MiniArt StuG III Ausf.G 1945 Alkett Prod. (35388) 1:35

[Mike]

StuG III Ausf.G 1945 Alkett Prod. (35388)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

The StuG is a German WWII AFV that is popular with modern modellers, and the more you learn about it, the more obvious it becomes why.  The SturmGeschutz III was based upon the chassis of the Panzer III, but removed the turret and front deck, replacing it with an armoured casemate with a lower profile that mounted a fixed gun with limited traverse.  It was originally intended to be used as infantry support, using its (then) superior armour to advance on the enemy as a mobile blockhouse, but it soon found other uses as an ambush predator, and was employed as a tank destroyer, hiding in wait for Allied forces to stumble haplessly into its path, where it could be deadly.  With the advances in sloped armour employed by the Soviets, the original low velocity 75mm StuK 37 L/24 cannon was replaced by higher velocity unit that was also used in the Panzer IV for tank-on-tank combat, extending the type’s viable career to the end of WWII.

 

The earliest prototypes were made of mild steel and based on a Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and while equipped with guns, they were unsuitable for combat due to the relative softness of the steel that would have led to a swift demise on the battlefield, being withdrawn in '41-42.  By this time the StuG III had progressed to the Ausf.G, which was based on the later Panzer III Ausf.M, with a widened upper hull and improvements in armour to increase survivability prospects for the crew.  Many of the complicated aspects of the earlier models that made them time-consuming and expensive to produce were removed and simplified by that time, which led to several specific differences in some of the external fitments around the gun, such as the Saukopf mantlet protector.  The Ausf.G was the last and most numerous version that was used until the end of the war with additional armour plates often welded or bolted to the surface to give it enhanced protection from the Allied tanks and artillery.

 

 

The Kit

MiniArt now have production well-and-truly running again after the shock of the invasion on the 24th of February 2022 forced them to up-sticks to escape from the bombardments, and they are now back in full flow.  We’re all still firmly behind you!   MiniArt have now released several toolings of the late StuG III and this is a continuation of the Ausf.G series, which had changes layered on changes during the final batches as the war ground to its ultimate conclusion.  This boxing is another Alkett factory example from 1945 near the bitter end, and arrives in a standard top-opening box in the MiniArt style, with attractive artwork and decal profiles on one side.  Inside the box are thirty-seven sprues in mid-grey styrene, one in clear, two good-sized Photo-Etch (PE) frets of brass parts, decal sheet and glossy-covered instruction booklet with colour profiles on the front and rear covers.  Detail is excellent throughout, which is just what we’ve come to expect from modern toolings by MiniArt, with so much detail crammed into every part of the model, including individual track links that are different from the earlier pre-series kit we reviewed some while back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the floor panel, which receives the torsion suspension bars with their fittings, a pair of runners to support the engine that isn’t included in this boxing, and the support structure for the gun, which is made up from substantial beams that have a traverse shoe placed on top to give the gun its limited 15° travel for fine-tuning lateral aim.  The rear bulkhead is set against the engine mounts with its exhausts applied to the exterior, and the hull sides are mated to the floor, with the bases for the final drive housing glued to the front next to the front bulkhead.  The glacis plate with transmission inspection hatches are given a similar treatment, plus another appliqué panel, and the usual exhaust covers, towing lugs and idler protection are added to the rear, and a radiator exhaust panel with PE grille is made up and applied above it, adding some heat deflecting tinwork to the hull.  Narrow bolted panels are added to the sides of the hull in preparation for the upper hull parts that are added next.

 

Before the gun can be fitted, the walls of the casemate must be made up, and these are well-detailed externally, including vision slots, smoke grenade dispensers and lifting eyes.  The shape of the casemate is completed with the addition of the front wall, which has a large cut-out to receive the gun in due course.  The front of the casemate is built out forward with a sloped front and some appliqué armour, dropped over the front of the lower hull and joined by the breech assembly, which is covered by an armoured panel after armoured protectors to the mounting bolts have been glued over them.  The commander’s cupola is built on a circular base into which seven clear periscopes are slipped, completing the task later with several protectors, PE latches and a set of V-shaped binocular sighting glasses in the separate front section of the cupola that can be open or closed independently to the main hatch. 

 

Much of the gun breech detail is represented, and a large trunnion is fitted onto the two pins on the sides of the assembly.  Elevation, traverse, and sighting gear is installed on the breech, although it’s unlikely to be seen as anything other than a dim shadow within.  Then it’s time to prepare the inner face of the Saukopf mantlet armour with four blocks and hooks to assist with attachment to the mantlet later, on similar blocks at the ends of the serpentine hooks, after which a bridge over the top encloses the breech and the Saukopf.  The roof with some details added along with the commander’s cupola covers up the interior. 

