DML Pzkpfw III Ausf G Afrika Korp Blog COMPLETE 01-11-2010

Thanks Anthony, glad you enjoyed the build and found some inspiration from it! Look forward to seeing what you do with yours when the time comes.

Superb job,excellent tutorial,just as I was inspired by your Puma,I went and picked this kit up,and will attempt this project sometime later this year,thanks again for posting

wbill76

Thanks Dave! I imagine "New Tank" smell could be quite the seller in certain circles...just the right mix of fuel, spent ammunition, and sweat and you're there!

OK....

New tank,AFV, SP weapon or anything military has a slight smell of paint and metal

Used rank, AFV, SP weapon, etc. has a slight smell of the dirt in the area with and overriding smell which is a mix of BO and muzzle blast (wolfs pu$$y), depending how long it and the crew have been in the field and how much firing has been done

Ahhhhhhh......the smell of muzzle blast (WP)....there is nothing like it......I get a  just thinking about it.!!!

BTW....soldiers in the field never smell the BO as they all have BO and thus the BO "sense of smell" is lost!!

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Dave! I imagine "New Tank" smell could be quite the seller in certain circles...just the right mix of fuel, spent ammunition, and sweat and you're there!

Bill,

That is a very nicely executed build!  There are a couple of things off the top of my head that I really like about this one: the subtle two tone camo (very slick!), the side turret numbers (very well done over the complex surfaces), it looks driven not thrashed (though that does have its place), the missing fender (just to show it is not showroom fresh.....I wonder what New Tank smell is like).  Thank you for posting this one.

Cheers

Dave

Thanks Eric! Glad you like her and have to agree on the effectiveness of the pigments in this case. A little bit went a very long way!

Chris, thanks for the kind words and glad the build logs are helpful for you! I've been pondering what to do next and I think I'm going to tackle the DML Nashorn Premium kit that I've had in the stash for a while. The last few builds have all been close topped so I think it's time to do another open top just to keep some variety. I did a JT not too long ago and just did a Tiger P right before this one and don't do too many of the "big cat" builds so it might be a while before I do a KT...there is one in the stash but it doesn't have a due date assigned yet with the work bench.

Very nice Bill! I really love your builds and your build logs that go with them. They really do help us noobs that are attempting to get back into the hobby. I cant wait to see what you do next...I hope its a King Tiger since you havent done a WIP with one of those yet.

Regards,

Chris

Bill, awesome as always. I like the dusty look on her, those pigments sure do there job.

wbill76

DM, thanks for the comments...but I'm 'slightly' disappointed since your smiley link isn't working!

It's working HERE though....  jumpin' up n down......

(get a MAC)

Thanks Terry, glad it measured up to the expectations!

Brian, thanks for the comments as well.

Bill, she looks absolutely GREAT!  Well done buddy!

Brian

Bill that is exactly what I expected from this build, all I can really say is excellent. Job well done.

Terry.

Thanks Bill! Sorry to hear this one slipped by while it was in progress but the good thing about the forums is it's still here for you to come back to at your leisure!

Marc, I know the Tiger Initial will always hold a dear place in your ranking so to hear this one comes in a close 2nd is high praise indeed! Thanks for the comments as always!

Something about this one, Bill...puts it right near the top of my list of your best builds. Not Tiger-initial awesome, but certainly number 2 or 3.

On further reflection, it must have something to do with the "completeness" in how everything is tied together with the weathering. Top notch.

I think this is your first build log, since I showed up anyway, that I missed completely until it was done.  Looks like you managed fine without me, Bill, looks very nice, interesting subject, I'll need to devote some time this week and READ it all.  Thus far i have only peeked at the completed walk around shots, but it's very nice.

Bill

Andy, thanks for the comments but don't blame me for your kit buying habits! Glad to hear it's inspiring you but hopefully not at the expense of marital peace and harmony.

RBaer, thanks as well and your choice of words put a smile on my face. Thanks for that!

What else can I say that hasn't already been said?

Supercalifragilistic!

BEAUTIFUL WORK!    My wife is not a big fan of you... why?  Everytime you finish something, I have to buy it next time I go to the hobby store.  Note to myself... buy DML Pz.kp.fw III Ausf G.  Can't wait to see your next build...

Thanks Kenny and Steve, appreciate the comments!

    You can argue filters washes and color modulations all day but you cant ague the results. Once again Bill perfection!

  'Plunking'...  we just may have a new modeling term

Absolutely "Gobsmacked" (can't say any more then, can I?.)...cheers....Kenny

DM, thanks for the comments...but I'm 'slightly' disappointed since your smiley link isn't working!

Tony, another convert! The Pz III is a great family of vehicles for sure. Thanks for the kind words. Four days, eh? Have to get my pondering in gear!

You've got a Cracker Jack model there Bill. The Pz IIIs are starting to grow on me like the 38 turn you on.

You've got four days to decide on that next build.                                                                                          Tony Lee

Very Very good looking Bill!.

Bob, Adam, Edmund, thanks as always for the comments and most importantly for following along with the build! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride with me, this was a fun project for me as well and, for the first time in a long time, I don't really know what I'm going to build next! Normally I have the next one picked out as I near the finish line on a build but not this time around. I'm going to have to spend some time gazing at the stash to figure out what the next "victim" will be I guess!

