The OFFICIAL Panzer III and Its Variants GB

Bill-  Way too tiny... I can't tell which is bigger... your thumb or the kit.   Nice details not too bad for a kit from the 70's.  Are you planning to do the figures too?  I see six or seven figures on the box artwork. 

Andy,,,   

I'll try to get some pics of the Schwimmwagen up this evening. I'll also see if I can't get a pic or two of some of the other kits in the series.

Deafpanzer Yeah, the sinkholes...... I read a review about this kit before I got it, and I noticed the reviewer mentioned annoying sinkholes. Silly Me thought, "Hey, what kit DOESN'T have sinkholes, right?" At the stage I'm at right now, I'm just ignoring them.  There are a few I missed before painting and now stick out like a sore thumb.  I've found them on the wheels, the crappy fenders, and the hull sides.  It looks like this Panzer was hit by some serious anti-armor!  I guess this kit will not be my finest hour, but once I get a little farther, I'll post pics to showcase the little bit of it that I can be proud of.  Of course, now I want to get another one to proove to myself that I can do better, knowing the little problems that may occur here and there.

Other than the sinkholes and the stupid directions that want you to cut up half the kit (which I did with bad results) I can't remember much that was wrong with the kit.  A few pieces were rough around the edges, and some of the molding was a lot more simplified than expected, but overall it's an OK kit.  I guess it wouldn't be modeling if it all fit like a glove, right? Or is that just me trying to comfort myself?

                           Well as I mentioned before about the 230 some odd minutes it took for clean-up and the 60 mins. for assembly,the bare tracks are on.No ice cleats or paint as of yet.But they are on,soon to be off of course.

                               Maybe a bit more work later.

                                                    Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Wow, 5 hrs on the tracks alone. Goodness.

Mike,,  I am going to bet that your build turns out great, sinkholes or not.   

Greg,,   those tracks are awesome

As I mentioned before, the Nitto Pz III was a previous idea to incorporate into a scene with the Schwimmwagen (Nitto,,, same scale). I finished the Schwim just before the GB.

Here are some pics of this lil guy......

I changed out the convertible top with folded lead foil and StripStyrene .025" rod for the brackets. The kit supplied top just looked way too chincy even for me...

The shovel and oar were so crappy that I decided to just scratch build the brackets (for what they're worth in this scale). I also made my own side / grab rods which run between the front and back fenders. I also added a "firewall" / back behind the rear seats as this was wide open.

I hollowed out the exhaust pipes and measured and cut a piece of acetate as the kit did not include a windscreen. I didn't go so far as to add wipers though,,,,  they would have probably been invisible anyway.

I also tossed in a few supply cartons that I made,,, not sure if they will be there in the end,,, at this time they are loose.     I used some standard 35th scale ration carton templates and reduced them to scale. Printed on some brownish paper, cut out and glued.

A little acrylic airbrushing, highlights, dirt and crud, and pastels to finish and there it is,,,,  1.25" from nose to tail.

I don't often delve in this scale, but when I worked part time in a hobby shop (ages ago), I thought they were pretty cool and so very inexpensive.....  I ended up buying a slew of them.....     I snapped a couple of pics of that part / portion of my inventory -

Mostly Nitto,,, with a few Fujimi's tossed in too

They always offered more than just the main subject -

I also found one of these old MPC kits.....

So enough of this off-shoot nonsense,,,,,,, 

I hope you liked the little detour from the regular broadcast station. We now return you to real builds in real scale...    

Shellback

Rob thanks for the help  . Not sure if there was a hinge or did it sit into a slot and bolt in ? I need to research .

I checked my reference book Achtung Panzer to answer your question... the book stated it was detachable. 

Photos from book for discussion purpose only:

Clearly as shown in pictures, they were...

If you can do your best not to stare at the crew's butt, the panel sure was removed... 

Hope this helps...

Greg- WOW!  The tracks look freaking great!   Five hours of work sure was worth it I bet... hope your wife was OK with this? 

Mike- Thanks for the tip about the kit.  I need to take another good look at it again.  It may be a good thing I am not planning to build it next after my Pz IV.   Looking forward to see updated pictures... 

Bill- Loved your tiny Schwim!  I am not sure if I will ever have the courage to build one.  Thanks for the great detour.  I do see you have few StuG Ausf D kits... maybe we will need you to build in case nobody has built the Ausf D before the GB ends. 

Thanks Andy,,,,,,,,,       and yup, always liked the Stugs,,,       Hey,  instead of me building one, I'll offer you one!       After all you did offer me a few Canadian beverages.     Hell, one beer probably cost as much as two of those little kits,,     ha!                 

Greg , very tediouise ! The tracks have a great fit !

Bit , too small ! Nice collection of Nitto kits .

Andy , thanks for the help . I see hinges in the photo and none in the diagram ..............

Ok , i got it !!!! The hing is on the rear of the panel and the latch is in the front !!!!!!!! Woo Hooo !!!!! Or is it DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ...............

CARL - May have opened my mouth without having anything to back it up, imagine that   Been looking through my books and online but have not been able to find a picture of that floor between the turret, armor and stowage bin?  Will keep looking but cant promise anything.

