StuG.III F/8 Early Production - Dragon 1/35 - update 03/05/21

[fatfingers]

Afternoon Stix,

 

Great progress and just to let to know - i will be stealing your method for the tracks as its just too brilliant not to! 😉

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[Ozzy]

Nice job on the tracks Stix’s, your making those magic tracks look easy.

[Hewy]

Nice, a bit of a bend to the mud gaurds , and the tracks are on the way too, 👍

[modelling minion]

Great job on the wheels Stix, they look really good.

Neat trick with the tracks going around the sprocket, its got the shape prefect for the final assembly.

[Retired Bob]

You confused me for a minute when you put links on both sides of the sprocket,  I never thought to compare the sprocket and idler diameters, I just use the idler and a bit of masking tape. 

[GREG DESTEC]

Hi Stix, 

 

Very nice work on your Stug. The painting is fantastic and I love the way you make the detail pop out.

 

Cheers Greg 👍

[PlaStix]

On 20/02/2021 at 17:46, fatfingers said:

Afternoon Stix,

Great progress and just to let to know - i will be stealing your method for the tracks as its just too brilliant not to! 😉

Regards,

Steve

Hi Steve and thank you for your comments. An yes, steal away! I've used this track assembling method on a few builds now and it seems to work okay. 

 

On 20/02/2021 at 18:30, Ozzy said:

Nice job on the tracks Stix’s, your making those magic tracks look easy.

Hi Ozzy. Cheers. I actually like Magic Tracks (well the ones I've used before and these seem to be doing what they asked at the moment!). When I used my first set I was a bit disappointed that they didn't clip together in some way, but, once beyond that, I found them quite straight forward to use and get them to look how I want them to.

 

On 20/02/2021 at 18:38, Hewy said:

Nice, a bit of a bend to the mud gaurds , and the tracks are on the way too, 👍

Thank you Glynn.

 

On 20/02/2021 at 18:53, modelling minion said:

Great job on the wheels Stix, they look really good.

Neat trick with the tracks going around the sprocket, its got the shape prefect for the final assembly.

Cheers Craig. Yeah it was lucky that I realised the idler was the same size.

 

On 22/02/2021 at 16:04, Retired Bob said:

You confused me for a minute when you put links on both sides of the sprocket,  I never thought to compare the sprocket and idler diameters, I just use the idler and a bit of masking tape. 

Yeah I wouldn't have guessed they were the same.

 

On 22/02/2021 at 18:28, GREG DESTEC said:

Hi Stix, 

Very nice work on your Stug. The painting is fantastic and I love the way you make the detail pop out.

Cheers Greg 👍

Hi Greg. I hope you are well and thank you.

 

I have been plodding along with doing bits and pieces on this when I get chance - but there's not been any leaps and bounds of progress.

 

First off I got the tracks I wanted assembling assembled:

The slightly curved, eight link sections, are what will be needed to go between the end links of the bottom runs and those links around the sprockets and idlers. The slight curve is there to represent a slight sagging effect. All of these will be painted and weathered before being fitted in place. The top run, with the sag sections, will be assembled once these have set in place. 

 

Dragon's poor instructions came to the fore again in a minor, if slightly irritating, way. There have been several occasions since the ones before, where the instructions let things down a bit again, but this one annoyed me slightly more for some reason. On the days I didn't feel like working on the lower hull/running gear, I decided I would assemble some of the other parts that still need to be worked on. One of these areas was the hatches being assembled and fitted on the rear deck. When I test fitted the first hatch I realised the hatch had the hinge halves moulded on - but the deck itself didn't have the opposite part of the hinges in place.

So I consulted the instructions to discover that, in one drawing the hinges are not there, but in the next they magically are - without any explanation of what part number they are or when to install them:

So I hoped they were somewhere on the sprues and, having been peering for ages at all but one of the sprues - I found these on sprues G:

 

 

So if you make this kit in future you need 8 x G40!..............and they were fiddly to fit too!