Ernest,

Glad you were able to catch up to this one in the end and thank you for the very kind words as well. As far as your question about the MKs, I chose set SK-26 because those are the 36cm tracks appropriate for the early Pz IIIs and StuG IIIs while set SK-57 are the early 38cm tracks used on the early Pz IVs but not on the Pz IIIs. There's not a whole lot of difference between them aside from the size other than the fact that the early 38cm tracks had a variation in either tall or short guide horns (which the SK-57 set includes) while the 36cm tracks all had the same guide horn height. Eventually both the Pz III and IV standardized on the 40cm track width due to the increased weight as both vehicles were up-armored and needed a wider footprint to reduce ground pressure and not overstress the suspension but they started out with different track types as evidenced in the early models. Welcome to the wonderful world of Pz III-IV tracks!

The MK track guide kind of adds to the confusion a bit by seeming to indicate that the 36cm tracks could also have been used on Pz IV A-E but that's not really true as the Pz IV sprockets on the kits available won't take the slightly narrower 36cm tracks. The instructions inside the SK-26 set even specifically state that they are only for Pz III and StuG III so I think the track guide insert just has a printing error. HTH!

Bill, I saw the beginning of this blog, but missed most of it....much to my regret!  Another awesome blog with great explanations and photos!  Your Pz III turned out beautifully!  How you get such consistent results is beyond me.  I need to learn how to "plunk" my models!!  One question I meant to ask at the beginning of your blog:  Why did you choose the SK-26 MK track set for this build?  I have the MK track guide and can't figure out when to use the SK-26 or SK-57 sets.

I could just cut and paste comments from your last completed builds here Bill but that would be cheating you of a well earned YeeHaww!  That is awesome!

I really appreciate the consistent quality and execution of your builds and WIP's.

Bill, in the spirit of a "Guney style" post,    That's mighty fine work.

also, Thanks for truely well produced build-blog in every regard ! 

Bill, looks beautiful my friend.  I love it.

Bob

Ok, so I guess we can say this one's been "Plunked"!

I made a few adjustments to the pigment treatment applied yesterday and installed the missing radio antenna. I also fine tuned the tracks for the sag and it was off to the photo booth for the final shots.

the doog

could we just call what you do "Plunking"? lol!

Now that's funny.....there is an accepted convention......beyond LOL to LMAO

Rounds Complete!!

Bill.

My first thought--god, I'm tired! lol!

It's late here, so I'm going to be brief--could we just call what you do "Plunking"? lol!

Anyway, I guess there's no need to debate it further. Have a good night!

Thanks Edmund! Desert schemes offer a nice little change of pace from the usual three-tone or panzer gray for sure!

Looking great Bill!  I really like this camo scheme!

Thanks DM, always glad to see the smilies approval!

Yes Marc, I agree.

This is where the end result

definitely justifies the MEANS.

END Equals JUSTIFICATION

wing_nut

And here is another definition.

 

 

Bill's pan-zer III (n, tank)

Kick butt plastic model of a German PzKfw III

Hummmm...defination not needed.....that is already an accepted convention

Rounds Complete!!

I like your dictionary Marc!

And here is another definition.

Bill's pan-zer III (n, tank)

Kick butt plastic model of a German PzKfw III

I submit the following definations for confusion

mod·u·lat·ed, mod·u·lat·ing, mod·u·lates

v.tr.

1. To adjust or adapt to a certain proportion; regulate or temper.

2. To change or vary the pitch, intensity, or tone of (one's voice or a musical instrument, for example).

3. Electronics

a. To vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (electromagnetic waves).

b. To vary (electron velocity) in an electron beam.

fil·ter  (f l t r)

n.

1.

a. A porous material through which a liquid or gas is passed in order to separate the fluid from suspended particulate matter.

b. A device containing such a material, especially one used to extract impurities from air or water.

2.

a. Any of various electric, electronic, acoustic, or optical devices used to reject signals, vibrations, or radiations of certain frequencies while allowing others to pass.

b. A colored glass or other transparent material used to select the wavelengths of light allowed to reach a photosensitive material.

wash  (w sh, wôsh)

v. washed, wash·ing, wash·es

v.tr.

1.

a. To cleanse, using water or other liquid, usually with soap, detergent, or bleach, by immersing, dipping, rubbing, or scrubbing: wash one's hands; wash windows.

b. To soak, rinse out, and remove (dirt or stain) with or as if with water: wash grease out of overalls.

2. To make moist or wet; drench: Tears washed the child's cheeks.

3. To flow over, against, or past: waves that washed the sandy shores.

4. To carry, erode, remove, or destroy by the action of moving water: Heavy rains washed the topsoil away.

5. To rid of corruption or guilt; cleanse or purify: wash sins away.

6. To cover or coat with a watery layer of paint or other coloring substance.

With this in mind.....When you compleatly cover a model....even in dots and move with a solvent.....is that a WASH which becomes a FILTER to MODULATE the color....

We are getting deeeeep into terms.....interesting but without a source to hold an accepted convention.....I will go out to the driveway and drive over to the parkway..

Rounds Complete!!

I don't imagine you're alone in this one Karl in terms of how wording/terminology is used or applied. I draw my conclusions on what color modulation is based on what Rick Lawler and Adam Wilder have presented and described as to why/how they use that technique that they apply that label to. I don't consider that pre-shading or post-shading as those focus on higlighting specific areas/panels and creating a layered affect that way...whereas Color Modulation applies lighter/darker colors of the same shades to the different high/low points (high for example the side of a the turret, low for example as the areas under the fenders or sponsons) as a way to create overall depth in terms of the lighting of the subject vs. only color. The terms aren't so neatly defined and encapsulated though and there's definitely some overlap in the naming conventions vs. the effects achieved I'll grant you that.