Have also been looking for your door / armor plate.  Looks as if Andy found the best picture.  Found a few pics online with the plate off or missing, were not great pics so did not post.  I say yes leave it off.  Looks like a pin that would just slide down into the receiving end from Andys picture.  Believe it may have been the Pz IV's that had a hinged like door?

Sorry could not be more helpfull

BILL - Nice little Schwim.  Way to small for me to try but nice to see some different scales.  Nice scratch work in that scale also.  Looking at all of those kits I,m now pretty sure I've had a few when I was a young modler.  You have enough of them to start your own small conflict!

Andy, go back several pages and you can see that cutting and moving of the return roller step on my F model.  It as pretty painless.  I used a cutting wheel on a Dremel than sanded the nubs smooth.  The instructions tell you where to put the new rollers, which they provide.  Just measure and use a straight edge to get the vertical alignment right.

I've got most of the hull done and am halfway through the superstructure and turret.  The cupola was a major PITA and mine looks like crap.  I'll have to do some fixing before it's done. 

No pics now, sorry.  I'm in NYC leaving for the west coast tomorrow.  I'll be back Monday evening and maybe shoot some.

Satch

PANZERWAFFE

CARL - May have opened my mouth without having anything to back it up, imagine that   Been looking through my books and online but have not been able to find a picture of that floor between the turret, armor and stowage bin?  Will keep looking but cant promise anything.

Have also been looking for your door / armor plate.  Looks as if Andy found the best picture.  Found a few pics online with the plate off or missing, were not great pics so did not post.  I say yes leave it off.  Looks like a pin that would just slide down into the receiving end from Andys picture.  Believe it may have been the Pz IV's that had a hinged like door?

Sorry could not be more helpfull

BILL - Nice little Schwim.  Way to small for me to try but nice to see some different scales.  Nice scratch work in that scale also.  Looking at all of those kits I,m now pretty sure I've had a few when I was a young modler.  You have enough of them to start your own small conflict!

Rob , no prob , you tried and for that many thanks !

I see the pin that you discribed in Andys pics so i'll go with that idea . I'm getting close to painting this so i will forego the the mesh bottomed storage .

Thanks again

Satch- Thank you so much for reminding me about your work earlier on the return roller.    Now you have made it sounds alot easier and I got my Dremel for Christmas but I haven't really used it that much so this is a perfect opportunity.

Doogs- My kit comes with two storage bin so I was wondering if you want one if you are trying to replicate the Panzer III shown in the picture below with two bins. 

Does anyone know if the "loader" had a seat of some sort for his position in the 10.5 Sturm 42?  Have been searching and have not seen thing.  Getting close with the interior but needed to know if I needed to add a seat before closing it up.

                          PANZERWAFFE,from some of the pics i've seen the loaders seat resembles the commanders seat,and the commanders seat is actually adjustable for up and down.Not to say Dragon is wrong,its possible right,I will scrounge some more pics when I get home from work.

                                                Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Sweet!  My guess was he had one. Thanks!

deafpanzer

Doogs- My kit comes with two storage bin so I was wondering if you want one if you are trying to replicate the Panzer III shown in the picture below with two bins. 

Think I'm planning build the 502nd vehicle depicted on the box, but thanks!

Also question for everyone. I've seen lots of love for Vallejo Dark Rubber for painting the rubber portions of the wheels. BUT...the Vallejo Dark Rubber seems substantially lighter than the Lifecolor Panzer Gray I'm planning to use (or Vallejo Black Grey, which is about the same). So...is this a case where Dark Rubber works very well on lighter vehicles (DAK, Dunky, whitewashed, etc), but something darker is required with PG?

Rob,,,   I believe Greg is right,,,  the loader had a flip up / down seat if I remember correctly. I know I have seen some pics or schematics,,,  I'll try to find some and post.

Hi Matt,,,,  I have not tried the Vallejo DRubber yet...    wish I could offer some help, sorry

Here's what i came up with to represent the brackets that hold the removeable panel on either side of the turret .

Carl- WOW!  Great scratch building there...looks just like the one in the picture I posted earlier.  You are already in process of painting your Panzer!

OMG i hope not ..................... That means my theory that the panels lift up and off a couple of pins and brackets at the top is all wrong !

I'm ok , , snick , i think ......................

Seriousely , i'm not positive but i agree it probably was not hinged . Looks like it could be lifted up and laid aside for easier access into the side turret doors .

Not sure either but from the pictures would say it just lifts straight up and off, like you have it.

Great work!!!  It looks justlike the picture

BILL, GREG - Went ahead and made a seat and about to install it.  Just took a guess and made it similar to the commanders seat.  I,m going to attach it to the hull side bulkhead and it is hinged so that it will fold down against the bulkhead.  Hope it will be correct?

Some more paint . I'm thinking that not every nook n cranny ended up getting the final color of paint on it so i want some surfaces to show the primer color . Mainly behind the added on armor , side panels and lower turret surfaces . I'll see how it turns out but this is just a preliminary coat .