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StuGIII by Bordermodel *finished*


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Nice work on the engine Maddoxx.  I'm thinking that this is a kit for the more experienced modeller due to all the fiddly adjustments and confusing instructions.  You're providing a great reference for those that follow! 👌 

 

Keith 😁 

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5 hours ago, Keeff said:

Nice work on the engine Maddoxx.  I'm thinking that this is a kit for the more experienced modeller due to all the fiddly adjustments and confusing instructions.  You're providing a great reference for those that follow! 👌 

 

Keith 😁 

It's like a miniart kit with dragon instructions 🤣

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Progress..... a lot to cover.

I've been working on the interior of the fighting compartement. 

1000017186.jpg

The seat is dry fitted because i want to pant it seperatly. The gearbox is placed and lined up. That was tricky. My tip when you start with this kit: leave the attachpoints on the front of the tub off and glue them directly to the front of the gearbox. That makes it easier to line everything up. I did not do that and as you can see on the photo, the left support is crooked. Luckily it won't be vissible when the front upper hull plate goes on.

1000017192.jpg

The plate is dryfitted to check if it still lines up with the sides.

The fit of the driveshaftcover is very poor. Just keep sanding and cutting until the fit is right. 

 

After the gearbox was placed and all the levers and handles were placed it was time to construct the cannon support.

1000017187.jpg

As you can see. The support beams are straight in the middle. This causes fitting issues when placing it inside the hull. It sits too high because the driveshaftcover is in the way. 

My tip: carefully cut away the middle. Untill it fits and the beams sit in the floor of the hull.

1000017189.jpg

When placing this part, be carefull. It only slides in one way. Forcing it in will cause damage to the sides. 

I'll leave this subassembly together with the floorplates to paint seperatly. But i dryfitted everything to check.

1000017193.jpg

Also the instructions want you to place 2 crossbeams on the floor of the hull. Numbers D18 and D25. They are to support the gearbox. To place these two beams you have to cut them in shape because they won't fit between the other beams. Then remove one axel from each side because these axels go trough the crossbeams.

1000017190.jpg

That's it for now. Still a lot of subassemblies to go.

And then it's on to the engine bay.

 

Cheers guys! 🍻🍻🍻

 

Edited by Maddoxx77
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Good progress Maddoxx and you seem to be gaining a pile of sub-assemblies! 

 

I do fancy having another go at a full interior kit despite the problems I've had with the Sherman .... your build log is doing a great job of steering me away from a Border or Dragon kit!! 🤣

 

Keep up the good work and sharing of info! 👍

 

Keith 😁 

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More sub assemblies got done. 

Did the ammo rack. 

1000017220.jpg

1000017218.jpg

Great detail with the PE. In this case the PE really adds to the look of the parts. I'm keeping the rack partially filled to add a bit more interest. 

Place the grenades very carefully. The holes in the front plate are a bit too small. Just carefully wiggle them in. Once they are in place you can glue them with a tiny bit of extra thin and they will sit in the correct position.

When this tiny build was finished and my brain stopped hurting i went on with adding some parts to the inside of the fighting compartment and the engine compartment. 

And yes, the flaws returned.....

Here are the highlights:

1000017223.jpg

Either don't place part D79 or trim it so it fits on the bottom. When you place the part where the instructions want you to place it, the fueltank will sit too high. Just leave it off and glue the fueltank to the side of the hull. 

 

1000017222.jpg

If you are looking for parts H45 and 46..... just look at the D sprue.... on the H sprue you won't find them.

Line them up with the beams in the middle and don't forget to place part D52 first ( plate with the pipe sticking out ) otherwise it will get very fiddely..... trust me, i know. 

 

So that's it for now. Slowly but shurely this model is taking shape. 

1000017224.jpg

 

See you all on the next update.

Cheers! 🍻🍻🍻

Edited by Maddoxx77
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Looking through your outstanding build Maddox and I believe I called it right when I thought Takom (or perhaps at my current level Lego, if they did one) was the way to go....for me at least!

Love to have the skill and patience for such an undertaking, which you clearly have, so I think I'll enjoy watching yours come together. 

 

Great modelling and patience!

Darryl 

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

(or perhaps at my current level Lego,

 

Not Lego but close     https://tankmuseumshop.org/collections/cobi-models/products/cobi-sturmgeschutz-iii-ausf-g-executive-edition      

Sorry but couldn't resist Darryl, you are far better modeller than you give yourself credit for!

 

Sorry for the thread drift @Maddoxx77 

 

         Stay safe          Roger

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I always think that it's little details which bring a model to life, and that ammunition certain rack certainly does that (or it ill once it's installed).

 

John.