English is of course the same language that has you drive on parkways and park on driveways so I guess we'll always have room for interpretation and meanings to be applied by the different readers/speakers! If naming conventions followed pure logic we wouldn't use the term "wash" at all since you are certainly not cleaning the surface when you apply it. Filters evolved from washes and use essentially the same method...thinned paint applied to create an effect. "Dot" filters if you will do the same thing but without relying on pre-thinned paint to do the job. In that sense I think my label of "dot filter" applies more logically to what I do than any other term currently in wide usage so I'll stick with it. Otherwise I'd have start calling it something like "dot-based base color shifting filters" or something equally arcane.

BBill,

Glad to hear that you're up for the discussion--although I had to laugh--we definitely have a different lexicon of what we each individually call which technique! lol!

When you talked about "color modulation" as ",,,the establishment of varying light/dark contrasts in order to present the natural "shadows" of the actual vehicle in terms of the finish tones", I would counter and say that THAT is "Pre-shading" or "Post-shading"! LOL! In fact, IMHO, I would say that you definitely have the "CM" term confused with that. What I understand as "CM" is the application of complimentary tones of filters in order to slightly vary the orientation of the base color.

The reason I think that your preferred technique is closer to true "CM" rather than "Dot Filtering" is in the actual chromatic result. Forget, if you will, the appellation of the term "Dot"--unfortunately, that word seems to describe the technique when it really isn't the best descriptor. Whereas the result of your technique is to subtly shift---or "modulate" id you will--the base colors,, the "Dot" technique employing the actual Primary Colors results in a far different appearance. I guess what I mean is that it's rather somewhat like the difference between "Washes" and "Filters"--both use the same essential technique, yet one is definitely more drastic in terms of the intensity and effect of the technique vs the other.

I have to go rehearse for about 6 hours now, so if you reply, I won't be able to get back for a while here. Looking forward to your thoughts!

Patrick, thanks for the kind words and glad the SBS is helpful!

Mike, thanks as well, getting this close to the finish line is always sooooo tempting but I have to remind myself not to rush just to get it done.

Karl,

No worries my friend, always appreciate a discussion about terminology and semantics. Especially in our world, terminology can often be inexact at best and downright confusing at worst.

Like you, when I first read and saw "dot filtering" being used, the dots in question were always primary colors. I think that works well when you are working with three-tone or multi-color schemes and I employ primary colors on those types of schemes still as the case warrants. Other schemes however I take a different approach and my use of this technique has evolved over time and, like all good techniques, has undergone my own trial and error process to arrive at the way I use it today.

I don't think the use of the name is dependent on a rigid adherence to primary colors only and my interpretation of the intent of the technique is to impart subtle variations and hues to the finish that otherwise wouldn't be present. Whether that's done with primary colors, secondary colors, or complimentary colors is not something that I, personally, view as essential to the name of "dot filter" being accurate as a descriptor. I think the name "dot filter" is indicative instead of the way the technique is applied, namely in the form of dots of paint blended into the finish with repeated strokes until the dots virtually disappear...but still apply a "filter" and alter the underlying base colors in the process. My use of the technique achieves that in the manner described so I don't think I'm mis-characterizing things when I use the term "dot filter". I'm always careful to say which colors I'm using and never state that these are the "must use" colors to go with the technique. While I may not follow the "original" formula of colors used, I view that more as an adaptive/evolutionary step in the use of the technique for my purposes vs. a true departure into something else entirely.

In terms of the direction of the strokes, I think you misunderstand how I actually do this. I do it exactly as you describe, repeated (often downward) strokes in a single direction. I don't draw it across the entire model as a dilute wash although I do work on the whole surface in sections at a time. How much of the paint is left behind is a matter of taste and style I think and the surfaces being worked in question.

I don't think what I do falls under the "color modulation" category at all...at least not as I understand what that term means. Color Modulation is the establishment of varying light/dark contrasts in order to present the natural "shadows" of the actual vehicle in terms of the finish tones. That's not what I'm after here at all, so as long as we are discussing semantics I think referring to this as a "color modulation" technique would be a mis-characterization!

At the end of the day, I would agree with you that the types of colors that I apply have migrated away from the original technique's roots but I will continue to refer to this as applying a "dot filter" as I think that's the best descriptor available, at least at the time being, for what I'm essentially doing. That is, applying a filter over the base coat using several different "dots" of colors and blending those dotes into the base coat via repeated downward (or streak direction for horizontal surfaces) strokes using a thinner dampened square tip brush. That's my definition of what a "dot filter" is, others may view that differently but I'm always clear in my description of what I mean by the term.

Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts down on paper...and rest assured that no offense has been taken, it's all good!  

Bill,

Spectacular finish on this model, as per your usual high standard, no doubt!

I hope you don't mind if I weigh in on something however. This may be just a matter of Semantics to some, but I think that although it is small, it might be an important distinction?

I've seen you use what you call the "Dot Filter" process on several of your latest builds, but I think that the way you apply it is a mischaracterization of what I understand the method to be? When I learned it--which was pretty near to when it was making its breakthrough in the "Spanish Armor School" (In "Armor" magazine) so to speak , it had a very definite purpose--to use what you would normally never consider to be "Armor weathering colors" in a widely-distributed application of "dots" in order to apply nearly imperceptible hues of mostly Primary Colors to a model in order to impart a rich patina of subtle tonal variations.