 

And next - this is all the remaining pieces that I assembled and/or prepared for painting:

 

Finally I decided to put my modelling skills to a proper test. Unlike a lot of the superb modellers in this GB, I am not a big user of complicated PE structures in my modelling. I don't mind fitting the odd PE mesh grill or folding a simple box, etc. However, when I looked at the plastic version of the gun sight equipment mesh cover - that sits on the roof of the fighting compartment - I realised the plastic version looked really chunky in comparison to the actual ones. The gunner wouldn't have seen anything past framing that thick!! So I decided to make up the PE version. You'll notice I didn't include a close up photo of the original part in my earlier posts because I really hadn't planned on using it. Dragon do provide a former for the mesh and I used CA glue to hold it all together. And this is the result:

 

As long as it looks okay under paint I would definitely prefer to use it. I will see how it looks.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[modelling minion]

The etched mesh cover looks much better than the plastic one provided in the kit, and you have done a very neat job getting it together, I'm not keen on using the stuff myself so I completely understand your reluctance to tackle a complicated structure.

Despite Dragon doing it's very best to confuse you with their instructions you are doing a good job. The track assemblies are very neat, nice sag you have achieved.

[Hewy]

I'd  be rightly chuffed as nuts with that bit of pe work, I'd  say you nailed that

[Retired Bob]

37 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

So I consulted the instructions to discover that, in one drawing the hinges are not there, but in the next they magically are - without any explanation of what part number they are or when to install them:

On my plans there was one hinge arrowed and a x8, but I missed it completely for several weeks until I was staring at the kit and noticed only half a hinge was on each panel, doh!  

 

42 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

However, when I looked at the plastic version of the gun sight equipment mesh cover - that sits on the roof of the fighting compartment - I realised the plastic version looked really chunky in comparison to the actual ones. The gunner wouldn't have seen anything past framing that thick!! So I decided to make up the PE version.

Looks very good to me, my Ausf.F being an older kit does not have either.  If I was as good as some modellers on this site I would build one from scratch. 

[Jasper dog]

Definitely go with the etch cover, looks great! 

Tbh I'd guess it wouldn't matter if it was slightly damaged as I'd assume the real thing could get a little battered.

I think quite a few manufacturer make slip ups with part numbers etc, I know RFM do, it's not surprising when you have huge part counts in modern kits.

 

Nice work with the tracks too.

 

Cheers

Darryl 

[THEscaleSHOW]

On 01/03/2021 at 21:47, PlaStix said:

Hi Steve and thank you for your comments. An yes, steal away! I've used this track assembling method on a few builds now and it seems to work okay. 

 

Hi Ozzy. Cheers. I actually like Magic Tracks (well the ones I've used before and these seem to be doing what they asked at the moment!). When I used my first set I was a bit disappointed that they didn't clip together in some way, but, once beyond that, I found them quite straight forward to use and get them to look how I want them to.

 

Thank you Glynn.

 

Cheers Craig. Yeah it was lucky that I realised the idler was the same size.

 

Yeah I wouldn't have guessed they were the same.

 

Hi Greg. I hope you are well and thank you.

 

I have been plodding along with doing bits and pieces on this when I get chance - but there's not been any leaps and bounds of progress.

 

First off I got the tracks I wanted assembling assembled:

The slightly curved, eight link sections, are what will be needed to go between the end links of the bottom runs and those links around the sprockets and idlers. The slight curve is there to represent a slight sagging effect. All of these will be painted and weathered before being fitted in place. The top run, with the sag sections, will be assembled once these have set in place. 

 

Dragon's poor instructions came to the fore again in a minor, if slightly irritating, way. There have been several occasions since the ones before, where the instructions let things down a bit again, but this one annoyed me slightly more for some reason. On the days I didn't feel like working on the lower hull/running gear, I decided I would assemble some of the other parts that still need to be worked on. One of these areas was the hatches being assembled and fitted on the rear deck. When I test fitted the first hatch I realised the hatch had the hinge halves moulded on - but the deck itself didn't have the opposite part of the hinges in place.

So I consulted the instructions to discover that, in one drawing the hinges are not there, but in the next they magically are - without any explanation of what part number they are or when to install them:

So I hoped they were somewhere on the sprues and, having been peering for ages at all but one of the sprues - I found these on sprues G:

 

 

So if you make this kit in future you need 8 x G40!..............and they were fiddly to fit too!