 

The engine deck is built up with short sides and armoured intake louvres on the sides, which are covered with PE meshes as the deck is glued down onto the engine bay.  A length of spare track links is fixed across the rear of the casemate with the fume extraction armour in the centre with the barrel cleaning rods underneath, lashed to the deck with PE and styrene parts, then the four hatches are made with armoured vents.  two pairs of road wheels are carried on the deck with long pins through their holes that attach them to the rearmost pair of hatches.  A field modification of a flat stowage box is mounted on the centre of the rear deck on PE brackets.  The gunner’s hatch is a simpler affair consisting of a clamshell pair of doors, with the sharply-angled machine gun shield just in front of it and a well-detailed MG34 machine gun with drum mag slotted through the centre.

 

As yet the StuG has no wheels, so the addition of the swing-arms with stub axles is needed, adding the highly detailed final drive housings under the front, plus additional suspension parts that improves damping.  The idler adjuster is covered with armoured parts, and a group of pioneer tools are dotted around the sides of the engine deck, after which the paired wheels are fixed to the axles, with drive-sprockets at the front and idler wheels with PE outer rings at the rear, plus a trio of return rollers on short axles near the top of the sides.  The tracks are individual links that are held together by pins, using 94 links per side, and each link has three sprue gates to clean up, plus a wisp of flash on the highly detailed sides, which will need scraping away with a sharp blade.  I created a short length in short order, and the result is a very well-detailed track with flexibility to adjust them around the running gear of your model, and as they are a tight fit, they shouldn’t need glue, but I’d probably set them in position with liquid glue once I had them how I wanted them on the vehicle. Once they’re in place, the fenders are attached to the hull sides on small brackets, with integrated mudguards and tiny PE fittings added once the glue has dried.  More pioneer tools and stowage are added to these, as space was a premium on these vehicles, and every flat surface ended up with equipment on it.  This includes a Notek convoy light and either a highly detailed PE fire extinguisher or a simplified styrene alternative if you prefer.  Shovels, pry bars, track-tools, jack blocks and the jack are also found on the fenders, as are the two towing cables, which have styrene eyes and you’ll need to supply the 110mm cable material yourself, with a set of PE tie-downs holding them and the tools in place on each side.  The barrel of the gun slides through the bulky Saukopf mantlet cover, tipped with a detailed three-part muzzle brake to give it the correct hollow look.  A pair of aerials and a PE ‘fence’ around the edge of the engine deck that’s intended to hold in any stray stowage finishes off the vehicle itself, adding the brackets for the Schürzen along the sides of the hull and fenders with a few small added outriggers.  The four PE schürzen panels per side are detailed with additional PE brackets on the rear sides, and once the glue between the two layers of PE (or you could solder them for strength), you simply hang them on the hooks, with a quartet of scrap diagrams along the bottom of the page showing the two methods you can use to hang the plates vertically, or sloped inward toward the bottom.

 

 

Markings

There are six markings options included on the decal sheet, all of them with varying camouflage based upon dunkelgelb with splotches of other colours.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 9th Panzer Div. ‘Hohenstaufen’, Hungary, Balaton Area, Spring 1945
• 9th Panzer Div. ‘Hohenstaufen’, Hungary, Balaton Area, Spring 1945
• Unidentified Unit, Germany, Zweibrücken, Spring 1945
• Unidentified Unit, Germany, Bitburg, Spring 1945
• Unidentified Unit, Germany, Spring 1945
• Unidentified Unit, Germany, Spring 1945

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas that will all-but disappear once applied.

 

 

Conclusion

A good-looking, well-detailed model of an important WWII German tank destroyer that saw action until the dire end of the Eastern and Western fronts in relatively large numbers.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Bozothenutter]

Nice review, but this section makes no sense at all.( possibly from editing?)

"The earliest prototypes were made of mild steel and based on a Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and while equipped with guns that were unsuitable for combat due to the relative softness of the steel that would have led to a swift demise on the battlefield, being withdrawn in '41-42. "

 

I think you mean the upper armour was mild steel, not the guns.

And the prototypes were only used as instruction vehicles.

[Mike]

On 24/04/2023 at 20:32, Bozothenutter said:

I think you mean the upper armour was mild steel, not the guns.

I think I should have written they instead of that.  I'll edit it.   Sadly, although we have syntax checking software, they're far from infallible.