack block and so on, then installed on the sides of the hull.

 

Figures

Included in the kit are five sprues of figures, three of which were joined together on arrival, but were separated for ease of photography.  Put the word MiniArt into discussion about figures and you know that the sculpting will be first class, and these are no exception.  The figures are in a fairly relaxed pose, standing, sitting or leaning on their vehicle.  The commander is standing cross-legged in his cupola with his hands resting on the edge, and the rest of the crew can be seen below in the instruction and painting guide.

 

 

 

 

Markings

Early war usually means panzer grey, but although there are some grey examples, there is also a rather fetching camouflaged example.  There are five decal options, and you can build one of the following:

 

• Unidentified unit, Poland, Sept 1939
• 2nd Battalion Unidentified Unit, Poland, Sept 1939
• Unidentified Unit, Chomutov, Sudetes, Czechslovakia, Oct 1938 (green camouflage)
• 1st Battalion, 1st Panzer Regiment, 1st panzer Division, Poland, Sept 1939
• In service during the campaign in Poland, 1939

 

 

 

 

The decals are printed by Decograph in the Ukraine, with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  Colour call-outs are cross-referenced by letters throughout, which correspond to a table that covers Vallejo, Mr Color, LifeColor, Tamiya, Testors, AK Real Color, Humbrol, Revell, Mission Model, with the colour names in pictorial form, Cyrillic and English text too.

 

 

Conclusion

A nice reboxing of a fairly recent and well-detailed kit that adds figures to the mix to give it some human scale.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of