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Sturmgeschütz III Ausf G - Frühe Version **COMPLETED**


planecrazee

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Happy Friday BMers :thumbsup:

 

Hope you're all keeping well and getting plenty of bench time in.  So here goes - this is my first ever StuG III build and only my third armour/military vehicle build to date.  For anyone who'd like to take a look - these are the links to my first two builds: The Bucket Car and Tamiya 1/35 Panzer II

 

I'm getting more in to armour builds as well as continuing with my usual aircraft builds - such as my Airfix Wellington which is progressing along nicely - so what better way to become even more acquainted than to join this GB along with all the other fellow BMers joining in the fun.

 

I've chosen the Tamiya 1/35 Sturmgeschütz III Ausf G for the build as you can't go wrong with a Tamiya kit can you?  Here's the obligatory box and sprue pics to kick us off:

 

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Looks like a very nice kit, think this one is from 1995 and I've purchased some basic Eduard PE to add some little extras - mainly for the mesh grill covers which add a bit more realism.  Other than that the build will be OOB and I'm really looking forward to getting cracking.  It's got the two figures with this one which I'll be doing - really like the crew member holding the dog - just adds a little something different.

 

So good look with your builds everyone - ready for the off tomorrow and really looking forward to seeing everyone else's come to fruition - especially all you armour modellers out there who will no doubt leave me standing in the dust!!! :whistle: 

 

Kris

 

Edited by planecrazee
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Hi Kris. Great to see you here. And it's always good to see these slightly older Tamiya kits getting built. And good idea about getting the Eduard set. I'm looking forward to see this going together.

Kind regards,

Stix

 

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Happy Sunday all - hope everyone is safe and well and enjoying making progress in the Panzer III GB :bye:

 

Thought I'd provide an update with progress so far.  As I've predominantly been an aircraft modeller, I always seems to forget just how much progress you can make in a good few hours with an armour build.  There's so many more build stages that you can get on with an complete and before you know if you've virtually got most of it put together.  Normally with aircraft builds you've stalled on the cockpit before you can get much else done and always seems a much slower process.

 

Thoroughly enjoying building this model so far and it's going together with no issues at all.  Here's a few photos of where I've got up to so far after spending the majority of yesterday totally engrossed. As you can see - it's amazing what you can do in a good few solid hours.  The majority of the main construction is complete including putting the two figures together:

 

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Here's a closer view of the two figures - nicely moulded and I think the addition of the little dog is brilliant.  Reminds us all that despite the hardships of war everyone looks for some sort of respite and distraction.  There's a few seam lines to sort and the odd little bit of filling required but should hopefully be no issue.  The test now will be see if I can do them any justice with my painting :hmmm:

 

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Here's all the road wheels, idler's and drive sprockets all cleaned up and put together in readiness for fitting to the chassis at a later date.  I prefer to paint the wheels separately so you can get into them better with paint.  The return rollers are the only items I've already fixed to the chassis as you can see in the photos above.

 

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As I mentioned at the opening of the build - the majority will be OOB but there would be a few additional PE parts just to enhance a couple of areas.  Here you can see on the engine deck that I've added grills to the two radiator air outlets.  I also just need to scribe round the engine covers where some glue has set to prevent it looking like the doors are welded shut in parts!

 

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Again - using the PE grills I've added the part to the cover that sits above the exhaust at the rear of the StuG - won't really be seen but again I'll know it's there :mental:

 

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And lastly for PE parts so far, I've used the 'holder' parts for the smoke dischargers that sit on either side of the StuG at the front.  The plastic parts were fine but just a bit chunky - the PE parts are just that bit thinner and more refined.  The smoke discharger tubes themselves are the kit parts. There'll also be a PE bracket to add at the front just below the hatches for the Notek light.

 

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So that's everything for now folks - going to get back to it and see how much progress I can make today as well.  Hope you're all enjoying your own builds and making progress - really going to enjoy checking the progress of all the builds.

