The OFFICIAL Panzer III and Its Variants GB

Nice work on the faces DP I think I saw tht look on an original Star Trek episode...

Sushi and Sake sound like a great plan, I love that combo... dont forget the Saporro or Asahi Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!

STIK - Not sure if I said how much a like your Pz III.  Love the finish, spare gear and especially the build up of dirt.  VERY WELL done  

ANDY - Your figs are looking GREAT!  You have become very good at the figs and I have been taking notes.  Look forward to their completion.

Guys

I'm going to steal a line from Wingnut over in the Blitzkrieg build, and say that I've just gone through the last ten or so pages 'Playboy' style - just looking at the pictures. I have to say there is some really impressive work going on in here - this has turned into quite the Group Build!

I happened to be up in Maine this weekend, attending dupes' wedding. Since the ceremony was on Friday, I had his house to myself that night and had about six hours of uninterrupted build time. I got the major construction done on my Stug III E. Typical Dragon/Cyberhobby kit. Goes together pretty well, but there are some niddly little bits.

No pictures to post yet, but I'll try to get some up soon. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to paint this sucker - I want to try to jazz up the German grey a little bit...

Hello all! I have been very sick so no work done but seeing lots of cool stuff. I developed a post-op infection that kept me down for three weeks. I'm still shake but on the mend. ALL tumors removed with the one in my lung will be watched closely. On an unbelievably high dose pain meds, Delauded, 4mg every 4 hours. If my typing is off I can blame it on that! Ha, Ha, Ha. I hope to hit the bench soon. I will try tonight. Thanks for all your words.

Scott

Stik & Rob- Thanks!!!    Another update coming soon...

Boyd-  Hey!  Good to have you back. Agree with you a lot of great buildin I love those guys!  I look forward to see yours too as I know yours will come out great too.  As your GB leader! I am ordering you to raid Dupes stash and send us the kits.  I recall he has one too many... Tell him congrats for us and I know his wife supports his hobby completely...

Chazzer-  Glad you dropped by... We all were wondering about you since the surgery. Sorry to hear about the infection... Just take your med and read that 'special' book you will be back with us sooner!  

Update on the SU-76i

Just when I think I'm getting close to finishing up detailing,  I have a do'h moment and realize I almost forgot to deal with the idler mechanism on the M/N donor kit.  You have to love DML/Cyber-Hobby kits. A lot of  the parts needed to backdate the M/N to the earlier versions used for the SU-76i conversions were available as spares from the Cyber-Hobby Panzer III Ausf.G "Afrika Korps" I picked up at Christmas.

Here's the Tamiya idler:
:550:0]

And the slightlymodified assembly from the Cyber-Hobby kit:

Here's what the finished thing looks like:

Here's what the rest of the model looks like:

There are a few details yet to add---several pistol ports, tool box on the right side, tools, and rear intake. And, of course, the gun mantlet.  Getting close. The more I study this vehicle, the more I like it...that hybrid German/Russian look is pretty awesome.

Any comments and criticisms welcome. 

Thanks, Dave

Dave- I have to say that your build has been very fascinating for me so far!  Any chance you have pictures of the actual Su-76i?  I googled and it came up with FEW pictures.   It made me wonder how many units were out there... 

Guys- Update on my figures.  Was hoping for more bench time today but we went to see this GREAT movie 'War Horse'.  You HAVE to see it if you haven't.  Be sure to bring a box of tissues... real men cry and I am not ashamed! LOL Then that exciting Steelers vs Broncos game got my attention for most of the night.  I am so happy Steelers are out...  Sorry Bill, are we still friends?

Painted eyes and applied dark washes around the eyes.  Also worked on the lips... very little pink paint!  I struggled with the tank commander's eyes for some reason even tho it is a resin figure!

The COMMANDER...

The AMMO BOY...

The MULE... he sure doesn't look happy carrying that tripod. LOL! 

Dry brushed MM Steel on the tripod and weapons. I find the tripod shiny so I am going to apply flat clear next time...

My favorite... the RAMBO!  He sure looks like he really wants to kill those Russkie bastards?!?!

Tomorrow I am definitely going to apply dark washes using thinned oil paint and do my first attempt doing a hairspray technique to do a white wash on the Rambo's helmet.  I already sprayed two coats on the helmet tonight so it will solid when I return.

Comments are always welcome!  Should I redo the commander eyes or not? 

Andy,,  your figures are great. I agree, the "mule" looks pissed, but Rambo looks even more angry!   Very nice.    As far as the commander's eyes go..    knowing what I do about your figures,, you are not going to be happy unless you tinker with them a bit more.     If you are good with them, then ok. Personally I don't think they look bad at all. And at 2 - 3 feet one would not notice any issues.         I have heard that War Horse was excellent. My wife says she doesn't want to see it though (she's a huge animal lover). I will probably rent it when it releases.          Never had a sake-bomb (that I know of),,, what is it?         And, no worries on the Steelers losing. I live in PA but not a big Steeler fan. I thought it was pretty cool that Denver is moving on...