Adam Wilder explained to me that this came about because Spain is such a bright, warm country ( as opposed to the :Norwegian School which uses more neutral Blacks and Whites to impart contrast, as per the longer nights/shorter days and general grayness of season) and because this was the intention of the originators--to add that warmth to their models.

However, from how I've seen you doing YOUR technique, it seems to be more of a "color modulation" in form of altering the general base color in lights and dark hues which are always more related to the model's base color? Like how on the Pz38(t) you used appropriately-related colors of  Flat Sea Blue, Flat White, and Panzer Dunkelgelb. No real "contrasting" colors if you think of the Dunklegelb as imparting a "dust" hue. In contrast, the "Dot Filter" technique generally recommended to actually stay AWAY from "complimentary" hues and what you would consider "actual weathering" colors, as a matter of actual process.

Also--and this may be a small detail, but--the process was usually drawn down in stokes, and in somewhat heavier concentration more so than merely being diluted, or drawn across the model as you did on that Tiger (P) Prototype. For instance, look at the distribution, colors, and process of how I was doing it on the Hetzer;

As such, I think that what you do is more aptly within the nature of what has come to be called "Color Modulation"--albeit you DO use "dots" to effect that result.

I hope this post doesn't come across as arrogant or petty --genuinely, neither is the intent; I think you know that! I just think that the difference in results of what I've seen between the application of the "Dot Filter" technique as it originally started and from where it gained popularity and what you achieve ( and NOT, BY ANY MEANS (!) judging that to be any less valid, or inferior) is noteworthy enough as to warrant the distinction? Your method of subtly modulating the base color is much more subtle and in a way, "User Friendly", where as the way that "Dot Filters" was employed in "Armor" magazine where it got its real "push" was much more extreme and contrasting in its results.

Thoughts? Is it just a matter of Semantics? Or do you see the point that I'm trying to get across?

Bill

You always look good crossing the finish line. I like the color on this one....it's almost appealing to my OD senses

As always, very nice work

Rounds Complete!!

Bill,

Really appreciate you taking the time for your detailed finishing sbs. I’ll mark this for  reference for coming work of my own in hopes some of your knowledge and maybe talent will rub off. 

You have a splendid finish and it’s a joy to see. Marvelous top drawer work.  

Patrick

I made a lot of progress with the weathering stages but didn't quite get this one across the finish line. Work started with an overall wash of enamel Raw Umber applied with a round 0 sable brush to the entire vehicle. This darkens the finish at first but provides a nice foundation for the additional steps and layers to follow.

The next step was the application of dot filters. I chose enamel Light Gray, Armor Sand, and Raw Sienna and applied small dots with a pointed brush to small sections at a time. The dots are then blended together with a square tip brush that is dampened with thinner, a condition achieved by dipping into clean thinner and then touching it several times to a paper towel to wick away the excess thinner and avoid "flooding" the surface where the dots are.

As a kind of "before and after", you can see in the pic below that the front part of the turret has received the filters while the cupola and storage bin are still in their unfiltered state. This process was applied to the entire model, working slowly one section at a time and all while wearing a breather mask due to the high concentration of thinner fumes.

Next up was the application of a pin wash of enamel Burnt Umber using a pointed detail brush. The pin wash was applied to all the raised detail and panel lines. I then went back over the same areas with the same brush and clean thinner and removed or adjusted any excess wash as needed.

At this stage I took a series of walk around photos looking for any problem areas or unblended dots from the filter stage. The camera sees things far more clearly than I can with the naked eye and a couple spots were cleared up and some adjustments made before I applied an overall coat of Testors Lusterless Flat in the spray can.

Once that had dried, I applied a wet mix of Mig Pigments Gulf War Sand using regular tap water mixed with a drop of liquid dish soap to break the surface tension. This was allowed to air dry and then the excess pigment carefully removed with stiff bristled brushes. I made further adjustments using wet and dry q-tips to get it to this point. I also used the dry q-tips that had accumulated pigment to apply a light dusting to the upper surfaces and fenders. I'm about 95% done with adjusting the pigments on the tracks and lower hull as I still see some spots where it's a little heavier than I would like...but will have to make those adjustments along with a few other small details later before I can say this one is done. Almost there!

Thank you Bill!  Knew I could count on you because I really don't know much about the tracks... I am still learning!  Placed an order for the SK-024 tracks from RMZ.com few minutes ago.  It will be for the Invasion of France so no ice sprags.  Thanks again!

Andy,

You sneaked this one in while I was posting my response to MR. RZM Imports is where I order most of my tracks from and if you order online they will discount the price a further 10% than the list price of $29.95 so that helps. It doesn't include shipping and they are the cheapest place I've found so far for MKs here in the US. One thing to be aware of though is that they have MKs on backorder right now for the most part but expect a shipment in mid-Jan (I know this because I have a few sets ordered but still pending from them) so if you need the tracks right away they may not be the best source at the moment.

As far as tracks for your StuG III B go, they did use the smaller 36cm tracks for a short while but the Tamiya kit has the wider 40cm sprocket so that set wouldn't work for that one. Instead what you need to get is the SK-24 or SK-18 set. The only differences between the two are the SK-18 has the spaces for the ice sprags to be fitted that was introduced in winter '41 so depending on which time period you want your StuG to occupy, that would drive which type of tracks you need.