 

Happy modelling :thumbsup:

 

Kris 

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Hi Kris, you're making great progress there, it's always the bit I enjoy, the initial fast assembly, then at this time of year trying to get paint on, I will be soon be looking to spray some Mr Surfacer black 1500, especially as primer on the p/e and that stuff needs to be sprayed outside of the house, watching with interest. :winkgrin:

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Thanks Bob.  Yeah it's got to be said I love the build process too. Just love being able to crack on and get things put together which you often can't do with aircraft kits. Good luck with your spraying - let's pray for better weather and I'll be watching your build with interest :thumbsup:

 

All the best

 

Kris

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Thanks for the comments Darryl - much appreciated. Yeah really enjoy Tamiya kits - this is only my 3rd one so far - as I say I'm much more a novice in armour than aircraft but enjoy every minute of it. I'm hoping the few PE extras and the use of the figures will help to enhance the finished model. 

 

Kris

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi folks,

 

Hope everyone's well and making good progress with their builds.  I managed to get some more done over the weekend so I thought I'd provide you all with a quick update.

 

As I did with my Panzer II build, I decided that I'd like to do some hair spray chipping with the StuG so in readiness for this I made up my own version of Red Oxide Primer (which no doubt isn't historically accurate) to prime all the parts in readiness for the Dunkel Gelb to follow.  This was followed by a flat coat to seal all the paint in.  I just tried to approximate the red oxide as there are so many variations noted and opinions as to what this may be that you'd never move on with the build.

 

Here you can see a quick overview shot of everything that's received the red oxide:

 

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I went for a darker tone to try and stop it looking too 'pinkish' and I think it's come out ok - as I say not necessarily accurate but an approximation.

 

Here's a further close up shot of the road wheels, sprockets and idlers as well as the turret roof and cupola pieces:

 

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Same again with a view of the front of the StuG as well as the gun:

 

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And the last couple of pics show progress made so far on both the crew figures......

 

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….and the tools:

 

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As you can see there's still a long way to go but progress is happening across the piece.  I'll continue with the figures and finishing off the tools (including the jack) with all the finishing touches needed and then at the weekend I'm hoping to get the hairspray and Dunkel Gelb on to all the StuG parts followed by some highlights etc and then I'll make a start on the chipping.  I don't intend to go overboard but I like the effect that hairspray chipping creates when done in a restrained way - it just looks more natural to my eye.

 

So hopefully have another update for you at the weekend when she should hopefully look more like a Dunkel Gelb StuG and less like a cranberry with a gun:rofl:

 

All the best :thumbsup:

 

Kris

 

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1 hour ago, planecrazee said:

….and the tools:

Kris, I hope you don't mind suggestions for the tools, the wire cutters had reddish-brown bakelite handles, the wooden handles of the other tools was usually  ash, for colour think of a cricket bat and the metal parts of the tools would be blackened, you do not want shiny silver things reflecting, giving away your position on the battlefield. :winkgrin:

 

2 hours ago, planecrazee said:

 cranberry with a gun 

Like that. 🤣

 

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Hi Bob - no absolutely not - all feedback and suggestions are welcome especially as you know, armour is a newer subject for me. I do my best to research but often end up more confused than I was to start with. Some people seemed to suggest tools would all be painted the same colour as the tank and other sources show various wood shades and tones and bare metal, so you feel like you go round in circles :christmas:Tools being painted over may well have happened in the field but I would have thought tools would be added once it was all painted up in the factory so surely wouldn't be painted on the tank. I appreciate any suggestions you have to help me out - it's always best to learn from each other. I'll have another look at the wood on the tools and the ash colour you suggest. Definitely agree about the 'silverness' of the metal and as I'd mentioned these still needed work and being blackened and weathered is on the list. 

Thanks once again Bob - your guidance and advice is very much appreciated :thumbsup:

Kris

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54 minutes ago, planecrazee said:

 Some people seemed to suggest tools would all be painted the same colour as the tank and other sources show various wood shades and tones and bare metal, so you feel like you go round in circles :christmas:Tools being painted over may well have happened in the field but I would have thought tools would be added once it was all painted up in the factory so surely wouldn't be painted on the tank. I appreciate any suggestions you have to help me out - it's always best to learn from each other.

