Einar Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 A couple of days ago I finished my latest build, the Finnish army's StuG. Ausf. G III .These assault guns played a very important role in halting the red army's massive attack in the Karelian isthmus near Leningrad during June-July, 1944. The fate of Finland was at stake. If the Russians had been able to break through they would have marched directly to Helsinki and conquered the whole country. It would have been the end of Finland as a nation. But the advance of the red army was halted in fierce fights. One important element were the 59 German assault guns that were bought just in time to strengthen up the Finnish defence. These StuG III's destroyed in total 87 Russian tanks while own losses were 8 StuGs. My model is a kitbashing build of the Dragon 1/35 scale StuG III kit and the Tamiya Finnish StuG III special edition. I vandalized the Tamiya kit of its Finnish modifications, for instance the large tool box in the rear, the spare wheel racks on the sides of the StuG,, the modified shield for the machine gun and the DT assault rifle as well as the C-shaped hooks. The tracks are white metal ones of Master Club. The problem I noticed too late was the size of the tracks.They didn't exactly fit the teeth of the drive sprocket. I will have to fix that problem going forward. For the markings and the Finnish swastika (nothing to do with the nazi one, though) I bought the very good decal set of Echelon. Building the model was straightforward and maybe the hardest part was painting the complex green, brown and beige camouflage. I used Vallejo color's paints for the job. I finished the build by weathering the model with several AK's pigments. Many of the StuGs had a wife's or girl friend's name written above the visor of the driver. My model was named "Liisa" and it was one of the highest scoring assault guns with nine tanks destroyed. 32 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitewolf Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Very nice indeed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 15 minutes ago, Whitewolf said: Very nice indeed! Thank you! Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 More great work Einar. Lovely build.👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 41 minutes ago, Stef N. said: More great work Einar. Lovely build.👏 Thanks Stef Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toryu Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Great Sturmgeschütz! I read about the Finnish Army's operations with the StuG III in Osprey's Duel 96. A very interesting and brave episode of the war. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 6 minutes ago, Toryu said: Great Sturmgeschütz! I read about the Finnish Army's operations with the StuG III in Osprey's Duel 96. A very interesting and brave episode of the war. Thank you! It's nice to hear that you read about our history Cheers, Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartH Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Lovely model and very well painted 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 8 hours ago, StuartH said: Lovely model and very well painted 👍 Thanks Stuart! Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Very nice model, and a pleasant change to see it the the colours of a different country. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfinn Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 As a great admirer of the nation and her people, it's always great to see anything Finnish being modeled...and this is a hum-dinger! Beautiful work and a lovely Finnish...er, finish. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Really nice Stug and a nice amalgamation of the two kits to create something a little different, particularly like the unique camo scheme too! Perhaps something for the future but as far as I know it was the loaders hatch that when open would lock the machine gun shield into the vertical position https://images.app.goo.gl/kUEEfebsyjkN61oS9 (Hope you don't mind me mentioning it). Great build, thanks for posting. Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 20 minutes ago, Jasper dog said: Really nice Stug and a nice amalgamation of the two kits to create something a little different, particularly like the unique camo scheme too! Perhaps something for the future but as far as I know it was the loaders hatch that when open would lock the machine gun shield into the vertical position https://images.app.goo.gl/kUEEfebsyjkN61oS9 (Hope you don't mind me mentioning it). Great build, thanks for posting. Darryl Thank you very much for your comments Darryl..and by no means do I mind. Thanks for the pictures.. You are quite right about the locking mechanism of the machine gun shield. I really should've left the hatches open. Unfortunately, it's too late now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 10, 2021 Author Share Posted October 10, 2021 16 minutes ago, Einar said: Thank you very much for your comments Darryl..and by no means do I mind. Thanks for the pictures.. You are quite right about the locking mechanism of the machine gun shield. I really should've left the hatches open. Unfortunately, it's too late now! Cheers Einar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vytautas Posted October 10, 2021 Share Posted October 10, 2021 Hi, Einar Great Stug! You did it very well. It is a pity that we do not see real colors in the photos. During the war, the Finns did a lot with them. The Finns were great soldiers, little Finland withstood the huge Russian army. I read a lot about the Finnish war, this made a big impression on me. When I do Stug, I will make it probably Finnish. Vytautas 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 9 hours ago, vytautas said: Hi, Einar Great Stug! You did it very well. It is a pity that we do not see real colors in the photos. During the war, the Finns did a lot with them. The Finns were great soldiers, little Finland withstood the huge Russian army. I read a lot about the Finnish war, this made a big impression on me. When I do Stug, I will make it probably Finnish. Vytautas Thank you very much Vytautas! I really appreciate your words about Finland and our history. Good luck with your Finnish StuG! Cheers, Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaoinas Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Hey! Nice to see a finnish StuG here. And it's a very nice model indeed. All the finnish features are there and the three-tone camo has turned out spot on. As your track issue, I suggest you have too early 38cm tracks on it. Finnish StuG's were 43/44 production and used wider 40cm tracks. According to Andreaslarka.net PS.531-6 Liisa had 40cm closed horn track without chevrons - these would be MasterClub MTL35012. Wider tracks would probably fit your sprocket just fine. I myself have done a finnish StuG many years ago. I used a Dragon kit as well and also had Echelon decals, but opted for PS531-8 Aili. Kristjan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 1 hour ago, vaoinas said: Hey! Nice to see a finnish StuG here. And it's a very nice model indeed. All the finnish features are there and the three-tone camo has turned out spot on. As your track issue, I suggest you have too early 38cm tracks on it. Finnish StuG's were 43/44 production and used wider 40cm tracks. According to Andreaslarka.net PS.531-6 Liisa had 40cm closed horn track without chevrons - these would be MasterClub MTL35012. Wider tracks would probably fit your sprocket just fine. I myself have done a finnish StuG many years ago. I used a Dragon kit as well and also had Echelon decals, but opted for PS531-8 Aili. Kristjan Hi Kristjan! Thank you very much for your positive comments! ..and you are quite right. The MasterClub tracks that I used are not the correct ones. When now comparing them with the plastic tracks of the Dragon kit the difference could be clearly seen. I should have ordered the MTL35012 tracks instead! How stupid of me🙈! Thank you for solving the problem👍 Cheers Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 I do like this one. It's nice to see one in different colours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 27 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said: I do like this one. It's nice to see one in different colours. Thank you Bertie! Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOxley Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Love the camo…Looks stunning! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 7 hours ago, TheOxley said: Love the camo…Looks stunning! Thanks Oxley! Einar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 That's a really great looking Stug, Einar. Very well done. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Einar Posted October 18, 2021 Author Share Posted October 18, 2021 4 hours ago, PlaStix said: That's a really great looking Stug, Einar. Very well done. Kind regards, Stix Thank you Stix! Einar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 Lovely StuG, all the better for it being in a non German scheme. The Finnish Air Force gets a lot of coverage, nice to see the Army getting the coverage to deserves. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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