MK puts out a handy little reference chart that shows all the different vehicles and years that match up with their various sets. It's not 100% accurate but it's pretty close.

wbill76

Thanks MR! Have to agree on the rarity of the "tropen" schemes and I blame that on two things. 1) The stubborn tendency of "desert yellow" introduced by Tamiya and deeply ingrained in the psyche of modelers as a result and 2) lack of appropriate colors in various paint manufacturer lines making it more difficult to apply the real scheme for those who do know about it!

Thanks MR! Have to agree on the rarity of the "tropen" schemes and I blame that on two things. 1) The stubborn tendency of "desert yellow" introduced by Tamiya and deeply ingrained in the psyche of modelers as a result and 2) lack of appropriate colors in various paint manufacturer lines making it more difficult to apply the real scheme for those who do know about it!

The weathering process will definitely tone down those turret numbers...looking at the reference pic I'm not entirely convinced they should have a red center but that's what DML included so that's what I used. I lean more towards them being white outline only due to the way the color inside the lines matches up with the hull color outside the lines but don't have anything to back that up beyond my own visual interpretation. Since other units in N. Africa did use the red-with-white outline, DML's design isn't that far out there in the general scheme of things. As for the complex surfaces...totally agree with you there as it stacks up to zimmerit...no way it would be possible to get those markings on without an agressive setting solution for sure and even stencils would have a very very hard time due to the uneven surfaces they have to cover.

Hi Bill,

Always looking great!  it is a must for me to visit your forum every time for an update. 

I am about to start a new kit Tamiya Stug III B and I have been looking for AM tracks to replace the rubber bands that came with the kit.  I just realized I may end up ordering the same tracks from Model Kasten that you ordered for this.  It is asking for $30.00... is it the best deal?  It's from rzm.com and the model is SK-26III.  Which vendor did you order from?  But I wanted to make sure that it will work well with Tamiya Stug III B too. 

Thanks Bill!

Wow, looking good, Bill.  Very rarely do you see the "official" Tunisian scheme modeled. Looking good.  Will look better once you get those turret numbers toned down a bit and some dust on her. Worse two things about German armor: zimmerit and turret numbers that cover hatches and viewports... 

I agree Wayne. Especially when you consider that the Tropen schemes were applied as a rule prior to the vehicles being shipped to N. Africa (or the other designated "Tropen" theaters such as southern Russia) and that those vehicles were typically painted at the factory in that scheme as well. Only the very first vehicles sent over in early 1941 would have been painted truly in the field in N. Africa. The reason being that they usually received other external modifications to equip them for a "Tropen" theater such as modified engine deck hatches as well as internal mods like special oil or air filtration systems.

Karl, thanks as always! I was able to work quickly on this one due to having a nice long vacation for the Christmas holidays...but now it's back to the "normal" schedule! We weren't able to travel anywhere this year so I made the most of the time I had with this one.

Terry, it's true that the tendency is to make every vehicle that ever served in N. Africa look like it's been thoroughly sandblasted...kind of like a very hot version of whitewash! Some vehicles did get beaten up and/or had poor paint jobs done in the field as evidenced by various photos but I prefer to keep the schemes relatively intact. The two-tone Tropen schems offer some very nice visual appeal as well IMHO. Thanks for the comments!

Steve, haven't really had any major problems with this one construction-wise...just the surgery on the fenders really. I too am looking forward to see what you do with it when you get to your Pz III. And yes, I do find it funny that the camo schemes would be designed so meticulously by theater and then those huge numbers get added...because you have to know which vehicle is which on the mobile battlefield!

  Bill I have to say this just seems to have fallen together for you. Nothing wrong with that though right? The cammo is an eye catcher. I looking forward to using this scheme on my pz III when I finally get to it.

  Don't ya just love how the Germans would put these nice cammo schemes on their vehicles and then paint those big bright numbers on the sides.

Hi, Bill I've been popping in and out for a while and must say great progress. Another great build happening, I must admit that while I'm no fan of the African campaign this and your Mk.IV make for interesting subjects, especially with your approach of not over weathering. When I was a younger chap everybody done harsh "Desert Yelloy" over "Panzer Grey" because it wasbelieved/ accepted that every vehicle was in a sandstorm.

Regards,

Terry.

WOW, Bill--sheesh, you do work quickly!

Another good looking build happening!

Thanks Mike, I can definitely understand why you'd be a bit sensitive these days about "tracks"! Still gives me shudders when I see your pic or think about it myself.

Eric,

Thanks for the comments as well. The handles are there to allow ease of well, handling, of the small parts. The pins and the guide horns would be a real nightmare if they didn't have them as they are tiny and there are lots of them. The MK design is very user friendly in this regard...but just to be safe, they do provide you with plenty of extra pins although the same isn't true generally for the guide horns. HTH!

Wow, you're fast Bill.

I've never worked with MK's before, so what are the purpose of the "handles"?

Very nice work on the decals and getting them to sit just right on the turret. Of course the tracks are nice but when I hear the word "tracks" I am like a dog who hears a cat.....I know you understand.

Moving along, looking forward to the weathering

Rounds Complete!!