 

And next - this is all the remaining pieces that I assembled and/or prepared for painting:

 

Finally I decided to put my modelling skills to a proper test. Unlike a lot of the superb modellers in this GB, I am not a big user of complicated PE structures in my modelling. I don't mind fitting the odd PE mesh grill or folding a simple box, etc. However, when I looked at the plastic version of the gun sight equipment mesh cover - that sits on the roof of the fighting compartment - I realised the plastic version looked really chunky in comparison to the actual ones. The gunner wouldn't have seen anything past framing that thick!! So I decided to make up the PE version. You'll notice I didn't include a close up photo of the original part in my earlier posts because I really hadn't planned on using it. Dragon do provide a former for the mesh and I used CA glue to hold it all together. And this is the result:

 

As long as it looks okay under paint I would definitely prefer to use it. I will see how it looks.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

A wise decision with a great result 👍

I hope you didn't glue your fingers together during the fine work 😁
With the dimensions of the Dragon basket you could beat someone to death 💪

MD

[Ray_W]

Hi Stix,

 

Great build you have going here - as always. Your wheels are gems.

 

I jumped across to the GB to see how everyone is progressing. Soon be jumping in boots and all with my Dragon StuG. You're so lucky to have the Magic Tracks. My kit has the infernal DS tracks. 

 

Ray

[Robert Stuart]

You are making good progress there Stix - an interesting read, especially since I just got a copy of this same kit (less the Magic Tracks).

This - the etch bit - looks good.  Well done with that

 

[PlaStix]

On 01/03/2021 at 21:00, modelling minion said:

The etched mesh cover looks much better than the plastic one provided in the kit, and you have done a very neat job getting it together, I'm not keen on using the stuff myself so I completely understand your reluctance to tackle a complicated structure.

Despite Dragon doing it's very best to confuse you with their instructions you are doing a good job. The track assemblies are very neat, nice sag you have achieved.

Hi Craig. Thank you for your comments. I know some modellers are able to solder PE parts - into some quite complex structures - but I'm terrible at soldering........and superglue isn't always appropriate for some PE parts - but it was okay for this one. I have now managed to complete both track runs - as you will be able to see below.

 

On 01/03/2021 at 21:08, Hewy said:

I'd  be rightly chuffed as nuts with that bit of pe work, I'd  say you nailed that

Thank you Glynn.....I was pleased with how it came out, but I still need to get some paint on it to see if it really will work.

 

On 01/03/2021 at 21:35, Retired Bob said:

On my plans there was one hinge arrowed and a x8, but I missed it completely for several weeks until I was staring at the kit and noticed only half a hinge was on each panel, doh!  

 

Looks very good to me, my Ausf.F being an older kit does not have either.  If I was as good as some modellers on this site I would build one from scratch. 

Hi Bob and thank you. Yes Dragon are being shown as pretty poor with their instructions during this GB. Their Pz.IIIs and Stug IIIs kit instructions all seem to have sections that are a bit 'wanting'!

 

If my PE cover works okay, do you want my plastic version? Quite happy to put it in the post to you. I'll try and get some paint on the PE version in the next couple of days and let you know. The plastic version does look a bit bulky in comparison though.

 

On 02/03/2021 at 07:18, Jasper dog said:

Definitely go with the etch cover, looks great! 

Tbh I'd guess it wouldn't matter if it was slightly damaged as I'd assume the real thing could get a little battered.

I think quite a few manufacturer make slip ups with part numbers etc, I know RFM do, it's not surprising when you have huge part counts in modern kits.

Nice work with the tracks too.

Cheers

Darryl 

Hi Darryl. Thank you for your comments and I will certainly use the etch part if it looks okay under paint. Good point about them getting damaged too. Also I quite agree that Dragon are not the only manufacturer to have errors in their instructions - I think it's just the amount of errors in some of their kits, that makes it more frustrating.