Boyd,,  will be looking for the stug III pics,,,    one of my favorites!

Chaz,,   glad to see you again. Also glad you are on the mend.    Take your time getting back into the bench work...   just get better!

Dave,,   I do like that conversion!!!  What a beast,,  great idler rework too.

Bill- Thanks buddy!  I am glad you hate Steelers too. LOL  You haven't had a sake bomb before?  Check it out...

Place it in front of you then you bang on the table with your hands so the sake shot will drop into the glass of beer.  You have to drink it fast or it will explode...

I agree with your comment about the tank commander... it looks OK at farther space.  I thnk I will repair the white part on the eyes... for sure I am happy with others.  Can't wait to finish them all soon! 

I've had sake and I've had beer,,,    not in that combo though. I think if I had a few of those  I  would explode,, ha!

Fig - agreed        unless you are that close, I would think they look fine (I KNOW you will tinker though)...

I have to get into figure mode soon too...  I need some for two projects I am working on.

Andy  The Soviets converted over 200 PzIII chassis to the SU-76i.  Wartime photos aren't that common. As far as I've been able to determine, only two of the vehicles still exist (in outdoor museums in Russia.)  What's interesting when you study the photos is you'll see no two vehicles are identical. Some have cast gun mantlets-- others welded, the steel plate of the superstructures looks a lot rougher on some than others, the location and shape of the vision, pistol ports and antenna mounts varies . I guess it all depended on what factory did the re-build and what bits and pieces they had on hand at the time.  Here's a link to a photobucket album with some photos which you may have already seen:

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/rundave/SU-76i/

BTW, if it were me, I'd be tempted to leave the figure as it is. Sometimes it's hard to know when to leave well enough along. I always think of Kenny Rogers' song the gambler: "You got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em"

Thanks to ogrejohn for pointing out an error in my construction. I had reversed the idler wheel adjustment brackets...since corrected:

Dave-  Thanks!  I think I will just add some off white paint to his eyes when I have the chance.  Good info aboutnSu-76. Only 200... That explain we don't see many pictures. 

I am so glad John saw the error and brought this up with you via PM.  Looks like you owe him a ... 

Not a good day for me... My wife is not really a good driver. She backed into a fire hydrant and her car is without a rear bummer now.  LOL. Say good bye to $500 for deduction and higher monthly rate.  And of course less kits for me this year...

Enclosed photos Pz III Ausf. J Initial turret - painted hatch vision glass block's green and fitting Magic Track .... Amour86 

86,,,   nice detail on the turret... I do like those vision ports too,,    well done!

Andy,,  sorry to hear about your car mishaps...   Sux when that stuff happens.        Ask your wife if she uses those little shiny things outside the driver side window and passenger side window         No,,  wait, don't ask that...   I don't want to get into trouble!

deafpanzer

Carl- That was a good one!  I flew into Spokane few years ago for a conference in Missoula.  The drive from Spokane to Missoula was breath taking trip!  I hope I can do it again as the lady wants to host the conference again in Montana one more time before she retires.

DaveB- As promised, I am sending you pictures of the drawings... both Ausf A and B.  I used my camera as I don't have a scanner at home.   Hope they helps... 

 

Worked on my figures last night especially on the flesh and they are almost ready for the final dark washes.  Have a great weekend guys! 

 

If you do fly into Spokane again let me know Andy

BaBill212

86,,,   nice detail on the turret... I do like those vision ports too,,    well done!

Andy,,  sorry to hear about your car mishaps...   Sux when that stuff happens.        Ask your wife if she uses those little shiny things outside the driver side window and passenger side window         No,,  wait, don't ask that...   I don't want to get into trouble!

What ? Must of missed this ......................

Dave-  Turret is looking real good!  Agree with Bill... Dig the green visors!

Bill- LOL My wife chuckled when she read your comment. She's cool!  Bad news it's not $500 deduction... It is now $750 deduction.  Time for us to shop around for a car insurance...

Carl-Here's what happened...

Good thing it is clean... The fire hydrant did a great job ripping off the bumper. Hopefully we only need a new vinyl bummer... 

deafpanzer

Dave-  Turret is looking real good!  Agree with Bill... Dig the green visors!

Bill- LOL My wife chuckled when she read your comment. She's cool!  Bad news it's not $500 deduction... It is now $750 deduction.  Time for us to shop around for a car insurance...

Carl-Here's what happened...

Good thing it is clean... The fire hydrant did a great job ripping off the bumper. Hopefully we only need a new vinyl bummer... 