Some of us had a discussion about the colour of tools and tow cables etc, we came to the conclusion that early dark grey and then dark yellow finished tanks left the factory like that with all the tools and equipment added, when they reached the frontline the units they would, if they had the time, camouflage them,  The time factor made all the difference to how they were camouflaged, sometimes none was applied, they were sent straight to battle in the base coat.

Stug III

 

Other times they had a little time so some basic pattern to break up the shape could be applied but they probably would not have removed all the exterior equipment, I have seen photos where tools and tow cables have been removed leaving their outline in the camouflage paint.  Here the camouflage can be seen on the jack and the spare tracks.

MG-34 MG from atop a StuG III

 

Other times it would appear they had plenty of time to apply the camouflage.

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So really there are no rules unless you are working from good, clear photos of an actual tank, not one that's been restored or in a museum,  

Paint it how you want it to look, clean and straight from the factory or battle worn and damaged, it's your model. :winkgrin:

 

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Thanks very much for all that information Bob - really appreciate it. It's reassuring to know that people that are much more knowledgable, like yourself, are also having discussions with regards to such questions and it's not just me being baffled. I think you're absolutely right - there were so many variations and changes throughout the war - with all the added pressures and differing circumstances and timescales this brings that there often isn't a right or wrong answer. All we can do is try to make them as true to originals as possible with probably some artistic licence thrown in for good measure! 

Thanks for including the photos too Bob - always good to have more reference material. 

Your help and advice is invaluable so thank you very much :thumbsup:

Kris

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Happy Sunday folks - hope everyone is doing ok and making good progress on their builds.

 

I've been busy most of yesterday transforming the 'cranberry with a gun' into something resembling a Dunkel Gelb StuG.  I used Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow as the base and then added some XF-2 Flat White to tone the colour down to use on panels and hatches for a faded 'worn' in look.

 

As you know, I was trying out the hairspray chipping with this one and I'm reasonably happy with the result.  I think it's offered some authentic looking wear which I've tried to keep to a minimum and concentrate on those areas of most use.

 

Following the advice of @Retired Bob, I've made some amendments to the tools which definitely look much more in keeping and decided to paint them all separately and then add them on afterwards so they really stand out - just helps to add even more detail and interest.  Thanks Bob :thumbsup:

 

So here's where I've managed to get to as of Sunday pm:

 

Here you can see all the roadwheels and spares have also been painted up and attached to the model - the idlers and sprockets are attached but not glued:

 

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The machine gun shield has also been added - machine gun to follow.  I need to paint the sight in the cupola as well as the extinguisher which you can see at the rear of the tank  Does anyone have any advice on what colour these should be?  Also the hatch to the cupola needs to be added - it's basically done but wanted to check with all you BMer's out there what the inside colour of the hatch would be as this isn't mentioned in the instructions.  Would it be white?

 

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Here's some views of how the engine deck is looking so far.  I still need to paint up the jack block with some wood effect and the exhaust needs painted and weathered - think you can just about see it at the rear.  I'll need to scratch some aerials too as nothing is provided in the kit and again this helps to add interest and detail.  I also need to add the rear grill once the exhaust is painted which is painted up and ready to attach.

 

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There's also a seam to fill which you can see here at the rear of the cupola running along the top so I'll take care if this too...

 

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…and lastly the engine deck and view of the top of the tank.  Still some bits and pieces to do, such as the machine gun, as previously mentioned, and the spare tracks to sit into the bracket above the gun rods.

 

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The model will be getting a gloss coat in readiness for the few decals and also to be able to do a pin wash etc to pick up all the details.  Then it will be onto sorting out the tracks, finishing of the figures and then going wild with weathering after everything as had a flat coat.  This should really help to make things pop and for everything to settle in and give the extra details needed.

 

So happy with progress to date - this is probably the furthest forward I've ever been for a GB so fingers crossed all keeps going as it has so far.

 

Probably have an update for you next weekend so I'll see how much further on I am by then.

 

Take care and happy modelling :bye:

 

Kris

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