 

On 05/03/2021 at 15:33, THEscaleSHOW said:

A wise decision with a great result 👍

I hope you didn't glue your fingers together during the fine work 😁
With the dimensions of the Dragon basket you could beat someone to death 💪

MD

Hi MD and thank you for your comments. I only got stuck to it a bit, a couple of times!! Yeah, the plastic version is a little chunky!

 

On 07/03/2021 at 15:26, Ray_W said:

Hi Stix,

Great build you have going here - as always. Your wheels are gems.

I jumped across to the GB to see how everyone is progressing. Soon be jumping in boots and all with my Dragon StuG. You're so lucky to have the Magic Tracks. My kit has the infernal DS tracks. 

Ray

Hi Ray and thank you very much for your kind comments.

I'm really looking forward to seeing you make a start on your Dragon StuG! Shame it's got DS tracks, but I have had to use them a couple of times and actually found them okay. Best to avoid anything other than water based acrylic paints on them though. I usually apply a couple of coats of thinned Revell Aqua's Anthracite - as I do on all my tracks - before dry-brushing them with Humbrol Acrylic's Gunmetal when dry. I then build up a variety of acrylic, very, very thinned (with water) washes - usually Humbrol's Desert Yellow, Railmatch's Light Rust and then - depending on the location - something like Humbrol's Dark Earth. I also managed to get a bit of sag in them by carefully using superglue over more of the tops of the return rollers. Let me know if I can help with anything when you do yours.

 

On 07/03/2021 at 15:54, Robert Stuart said:

You are making good progress there Stix - an interesting read, especially since I just got a copy of this same kit (less the Magic Tracks).
This - the etch bit - looks good.  Well done with that

Hi Robert and thank you for the comments.

It is basically a nice kit - just the instructions are a bit off in places. Hopefully you'll see some of the errors in this thread but just PM me when you do get around to making yours if you can't find something.

 

Time to bring this thread up to date. I decided I wanted to get the tracks on so I needed to get the basic weathering applied to the sides of the lower hull. I know most armour modeller like to build everything first and then paint and weather, but I'd find that really difficult. Perhaps because I brush paint.

 

So, first off, I applied very thinned Humbrol Acrylic Gunmetal, with a fine pointed brush, to a variety of areas where I thought there might be wear or chipping. Over these and around them, I applied very, very thinned Revell Aqua's Anthracite - again with a fine pointed brush. I use the Antracite to dull down the Gunmetal a little but also to represent other worn bits. I should mention that all my paints are thinned with water. Then I used a bit of very, very thinned Railmatch's Light Rust. I don't use this necessarily to represent rust but more to look like light dirt - maybe combined with a bit of rust. This was the result:

 

 

The tracks at this stage (and some of the other tools that were going to have some dry-brushed, metallic Gunmetal applied) were given a thinned coat Revell Aqua's Anthracite - applied with a medium flat brush:

 

This was how the tracks looked after being dry-brushed with Humbrol's Acrylic Gunmetal:

 

On the sides of the hull I next applied some streaks and runs using very, very thinned, Gunship Grey, Light Grey, Anthracite and Light Rust using a fine pointed brush:

 

 

I then used some of Vallejo's European Thick mud - which I applied sparingly, with a cocktail stick. To get a more dried, lighter look - I stippled on thinned Desert Yellow and a lighter version of the desert Yellow over the mud and over some of the hull sides:

 

 

The tracks at this stage were given several, very thinned, washes of Humbrol's acrylic Desert Yellow followed by some patchy washes of very, very thinned Railmatch's acrylic Light Rust:

 

Dragon's instructions don't tell you to fit the last two items to the sides of the lower hull until the very last stage - so I had to add them now:

 

Not sure what these were but, apparently, they were fitted like this to some units of StuG IIIs in Sicily. My guess is that that they were to hold the aerials when not in use or maybe gun cleaning rods. I hadn't ever seen these type of things until I got this kit. I weathered them before fitting them both.

 

This photo is to show that I was also doing some work on the rear of the hull as well at this time:

 

Next up it was time to fit all the wheels, return rollers, idlers and drive sprockets - all of which had been weathered in a similar way to the sides of the hull (described above):

 

On the port side I also did a test fit of the sections of track I had made up before, painted and basically weathered:

They seemed to fit very well.