Made more progress this weekend and am getting this one oh-so-close to the finish line. The first order of business was to prep the lower hull for the track installation. I dry brushed the contact teeth on the sprocket with Steel and stippled some Panzer Schwarzgrau on the lower hull to simulate some scuffing/scrapes there that would've exposed the original Panzer Gray paint a bit. I also did the same, very lightly, on the turret side hatches and commander's cupola.

The tracks were painted by airbrush with a primer coat of Flat Black laid down first to protect the bare plastic from the "hotter" lacquer based Non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal main coat. The tracks were then heavily dry brushed with Steel and given a wash of enamel Raw Umber. Once the wash had dried, the tracks were installed along with the idlers on both sides. For the idler's contact surface, I gave it the same treatment as the tracks without the primer coat of Flat Black. The idler mount itself is still positionable since I haven't yet locked that down even though the idler itself is now glued to the mount.

The spare track run for the front hull as well as the added-armor tracks were also painted and installed. They were basecoated with the non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and lightly dry brushed with Steel before given a wash of enamel Raw Umber followed by a wash of enamel Rust. Once those had dried, I dry brushed some additional enamel Burnt Umber to deepen their look and tone before gluing them into position. There are a couple of points that are still a little too reddish for my taste, I'll add some artist pastels to them later on in the weathering stage to tone them down a bit more.

Those were the last details to add before proceeding to the markings, so the entire vehicle was given a sealing coat of Future applied by airbrush and allowed to dry overnight...mostly because I ran out of time yesterday than anything else.

The kit-supplied decals needed some work/modifications to be usable since the turret numbers are provided as one continuous detail with a large clear section between the middle 1 and the 4...and there's no way you could actually install it that way without some trimming and cutting. Using a pair of scissors, I carefully trimmed out all three numbers for each turret side set and also modified the rear turret bin number by removing the 4 and trimming down it's clear section to allow for a more contiguous look there. The kit-supplied crosses were also replaced since they were the white-outline only variety and the reference pic of #114 clearly shows a black-center-white-outline style of cross. The replacements came courtesy of some spares from a previous Tristar build that were the right size.

All of the decals were treated with Walther's Solvaset with the turret side numbers requiring multiple careful doses to get them to lie down and conform to the very complex turret side surfaces. Once the markings were dry, I applied a 2nd coat of Future to seal them in and protect them from the later weathering steps.

The weathering will have to wait until next weekend however as my extended Christmas/holiday vacation comes to a close today and it's back to the grindstone tomorrow!

One of the downsides to being home on vacation this week was the need to take care of various non-model related things as well...which limited somewhat my time at the bench but just in time for the end of the year, I was able to make some good progress.

The tracks were the last major item needing attention and I duly set to work assembling the MK workable tracks. The MK set includes a jig that holds 9 links at a time and the pins are provided on separate handles with the pins handed inside vs. outside. Adding the pins is straightforward, just a touch of glue needed at the head, insert to join the links, then twist off the handle and voila! workable tracks. The hollow guide horns are provided as separate parts and these also have a handle. Once the horns are glued in place and the glue had set up after a few minutes, the handles were easily removed with sprue cutters and the top lightly sanded where needed.

The MK instructions recommend that 92-95 links are needed for a Pz III vehicle but I always take those recommendations with a grain of salt and test fit to be sure the count is right. I assembled two runs of 90 links each to get me in range.

The idler was dry fit onto the mount and the mount itself needed to be trimmed down a couple of mm to allow the idler to seat properly. The MK runs were test fit on either side and two more links added to get to 92 per side with the amount of sag I wanted.

The MK SK-26 set doesn't provide very many extra links but since I had used one of these sets before, I had some additional links available and used these to create the added armor runs for the superstructure front plate. I used the kit supplied links for the "cow catcher" run between the tow points that also holds the two extra road wheels. The kit links required a lot of clean up in terms of flash, ejector marks on the faces, etc. and I ended up using 16 links to get the right curve and angle needed. The tow pins are removable so that I can paint and detail the run separately and were used to help hold and shape the curve along with the spares while the glue set up.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I should get the tracks painted and installed and then it's on to the decals!

Thanks ps1, appreciate the comments and vote of confidence regarding a video tutorial however I don't have a reliable means of creating video available to me unfortunately.

Using a circle template is pretty straightforward...just a matter of having the right sizes available to you more than anything else. I use a Pickett dratsman's template that I picked up here: http://www.draftingsteals.com/21318.html It's an indispensable tool in the arsenal, I've yet to find a set of road wheels I couldn't paint with it. All you do is mask off the appropriate circle, hold the wheel from the underside into the circle, then spray with the airbrush. I mount all my road wheels on toothpicks with small blobs of bluetack poster putty to provide a "handle" to work with and stick them into a piece of styrofoam while they dry. The plastic that the Pickett is made from is very durable and cleans up with regular paint thinner after the wheels are sprayed with no problem.

Bill, you have great skill using a template to paint road wheels.  I think it might be nice if you were able to submit a little "how to" video to FSM for inclusion in thier video help section.  It would be great if all the experts around here could share some of their knowledge via video. 

I can think of a great many topics I'd like to see on video.

The Pz.III looks great!

MM96, thanks for the comments and glad you like the camo. The "Tropen" schemes certainly add a little bit of a wild card to the inaccurate "desert yellow" assumptions that developed over the years. I can easily understand why a 2-tone scheme would be used in a desert environment but the colors are so close together in tone it would be very very easy for them to disappear entirely under a dust coat in a b/w photograph for sure.

