MiniArt Kharkiv 1943 Big Set (36067) 1:35 Tramway, StuG.III Ausf.G with Crew & Panzergrenadiers

[Mike]

Kharkiv 1943 Big Set (36067)

Tramway, StuG.III Ausf.G with Crew & Panzergrenadiers

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

The Battle of Kharkiv during WWII was known as the Donets campaign by the Germans, and was fought in three phases, the third taking place in early 1943 after the encirclement of Stalingrad.  It was a hard-fought battle with heavy casualties on both sides, the Germans eventually taking control of the city by the middle of March, and is generally considered by historians to be the last great victory of the Nazi operation Barbarossa, that led to the battle of Kursk and the rout of the German forces that saw them go into an almost endless retreat until Berlin.

 

The set consists of several kits that we’ve seen released by MiniArt on at least one occasion, including their excellent StuG.III kit, the X-Series Soviet Tram, plus three figure sets that total thirteen characters in all, a set of signs on a post, and tons of accessories for them.  The last part is an injection-moulded version of their original tramway base that was seen at the time of the tram’s original releases in 2022, retooled for a more sturdy design.

 

There are eighty-one sprues plus the base in mid-grey styrene, eleven in clear, a good-sized Photo-Etch (PE) fret of brass parts, decal sheet and glossy-covered instruction booklet with colour profiles on the front cover, and combined instructions and painting guide on the rearmost pages.  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, which includes individual track links, a highly detailed base, crystal clear parts, and sufficient accessories to detail the diorama.

 

 

StuG.III Ausf.G

The StuG is a popular German WWII AFV, 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 Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and while equipped with guns 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 a number of 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, and 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.

 

 

 

x2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 some 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 and the hull sides are mated to the floor, with the bases for the final drive housing glued to the front next to the two-layer front bulkhead.  The glacis plate with transmission inspection hatches are given a similar treatment, plus another appliqué panel, and the usual exhausts, towing lugs and idler protection are added to the bottom section of the rear, and a radiator exhaust panel with PE grille is made up and applied above it, adding some deflecting tin-work 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.

 

Some of the gun breech detail is represented, and a large trunnion is fitted onto the two pins on the sides of the assembly.  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.  A two-layer bridge over the top of the insert encloses the breech, then it’s time to prepare the roof with some details before covering up the interior, then making a choice of how to finish the commander’s cupola in either open or closed pose.  It has 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.  The gunner’s hatch is a simpler affair consisting of a clamshell pair of doors, with the machine gun shield just in front of it and a well-detailed MG34 machine gun with drum mag slotted through the centre.  This hatch can also be posed open or closed, and the MG shield can be posed flat for travel.

 

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.  An appliqué panel is added to the slope at the rear of the deck, then armoured cover to the fume extraction fan is added to the back of the casemate, although it appears to be missed in the instructions.  A rail of spare track links is fixed across the rear of the casemate by a bar, with the barrel cleaning rods underneath, lashed to the deck with PE and styrene parts, then the four deck hatches are made with armoured vents.  A pair of road wheels are carried on the deck with long pins through their holes that attach them to the rearmost pair of hatches, drilling the holes in the covers from inside beforehand.  A field modification of a large stowage box is mounted on the centre of the rear deck, made from six sides with PE latches.

 

To mount the paired wheels, the swing-arms with stub axles are applied to the sides of the hull, adding the final drive housings under the front, plus additional suspension parts that improves damping further.  The idler adjuster is covered with armoured shrouds, 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 at the rear, plus a trio of return rollers on short axles near the top of the hull sides.  The barrel of the gun has a bulky Saukopf mantlet cover, which is made up from three parts with a barrel sleeve moulded into the front, which the barrel slots into, tipped with a detailed three-part muzzle brake to give it the correct hollow muzzle.  It slides over the recoil tubes of the breech later in the build, closing up the interior.

 

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 little flash on the highly detailed sides, which will need scraping away with a sharp blade.  I created a short length in short order for a previous review, coupling them together, 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, with integrated mudguards and tiny fittings added to the inner faces.  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 convoy light and either a highly detailed PE fire extinguisher or a simplified styrene alternative if you prefer.  Shovels, pry bars, 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 111mm cable material yourself, with a set of PE tie-downs holding them in place on each side, and some PE brackets strengthening the front of the fenders.  The last parts of the kit are two whip antennae on the rear of the casemate.

 

 

Soviet X-Series Tram

This part of the kit is based upon the passenger X-Series tram and is a mid-production variant that has been release separately before now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the floor and suspension leaf-springs, plus control chains and air-receiver for the braking system.  Next is the sub-frame bogie, with two electric motors and axles sandwiched between the brake actuators and wheels, slotting it inside the long frame along with leaf-spring suspension mounts and cross-braces.  The two axles are then integrated in the frame by adding end-plates and more cross-braces to stiffen up the assembly.  The brake actuators are joined to the rest of the armature by a small cage and long rod that is connected to the driver’s cab later, with boxed-in steps at each end of the floor and a cow (pedestrian) catcher on a frame at each end too.

