Late War Zimmerit Question:

I scored the Orange Box for just $22 including shipping! It ended nice an early in the morning. I probably won't build the troops, so I might sell them off.

Okay, thanks Ben. I was worried more about detail, because I had an imperial kit that had molded torsion bars and they didn't look as good.

tigerman

Ben, does the hull have separate torsion bars or are they molded on?

They are separate from the hull tub TM. If you choose you can remove the locator stub so the wheels can be positioned on a base at various heights but they'd have to be fixed I suppose. It's not like the Tamiya Pershing for example wherethey can be left to move up and down freely but no, they are not moulded on.

Ben

Ben, does the hull have separate torsion bars or are they molded on?

I have Dragon's Tiger I late #6403 w/cavalier zimmert. I also have Tamiya Marder III withe the Russian 76mm and Dragon magic tracks and a Dragon Marder III H smart kit.

Hey TM,

I know that Dragon do a StuH 10.5 with Waffle Zim but am unsure about kit details. It was built as part of Andy's GB and on the front page og the GB thread you can see it - it looks amazing and if you have a read through you may find the information that you are after? Failing that you could pm the guy who built it?

The Cyber Hobby SiG 33 is a good build and cheap but if it's real Dragon quality that you want then I'd be looking at the new Smart kit too.

Which Tiger(s) and Marder(s) do you have in the stash?

Ben

LOL, I don't have a good answer Ben, I'm not gun shy per say. My last two projects: Hotchkiss 39 and Italian Semovente, said I took a little break from German armor, which I will be revisiting on my next build. I have only two American vehicles, zero, British and Russian. Sad, but I hope too add a Valentine and maybe a T-34 of some kind in the future.

I have Panzer III J smart kit and the StuG B. They are newer additions, so I want to pull out an older kit of my stash such as the Tiger or maybe Marder III. I haven't totally decided yet.

Question about the StuG G w/waffle zimmerit, is that the one with a 105mm? I  heard that kit came with a standard 75mm too? I might seriously consider that as I do like waffles.

I'm also eyeballing that siG-33 on ebay, but might opt for the newer smart kit when it comes down in price.

tigerman

I have eyed the new StuG III G Early w/schurzen. I also have Tamiya's StuG B. Just don't know If I'm ready for a StuG. I'm thinking my Tiger I might be next. I have't built one on 15 years and it's pretty out-of-date.

Hey buddy,

I don't get what you mean when you say "Just don't know If I'm ready for a StuG"

I really enjoy builds that utilise the Pz III chassis and there are so many variants! With this new build I'm starting that will be Pz III variant build number 6 for me! I've built:

•  Dragon/Cyber-Hobby Sturm SiG 33B
• Tamiya StuG Ausf B
• Dragon Michael Wittman StuG Ausf A
• Tamiya late Pz III N with Leningrad scheme  
• Tamiya 1/48 StuG G with Saukopf Mantlet and added Zimmerit
• Dragon/Cyber Hobby StuG C/D - WIP!*

My favourite two builds out of these were the Tamiya Pz III N (Leningrad) and the brilliant Tamiya StuG Ausf B likw what you have there! It's a perfect kit if you want to build a StuG and and should be available with PE intake grilles and aluminium stumpy 75mm barrel.

I've got a lot of Pz III's to go and I really want to build the Dragon Sturmhaubitze or 'StuH' with the short 10.5cm barrel, the Dragon StuG F/8 and the Dragon StuG G with moulded on Waffle Zim and the earlier box style Mantlet (sorry, not sure of the correct Mantlet name).

I'll be very interested in seeing what you decide on for your next build TM!

I'm about to start my opening GB post as the kit arrived this morning

All the best,

Ben  

I have eyed the new StuG III G Early w/schurzen. I also have Tamiya's StuG B. Just don't know If I'm ready for a StuG. I'm thinking my Tiger I might be next. I have't built one on 15 years and it's pretty out-of-date.

tigerman

Tempting Ben. I'm still holding out for a newly tooled Late G myself with the remote MG on the roof.

That is a tricky one, TM

Solution: Build this C/D as part of Andy's GB then build the newly tooled 'G' when one is released!

He he he!

Ben

Tempting Ben. I'm still holding out for a newly tooled Late G myself with the remote MG on the roof.

Hey TM and Bish,

Tigerman - Best get in there quick TM as it's not long OOP! Magics and PE grilles! Top kit!

Review: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=5352

Bish - Cheers for the info! I've found the photo of this very beast! Numbered 123 with an early war superstructure yet packing a StuG G barrel and Saukopf late war Mantlet! What a mish-mash and no Zim in sight!

This is it - StuG III Ausf C/D number 123!

Cheers guys,

Ben

According to the Achtung Panzer page the upgunning of older StuG III took place in 1942. This would make sense as this was when teh Ausf G entered service. So this would deffinatly mean no Zimm.

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/sturmgeschutz-iii-sturmgeschutz-iv.htm

I wasn't aware of this version in the orange box. Does it come magic tracks  and PE grills?

Thanks Roy

I'm trying very hard to obtain any photos of this StuG III C/D in Hungary 1945.

Apparently at least one photo DOES exist - all I know is that the photo is of a 'knocked-out' C/D 

I'm building this for Deafpanzer's GB but will post regular photo updates on this section of the forum as the build progresses  

Cheers guys,

Ben

The base vehicle, before the upgunning did NOT have zimmerit applied.  There is no reason to think that a maint unit would go through the trouble of doing so for an obvious obsolete chassis, pulled out of the vehicle dump to be upgraded.  They'd certainly not return it to the factory to receive zimmerit.

Plus the evidence of "field-applied" zimmerit is very sketchy.

Don't do it.

Manstein's revenge

Actually the C/D variants were built from April thru Sept of '41 with a short-barreled 7.5cm gun (about 200 examples)...the late StuG was the G model and was the most common one seen from 1944 til the end of the war...it was also common because almost 8,000 were built..

So if this is actually a C/D up-gunned at some point and it survived until 1945 it is something of an oddity...I'd say this version is another one of Dragon's "one-offs"...

To answer your question, this is such a quirky example that I'd say you could go ether way on the zimm... 

Hey Manny,

I've just been involved in a conversation and this was exactly where we ended up!

Zim?  Maybe, maybe not!

I'm going to assume it's a case of 'not'

Thanks for the feedback my friend!

All the best,

Ben

Actually the C/D variants were built from April thru Sept of '41 with a short-barreled 7.5cm gun (about 200 examples)...the late StuG was the G model and was the most common one seen from 1944 til the end of the war...it was also common because almost 8,000 were built..

So if this is actually a C/D up-gunned at some point and it survived until 1945 it is something of an oddity...I'd say this version is another one of Dragon's "one-offs"...

To answer your question, this is such a quirky example that I'd say you could go ether way on the zimm...