Steve, have to agree about the cans...it's one of the reasons I decided to mount the rack there on the fender even though I can't say for sure one way or the other if it really belongs there...it's plausible enough though considering the #1 priority in the desert was always water, water, water!

Rob, the tools method evolved over time and has become second nature now I guess. I have started using an Optivisor when dry brushing the Steel in order to get a more subtle look that way, it's helped a lot. In terms of the road wheels, using a circle template is a huge plus...I used to hand paint mine and thoroughly hated it but once I discovered the template I was sold on it as a technique. Give it a try when you aren't wrecking the hell out of your suspensions, you won't be disappointed!

That camo is too cool Bill, I know I've said it before but it is worth repeating. What always catches my eye are the tools. I hate that part of painting but you manage to paint them with ease, and they look great .

As for those roadwheels, well we know how you do that. I will have to try that trick some day when I'm not building a wreck.

Rob

Moving right along Bill. Like the others said, very cool camo. The grey jerrycans are a nice touch,break up the colors. You have some very good attention to detail. Looking forward to the next update.

Wow, that is really cool, I do love the subtle camouflage that you have done there! nice job on those tools! 

Steve, you sneaked this one in while I was replying to Mike and Tony...thanks for the comments and the kind words as well about the blog threads. Glad to do my part! The Imperial Series J was one of the first DML kits I ever built and even though there's a Smart Kit J out now it still can be built up nicely with just a little TLC along the way.

Mike,

Glad you finally found your way to this one, would hate to consider the possibility of canine-feline cohabitation become a universality! I've found one of the neat features that ther forum has now is the one that emails you replies to certain threads, helps a lot if there's a particular thread you want to "follow" but that may not get updated on a regular basis. Since you and I are "friends" you should also be able to follow my "conversations" under the Friends area of your profile as well...that might help to spot new threads in the future and avoid any potential withdrawal syptoms.

Tony, the "Tropen" schemes are fun ones to play with, no question about it! Definitely give it a whirl when you get the chance.

   Bill this guy is really looking sharp! I'm so looking forward to breaking out my Imperial Ausf J thats in the stash, It will be my first pnzr III and second DAK build. Just two builds in front of it.

redleg12

Holy Excrement Bill....

I was just thinking I have not seen a Bill WIP in a while....with all the bovine scatology of the new and disproved FSM forums...I missed it. Now after going through the whole build to date......very nice as usual. Very nice details. I love the paint scheme.

Now.....this new fangled forum must have a Bill tickler somewhere.....I can't go this long without a Bill build.....well thank god I found it....who knows, if I missed the whole thing next cats and dogs would start living together!!

As always, it is a pleasure to see your work.

Rounds Complete!!

  Even though this site has gone through some dramatic changes one of the things that has made it a little easier to deal with is Bill's week end updates. And for that sir we thank you!

Yep I definitely see another paint color scheme i've just got to do now Bill.

Thanks                                                                                                                                                             Tony Lee

Holy Excrement Bill....

I was just thinking I have not seen a Bill WIP in a while....with all the bovine scatology of the new and disproved FSM forums...I missed it. Now after going through the whole build to date......very nice as usual. Very nice details. I love the paint scheme.

Now.....this new fangled forum must have a Bill tickler somewhere.....I can't go this long without a Bill build.....well thank god I found it....who knows, if I missed the whole thing next cats and dogs would start living together!!

As always, it is a pleasure to see your work.

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Edmund, glad you like the rack! My local TV stations aren't cooperating much in terms of available games...but it's really just background noise to help with the repetitive nature of the track assembly more than anything else. Doesn't really matter who's playing!

Hi Bill,

I love the subtle cammo and the jerry can rack is great and I will be copying that for sure.

Enjoy watching other men excercise er I mean Football! 

With the inevitable break in bench time that Christmas involves, I was able to get in some more progress today. The day's not over but the next round of work involves assembling the MK tracks so I figured I should go ahead and post what has been done and buckle down and get the tracks built!

First order of business was joining up the road wheel halves and then installing them to the hull. This was done using regular glue to allow for some adjustments where needed to get the wheels to sit level. The return rollers were also added. The hull was set off to the side and allowed to set up for a while to avoid disturbing the wheels.

I stayed busy by working on the fender gear details while the wheels set up. The pioneer tools had their metal portions painted with MM Metalizer non-buffing Gunmetal and lightly dry brushed with Steel while the wood portions were painted with a special "wood" mix that's a light tan color followed by a light wash of thinned Leather. Once the wash was dry, I added some additional color variation using artist pastel Burnt Umber applied with a square tip brush. The Bakelite handles on the wire cutters were painted with Italian Dark Brown and the rubber end caps with enamel Gunmetal. The tools were secured in place with the Griffon clamps and a small amount of liquid glue added to insure they didn't shift around any in the future. I added a clamp handle courtesy of the Griffon clamp set to the shovel clamp for a little more detail as well.

The extra road wheel on the left fender was also added and positioned carefully so as not to interfere with the turret rotation overhang. I also detailed and installed the jerry cans for the right fender. These were first airbrushed with Panzer Gray and the spouts were detailed the same was as the metal portions of the pioneer tools. I added the water can cross markings by hand to simulate the same way the crews did it with Light Gray and also added some scuffing and wear by lightly brushing some Steel along the edges and bases of the cans.