 

With the above tracks glued in place and fully set, it was time to make up the top runs. The last time I made up tracks for a Pz.III, the top runs were 36 links long - which was enough to give a bit of a sag between each roller. So I fairly quickly used some Tamiya thin, sparingly applied, to the join to glue 36 links together, on my cutting mat, for the first side. I find Tamiya thin is excellent for this kind of thing as it holds quite well quite quickly, but also remains flexible enough to drape over the rollers. When I picked up and tried this first set in place, there was way too much sag - so I removed one link and it fitted fine with, what looked like, a reasonable amount of sag. On the other side it did require 36 links to get the same effect. And this is how they looked while setting:

 

 

I left them for at least half a day to set and this is how they looked once removed and ready for painting:

 

This next photo is the tracks after they were given the same painting and base weathering as the rest of the tracks before (please see above):

 

These were then glued in place using Revell's Contacta glue on the back wheel of each of the pair of return rollers and Tamiya Thin where they joined up with the other links on the Idlers and sprockets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It always feels like I've reached a bit of a milestone when I get to this point with the tracks on.

 

Finally I got the remaining parts fitted to the rear of the hull:

 

Next up will be getting some paint on the parts for the superstructure - hopefully over the weekend.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Jasper dog]

Outstanding!

The paintwork and weathering on the tracks and lower hull is just tremendous!

Some of the best paintwork I've seen in some time regardless of how it's been applied!

 

Great work, really great work. 👍

[Ray_W]

Stix,

 

Brilliant work. Great finishing. Those low down rear three quarter images are exceptionally lovely. 

 

25 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Shame it's got DS tracks,

 

Not any more. Big celebrations 🎉🎉 Visited one of my local hobby stores here in Sofia being Hobbyland https://hobbyland.bg/. Mentioned to Alex at the counter whether he has any single link replacement tracks for a Panzer III or IV. He goes out back, comes back with an old shopping bag, ferrets around in it for a while and pulls these out. So DS no more. Thank you Alex and Hobbyland. The joy of the LHS - may they live long and prosper.

 

 

Ray

[PlaStix]

1 minute ago, Ray_W said:

So DS no more

That's excellent news Ray!! I'm really pleased for you. What a good bloke Alex is!!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Ray_W]

1 minute ago, PlaStix said:

That's excellent news Ray!! I'm really pleased for you. What a good bloke Alex is!!

Kind regards,

Stix

Also FOC.

[Foxbat]

Another stunner in the making, it's always a joy to follow your builds. You've achieved something thathas bugged me with my builds: Tamiya mould sag into the top length of track. They then make the run from the sprocket/idler to the ground straight, like it was a brand new track. You've managed that very subtle curve so the whole track has weight without being so loose it will be thrown off the first time the vehicle turns. It's that attention to detail as much as the paint that gets me

 

Andy

[Hewy]

Yes the photography is superb, the modelling/painting even more so, thats how a track sag should look,perfect!

 

[Retired Bob]

2 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

Also FOC.

You must be a good customer. 

 

45 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

If my PE cover works okay, do you want my plastic version? Quite happy to put it in the post to you. I'll try and get some paint on the PE version in the next couple of days and let you know. The plastic version does look a bit bulky in comparison though.

I was looking through my StuG "bible today for hints on stowage amongst other things and my early Ausf.F did not have that type of sight or cover, but thank you for the kind offer.

Your lower hull and running gear is looking superb, I think you have got everything spot on there.  I'm just at that stage of painting track and wheels myself. 

[bigfoot]

Looking brilliant Stix, the weathering on the lower hull looks great. Good job with the magic tracks, I like the way they work, just assembling mine now.

[modelling minion]

Simply have to echo what has been previously said, just superb wormanship and equally good photography.

The way you get the lower hull, running gear and tracks to look on your builds is perfect and this one has to be your best yet.

Really looking forward to your next installment.

[Ozzy]

Nice job on the tracks Stix’s to get a sag.