The OFFICIAL Panzer III and Its Variants GB

Great looking build Geist.
Is that a primer or have you already started to build up the final grey finish?
Thank you for sharing your progress pictures.

Jord 

The wear on your roadwheels looks very convincing Greg.
I would not worry to much about the return rollers, they would not see the same sort of abuse.

Jord 

armor86

Looking good Mr. AceHawkDriver.
I notice that you have decided to mount all torsion bar details and the radios, I share your concern that these things will not be visible when complete.
Thank you for sharing your progress pictures.

Jord

Finally! Some pics worth showing! 

This may come as "duh" to you Panzer vets, but one thing I learned on my Pz.IV build that I'm benefiting from greatly this time around is not necessarily sticking to Dragon's "put everything on this fender/forward hull/etc before attaching". Especially on the fenders...I've only attached things that need to be there prior to further assembly. And good thing, with my clumsy hands.

Also, I couldn't resist skipping ahead a bit and building the basic main gun assembly. That Aber barrel is just too pretty.

Lookin' good Erik! Saw that very Rommel crew a few weeks'a go on Dragon's online store and ALMOST bought it. 

Regarding Vallejo, I've had nothing but problem thinning it with water (though, with the world of difference between how my H&S and Iwata spray Lifecolor (beautifully and terribly, respectively), maybe I should try the water route again before writing it off completely.

Anyway, I've had luck mixing Vallejo with both Future and Testors acrylic thinner. I've heard some others have much success with straight windshield wiper fluid.

Just squirt a bit right into your color cup of you airbrush and mix it with a little water and voila!  If you use Model Air by Vallejo it's pre thinned, just shoot it straight from the bottle.

anthony2779

Wow Eric,same build and same figure set I got,looking real good.

Haha what are the chances of that?

Erik

Wow Eric,same build and same figure set I got,looking real good.

Here are pics of today's work. Monday was a long day(my 21st birthday) so today was a lazy day and that means I got a lot done.

Here's the reason the turret hatches are cracked open.

Anyone have any tips on spraying Vallejo paint? I've never done it before and I've got a great yellow color I want to use on this build.

Erik

DoogsATX

Well, a bit more progress on the Vorpanzer tonight. Slowly moving around toward the topside. Might've pressed forward tonight, but the prospect of dealing with installing bits inside of bits gave me tired head. So far, so good, though. The fit is, dare I say, better than the Dragon Pz.IV I'm coming off of! 

Nothing pic-worthy yet, so as a substitute, here's the Panzer's benchmate:

Thought i fell asleep and  woke up in the aircraft forums .............whew , close one .

tigerman

Shellback:

" I have nothing against older kits... they are just easier to build and harder to break! "

Andy , i'd get a newer kit if i didnt already have all of these older kits in the stash . This one has a lot of flash to clean up .By the way , seems i remember this DML kit # 9015 being a re-release of the Gunze Sangyo kit #722 .

Nothing more accomplished on this kit today ............just now came in from working on the wall and its time for a couple of brews .

 

Unless I missed it, Dragon hasn't released an updated M have they? I know they did an N.

I dont know the answer Eric . This kit covers the Ausf. M and N . Just a few differences between the 2 .

i''ve been building a wall also ....man the Kokanee(s) tasted good buddy !

Eric,is that the new orange box "G" or is it the older kit,because I will be attempting the older one myself.

And DP, thanks for the offer, but I just ordered two bottles from my LHS. If anything goes wrong there, I'll keep it in mind. And yeah, those bottles may become very valuable soon!

I hate my computer! I wrote a whole thing about my new plans, but it only published the part about the paint. Anyways, to make a long story short, I'm gonna move onto the hull and turret, and hopefully the paint will be in by then. Erik, I'm sure you hope that day comes soon as well.

Mike- I believe I have nearly full bottle of Tamiya German Grey that I can give... I will confirm when I get home tonight.  I don't plan to use it again... personally I am not a fan those Tamiya paint.  I know some of you love them!  Actually I brought few Tamiya bottles for figure painting and I wasn't pleased with the results when you use the paintbrushes.   I now use either Vallejo or LifeColor for figures painting...

Geist- Maybe I should sell rest of my Tamiya (five bottles I think) and thinner... bet they are worth more than my car now. LOL  I believe I have German Blue, Khaki, Tan or Sand I can't remember... probably most popular choices among armor modelers? 