 

 

 

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, did she leave the bumper with the fire hydrant ? If she did at least they'll know who it belongs to Andy ............i know , not funny . If she's like my wife she felt bad enogh and probably cried . Poor gal .............be nice .

Carl- Nah, we are OK. Accidents happen... My wife has poor dimensional view so every year she hits something small like the garage or curb  but this time it's major.  Believe it or not it happened only three houses away as she was picking up the boys.  It was late & dark and their driveway was long & curved. And the fire hydrant was only a feet away from the driveway. It just ripped the bummer off clean... Unbelievable.  

Oh did I ever mention my wife is also a blonde? 

Worked on my figures last night... I think they are finally done.  Will post pictures soon... 

Andy No broken hydrant with water shooting 25 feet into the air I take it? Now, that would have really been embarrassing.

Oh my boys would have loved that... 

 it would have looked like that!  I am so glad the fire hydrant won this time... 

So here is where I stand with the Stug III E (Cyberhobby kit). Major construction is done save for the fenders and tracks. The tools and periscopes need to be cleaned up and painted to be added later.

I've got mixed emotions about how this has gone together so far. No major fit problems, but there was some cleanup that I probably skimped on which made some of the fit a bit sloppy.

The barrel is a Jordi Rubio that dupes hooked me up with. When I first looked at it through the plastic bag, it looked like they had failed to drill out the end of the barrel:

However, when he opened the package, dupes and I realized that they had included a muzzle cover, removed in this pic and placed on the hull:

On to priming and painting and tracks..... oh my...

HA,,, great pic Andy

Good thing your wife rolls with such things,,, (did she read your post about being blonde??) Which my wife is also. She has "Sandy-isms" where she says things that are so off the wall, they deserve the "ism".... e.g. Ice cubes with the little holes in them are colder than regular ice cubes          huh?                Sandy-ism.            i.e. blonde

Sorry about the bumper but glad it wasn't worse

bbrownii,,    I don't see a lot of flaws (?)   I think it looks fine      very nice     Glad the barrel turned out for the best too.......    it all looks good!

Hey all!  A lot of great work going on here.  Sorry I haven't been around in awhile.  Between work, my wife, doctors appointments and the like I haven't had much time all at once to work on the StuG.  The addition of a space heater to my area should help me with getting back into it. 

Some progress has been made on the StuG.  I'm still working on my lighting for taking photographs, not to mention how in the heck to work the camera.  Thanks to DoogsATX and his photography info I'll try and get a better setup this weekend. 

Primary painting is complete.  Stowage has been added, and the tracks are in place.  Still have to paint and weather some of the stowage, touch up areas, and then try and get a decent flat coat on it.  Then pigments!

Here is how she stands at the moment. 

Like I said.  Still have a lot of little things to button up and some figures to work on (thanks to Andy ).

As always comments and criticisms are always welcome!

Oops forgot to ask. . . . anyone have any good references on the periscopes, both located at and in front of the cupola?  I've searched high and low but can't seem to find any references as to colors etc.  Thanks in advance!

Guys- Two updates last night.... that's great!  I had visitors last night as our deaf school is hosting national basketball tourney.  It is always great to see old friends... but I managed to sneak down to finish my figures finally.  I will post pictures later today.

Boyd- Great process on your StuG... clean build!  Looking forward to see more of this...

AceHawk- Good having you back!!!  Everybody seems to be busy recently and I am happy to see your StuG update.  Speaking of taking pictures, I bought light bulbs used by photograpgers at photograph shop and it made a HUGE difference.  I am trying to remember the name of bulbs... they were $13 each!  But it was worth every penny.  Wondering if you have the same bulbs or not...

Roscoe Turner IMPS is only 3 months away... National AMPS in Auburn is only 4 months away!!! LOL

Y'all have a great day!

AceHawkDriver

Oops forgot to ask. . . . anyone have any good references on the periscopes, both located at and in front of the cupola?  I've searched high and low but can't seem to find any references as to colors etc.  Thanks in advance!

Are you referring to the drivers and commanders periscopes that can be raised out of their hatches? What info are you looking for?

Andy:  I may have to look into the bulbs that you recommended.  I'm mainly having a problem with the light being too focused in one spot.  I've tried to diffuse the light using small containers, but now am thinking about constructing a simple light box.  I'll have to see what's going on for Rosco Turner and will have to see if I'm able to go to AMPS.  Unfortunately, my brother decided to get married the Saturday that AMPS is here (so inconsiderate!) but I'll try and make it up there,

bbrownii:  I've included a photo below of the two that I'm looking for (highlighted with the yellow arrows).  Sorry I was tired and wasn't specific enough!  One is the periscope that is raised out of the cupola and the other (sighting device I assume?) is difectly in front of the cupola.  Essentially I'm looking for the lenses.  I haven't been able to find if they were tinted in color for glare.  Thanks in advance for any info.  The pic follows. . . .