 

These trams were fitted with dual controls, one at each end to avoid having to physically turn them around at the end of each run, so the driver’s controls are doubled up on a pair of lectern-like bases on the left, a set of controls on a tubular base in the centre, and another smaller upright on the right with the brake-wheel facing the driver.  The driver’s seat is a simple wind-up stool on a tubular base, with everything mounted into sockets on the floor at each end.  The passenger floor is applied in sections, and the front/back windows are installed at each end, with handed door frames assembled alongside the passenger seats, which have separate backs and legs, plus grab-handles on the outer corner of the fore/aft seats, which also have slatted backs.  The completed seats are attached to the side walls and each window is made up of two panes, then supports are added at each end, notionally separating the seating area from the entrance vestibules.  The sides fix to the floor, and the doorway parts are filled out with double-doors that are glazed with clear parts and have a triple push-bar across the top pane.  To add strength to the sides, two cross-members are added between the passenger compartment and the vestibules.  The big soviet star with integrated headlight that includes a representation of a bulb in the centre is placed front and centre in the nose at each end – unless you’ve opted for the simpler and less ostentatious headlamp of course.

 

The roof is made of two mirror image sections with panelling moulded into each cab end and curved sections where adverts would be placed in view of the passengers, with a pair of lighting bars running along the rest of the length next to roof-mounted handrails.  Uprights are glued to each side of the flat section of the roof and have a nicely detailed heat-exchanger unit fitted front and rear.  Lights, two types of placards for route numbers and the big pantograph loop are assembled then fitted in the centre of the roof, angled toward the direction it has come from.

 

 

The base is injection-moulded, and has criss-cross supports moulded underneath to prevent it from sagging under the weight of the models, but you may wish to increase support if you feel it warrants the extra effort.  The two catenary posts have a four-part base and single riser part, with a choice of a simple or decorative arm for each one.  They are held taut by wires that you will need to supply yourself, and you will need to do a little research to correctly wire in the rest of the cables to your tram’s pantograph, but the kit provides the tensioner screws that are adjusted by engineers during installation and maintenance.

 

 

Figures

Panzer Grenadier was a term that was coined during WWII to describe troops that supported armour, or motorised infantry.  They wore pink piping on their uniforms, with an S that stood for Shützen, or Protect to differentiate them from gunners or other armoured crew.  If they weren't riding on a tank, they would travel to battle in trucks, or if they were really lucky, a half-track such as an Sd.kfz.251.  This set of figures from MiniArt contains a squad of Panzer Grenadiers sat in various poses on the vehicle, culled from two sets previously released individually, and the StuG crew that are a German SPG Crew that were also an earlier release, all in a sympathetic array of relaxed pose with the exception of the driver, who is at work.  The painting and main construction diagrams are printed on the rear of the instruction booklet, with colours and part numbers indicated with arrows, and the codes called out in a chart that covers Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya colours, plus swatches of colour and generic names for completeness.

 

From the box you can build eight Panzergrenadiers and five StuG crew members, each having separate arms, legs, head and torso, plus all the usual accessories common to the period and their role.  The grenadiers are all seated in differing poses, with most of them nursing Kar98s rifles or MP40s, while one holds an MG34 across his lap and wears a length of link ammo around his neck.  Each of them has the usual complement of pouches, gas mask canister, entrenching tool and water bottle, with ammo pouches to match their personal weapons.  The vehicle’s crew wear tanker uniforms with peaked forage caps and double-breasted jackets, with a pistol holstered on their belts for self-defence.  Three crew are stood in hatches in various poses with their arms resting on the deck, while the driver is working on controlling the tank with his hands and feet, the final crew member sitting relaxed on the deck with one leg straight out in front of him and the other folded under, one arm draped over the superstructure of the StuG.

 

 

 

 

 

There are two weapons and two accessory sprues, each of the weapon sprues providing two Kar98s and MP40s, bayonets, a pistol and flare pistol, plus open and closed holsters, along with first aid kit, map case, binoculars and ammo pouches to personalise the crew or diorama with.  The MG34 is on its own sprue, with a separate breech cover, drum mags, a bipod in folded and extended poses, a length of link, and an ammo box.  The end of the ammo box and the muzzle of the weapon are slide-moulded with hollow ends for realism, and the length of ammo can be heated to better drape around the neck of the gunner or one of his colleagues if you intend to use it.

 

 

Signposts

A single sprue contains all the parts necessary to create a simple post that is adorned with ten signposts that have corresponding decals appropriate for the region on the accompanying decal sheet.  The instructions show the post uprooted and propped in the doorway of the tram, but its location is entirely up to you, but you may wish to mimic the angles of the signs in case they are accurately oriented, and if not you can blame the instructions for misleading you.

 

 

 

Markings

As this is a special edition Big Set from MiniArt, there is only one colour option illustrated for the StuG and tram, plus a set of decals for the front of the signs on the post that are included.  From the box you can build the following:

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Conclusion

This box is stacked to the brim with plastic, and the quality of the contents is first rate, as are the accessories and generous quantity of figures.  It is a simple method of creating a believable diorama of an important battle on the Eastern front during WWII, needing little more than paint, glue and some of your modelling time to complete.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of