Tamiya paints should start appearing again in the next month, Tamiya just began shipping to distrubutors in late June. We've been out of most flat colors and thinner since March at Hobbyland here in Columbus. We were told that due to new government regulations Tamiya had to change the labels on all their paints and thinners.

Erik

Jord - Digging that zimm! Definitely a unique pattern from the usual stripey kind!

deafpanzer

Doogs- Nice looking wingy thing!   I am anxious to build my first model plane after 25+ years break... maybe in the winter when the dust settles. 

Thanks! I'll be looking forward to that build! I wouldn't recommend Tamiya's big Spit, though. It's probably the single best kit I've ever touched in terms of everything - detail, engineering, fit, sheer ambition, but it makes for one heck of an epic build. Both good and bad!

Doogs- Nice looking wingy thing!   I am anxious to build my first model plane after 25+ years break... maybe in the winter when the dust settles. 

Jord- Welcome!  We are happy to have you aboard.  You couldn't have asked for a better GB... plenty of great guys here to help.  They are the same guys who helped me during my first few GBs. 

I really dig the Zimm on your Panzer III.  It looks better than the earlier releases where it is not too uniformed.  Looking forward to more of this...

Just wanted to show you the quality of the Zimmerit moldings, I have nothing to compare this with but it looks very convincing to me.

 

Jord 

Hi all,
I am Jord.
This is my first group build ever and my second attempt at a German WWII AFV since 1985 - please be patient with my inexperienced / ignorant questions.
I am off to a late start so I would like to congratulate anyone who is already posting progress pictures - very cool :)
My kit is Dragons # 6454 10,5cm StuH 42 Ausf.G.
I got the kit dirt cheap from a friend who is holding + 70 kits in the stash and needed to be relived some of the burden.
I have no reference pictures to the actual vehicle but I am researching the Internet right now.
What is your understanding of the detailed interior - it looks as if I get plenty that will be hidden even if I leave the hatches open?

Jord

                 Nop Tigerman,same old chunky monkey!!

                                                         Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley

Shellback

" I have nothing against older kits... they are just easier to build and harder to break! "

Andy , i'd get a newer kit if i didnt already have all of these older kits in the stash . This one has a lot of flash to clean up .By the way , seems i remember this DML kit # 9015 being a re-release of the Gunze Sangyo kit #722 .

Nothing more accomplished on this kit today ............just now came in from working on the wall and its time for a couple of brews .

Unless I missed it, Dragon hasn't released an updated M have they? I know they did an N.

Well, a bit more progress on the Vorpanzer tonight. Slowly moving around toward the topside. Might've pressed forward tonight, but the prospect of dealing with installing bits inside of bits gave me tired head. So far, so good, though. The fit is, dare I say, better than the Dragon Pz.IV I'm coming off of! 

Nothing pic-worthy yet, so as a substitute, here's the Panzer's benchmate:

Greg , just wondering , would the return rollers be as distressed as the road wheels ? I'm thinking they would be less beat up due to them not carrying the vehicles weight and not getting as chewed up by rocks , gravel  , etc ..........................

Erik- I always wanted to stop by that shop in Columbus on my way to New York visiting my family.  Maybe one day I will... if I do, will you offer me five kits for a price of one, correct?

Greg- Great work on the wheels... love the stressed look!  Always into details you are...

Malone- Sorry to hear about the mishap... we know you will make it work.  No pressure about posting the pictures... we all understand now and you only have to send us some instead if you are old enough to purchase.

deafpanzer

Erik- Great process on your Panzer.  Those PE grills are a big plus!

You are so lucky you get to build models in a hobby store.  You don't have to worry about running out of glue or paint that way.  Which part of Ohio are you in because I have been to a great hobby shop in Cincy called Broadway Hobby last month. 

 

I'm in Columbus. I work at Hobbyland, we are the last all purpose hobby store (scale models, trains, rockets, RC etc) in central Ohio.

Erik

                             Yikes,theres a pile of pz III's goin on now.And they are all looking great.I have been concentrating most of my efforts on the lower hull.

                              Although its probably not accurate I used the Ausf. M exhaust as the other type were not to my liking,more or less grey gobs.Also managed to get the roaadwheels cleaned up.Primed and distressed.I now realize in hindsight that I did nothing to the return rollers,I'll get them later.

                             As always any comments are welcome.

                                                         Greg"Detailfreak"Rowley