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3 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Not Lego but close     https://tankmuseumshop.org/collections/cobi-models/products/cobi-sturmgeschutz-iii-ausf-g-executive-edition      

Sorry but couldn't resist Darryl, you are far better modeller than you give yourself credit for!

 

Sorry for the thread drift @Maddoxx77 

 

         Stay safe          Roger

No problem. Reading a buildlog with just info on kit faults is just boring.

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And as always with complex builds something is going to bite you in the a**

1000017251.jpg

Look at picture 31. The 2 beltdrives are placed and the 2 fans are installed. First of, the way they want you to put together the beltdrives is beyond logic. RFM does this part as one assembly: the belt with the pully parts. Not Border model! They want you to dig deep and assemble the complete beltdrive yourself. The plastic is paperthin causing multiple breakages that needed fixing. But that proved to be the smallest of my problems. If you look closely at picture 31...... they want you to install another part: D42. 

But not this guy..... i just went on with picture below.... attaching the pulleys to the fans. 

When i discovered my mistake i was left with 2 options, leave part D42 out or try and fix the mistake.

So i cut part D42 in half.

1000017242.jpg

I then carefully removed one of the pulleys from the fan and slided the top part in place. Then i glued the pulley back on, glued the top part of D42 and then glued the bottom part in place. 

1000017244.jpg

Problem solved. 

The overall placing and fitting of the parts is fiddely as mentioned before. I have no other tips then just dryfit everything and hope for the best. 

The progress so far:

1000017246.jpg

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The fit of the fuelltank isn't perfect so i needed to file out the hole in the top PE part the make the fillingcap fit. 

The engine, all the bottom plates, the ammoracks, the gunmount and the driverseat are dryfitted. 

My next step will be priming the tub and the sub assemblies. Then painting and weathering. After that the sub assemblies can get installed and then it's on with building.

 

That's it guys. 

Have a great weekend! 

Cheers!!! 🍻🍻🍻

 

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Fantastic progress Maddoxx and the detail is great!  

 

I'm sure at the start you said this would be a lengthy build ..... 🤔🤣 

 

Keith 😁 

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Your Stug is looking amazing even unpainted, how on earth you'll paint it all I've no idea!

 

On 22/09/2023 at 08:13, Hamden said:

 

Not Lego but close     https://tankmuseumshop.org/collections/cobi-models/products/cobi-sturmgeschutz-iii-ausf-g-executive-edition      

Sorry but couldn't resist Darryl, you are far better modeller than you give yourself credit for!

 

Sorry for the thread drift @Maddoxx77 

 

         Stay safe          Roger

Thanks Roger, that's very kind of you. I think, unlike riding a bike, if you don't keep at it ability / skills tends to slip....:nuts:

(Thankfully I haven't yet resorted to fixing decals in place with Humbrol tube cement....I couldn't surely have been the only one to do at one point......:giggle:)

 

Cheers 

Darryl 

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Hi Maddoxx,

Wow!, What a lot of pieces fit together, very good work despite all the adjustments you had to make.
I wonder... how it was possible for a crew to fit in there, and also be operational in moments of action... incredible...

Cheers

Francis.👍

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Tnx all for the comments. And @Stef N.i think you have to be insane to put more PE in this thing. I think it would be overkill considering the amount of crisp detail that is already there. That's one of the positives in this kit. It's insanely detailed. 

 

So, a bit ofan update. There are parts primed.

1000017328.jpg

The first buildstage is complete and all the parts and subassemblies have been primed. Now i'm going to paint it all. The engine and first half of the interior will get some weathering too because, once assembled i won't be able to reach everywhere.

Colorwise i think i'll do just german red primer on the interior metal parts. I'll try to work with some color variation, some shadows and highlights. But no cremeweis. Thinking this would be a later war produced StuG they would not bother to paint up the interior. 

The engine and transmission will be weathered green. 

 

I'll keep you guys posted. Suggestions are always welcome. 

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So first bit of color on.

1000017331.jpg

The overspray will be invisible once the floor plates are installed.

1000017332.jpg

I worked with 3 redbrown colors from ammomig. Sprayed them in an irregular pattern to give it some paint distortion.

As you can see i decided to paint the walls white dispite my post earlier. I think it boosts the contrast a bit more and makes all the details a bit more visible.

I started adding some oilfilters and i installed the floor panels and the gun mount.

1000017333.jpg

As you can see the overspray is gone.

 

When all is dry i can continue with the weathering. I'm going to add a tiny bit of chipping and i'll add some dust but i want to keep it less dirty then my first StuG interior build.

 

I must say it's pleasant to have a break from the building part. 

 

That's it for now guys. 

 

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Wow! You're really cracking on with this build Maddoxx! 

Looks great ... and I'm liking the effects on the red .... 👌

 

Keith 😁 

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  • Maddoxx77 changed the title to StuGIII by Bordermodel *finished*

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