I also secured the gun elevation in a fixed position at this stage by applying some liquid glue on the inside of the turret to the hinge points. I held the barrel and mantlet in position until the glue "grabbed" enough to hold the weight and then let it set up.

The rear hull details also got some attention. I picked out the rear Notek lenses with Tamiya Clear Green and the brake light lenses with Clear Red. The mufflers were also detailed with a basecoat of non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal followed by a wash of Rust and some dry brushed Burnt Umber. The smoke candle chains were detailed with the same Metalizer Gunmetal to round things out in this department.

Now it's off to watch some football and begin assembling the MK tracks!

No worries Rob, I had a feeling it was the weathering stage you were looking forward to!

Wayne, channeling the inner Homer...priceless!

You know Bill, I was looking at the camo too. Musta had a brain fart again. I've gotten used to your painting sequence that it's a norm. The camo is what I like the most, it's accurate, reminds me of the Pz IV F2, some thing about the two colors I like. I would like to use those colors but not in enamels, you know me. OK what I want to see is the weathering, must have been what I was thinking when I wrote the first post.

Anyhow, this baby looks great Bill.

Rob

Thanks Rob, but, uh, the painting stage is done <nudge nudge> and the camo applied. The weathering stage however is still on the horizon but fast approaching!

Sorry for not posting anything lately Bill, but I have been admiring this build on the sidelines. What can I say, it's another awesome model built to your high standard. This is looking VERY nice so far Bill, but you know the painting stage is what I enjoy the most so get'er done and start that painting.

Rob

Marc,

Appreciate the offer. Will shoot you a PM.

wbill76

After much thought and deliberation, I've decided to use the reference photo below found in Trojca's Sdkfz 141 Pzkpfw III and will attempt to recreate some of the key features shown. Specifically, I will be modifying the fender to remove the forward section and rearranging the gear on the fenders as well.

Interestingly enough, the MK track set box has a photo of a build of this same vehicle replicating everything including the stowage and figures that will also provide some valuable insight. Work is getting ready to start on the upper hull and fenders so this was the right point to make a decision one way or the other!

Bill - don't know if you have access to "Armor" magazine (the Spanish one reprinted by Squadron) but there's a buildup in one of the back issues of that exact vehicle, including sculpting of figures in the poses shown in that shot you have there! I could certainly dig it out if you're interested.

Looking good so far as usual.

Thanks Dave, appreciate the comments and the interest! Hope you had a Merry Christmas as well!

Bill,

A merry belated christmas to you!  I am catching up on recent builds here at FSM.  I've been out of the loop for a bit. 

I am really liking your latest posting.  The Jerry cans are a nice touch.  And as always the attention to the wee details. I've got this one marked so I can keep up on it.

Cheers

Dave

Thanks Brother Tread and a very Merry Christmas to you too!

Merry  Christmas , Bill

I just finished reading your build to date. It was like getting an extra present under the tree.

tread

Thanks Marc, glad you've caught up to this one. Appreciate the comments!

I nearly forgot about this one.  Looks real nice too.  The fender mods will makes one stand out from the crowd.

Thanks Steve and Merry Christmas to you!

Glad you liked the Tiger P, you're right about the size dimensions...it's all in the perspective of the hull vs. the turret that makes it look bigger than it really is.

  Bill even though the site has changed the quality of your wips remain the same; Outstanding!

  I also checked out your Tiger(P) and that thing is super cool. And thanks for doing the side by side. I really thought that the P hull was much longer than the E's. Must be that since the turret is so far foward that it looks longer than it is.

While we were spared the really severe weather here in El Paso that the rest of the plains/rockies got yesterday, it was still relatively cold here in the desert with the temps in the mid-to-high 40s. The wind wasn't very strong though, so that meant I was able to get some paint work done in the garage without freezing in the process.

I started in by applying a primer coat of Model Master enamel Italian Dark Brown. This allowed me to check all the putty work I'd done previously and also provides a nice underlying coat over the kit plastic to make sure I don't leave any bare spots along the way.

This was followed by the base coat of MM enamel Afrika Grunbraun '41, Testors' version of RAL 8000 as called for in the Tropen scheme authorized for the N. Afrika theater. I applied this in multiple mist coats to build it up over the primer coat.

Next came the camo pattern of 1/3 disruptive RAL 7008 in the form of MM enamel Afrika Khakibraun '41. This was applied as the light was fading and I can see there are a couple of thin spots that I need to work on, I'll take care of that tomorrow but the pattern is at least on.

I also worked on the road wheels, including the spares that will mount on the fender and at the "cow catcher" front with the spare track run to be added later. These were primed with the Italian Dark Brown then had the rubber rims air brushed with MM enamel Gunmetal. The inner hubs were air brushed with a custom-mix for the Red Oxide primer using a circle template while the outer hubs were air brushed with the RAL 8000 base coat color to match the hull, also via circle template.

Not us Tony, no snow today! It was cold and rainy yesterday and is just cold today (all relative of course...) but no snow. Must be somewhere else in Texas!

The weather looks like it's going to be good enough to allow for paintwork today so keep your fingers crossed!

Nice build Bill but i'm waiting on the paint job.

Your town was just on the news I think and the snow was flying.

Tony Lee

Thanks Wayne! I'm looking forward to the paint stage as well as this will be the first time I apply a '41 Tropen scheme so I'm breaking some new ground in the process.

Edmund, the Pz III is definitely one of my favorites, 2nd only to the Pz 38t family in fact. The workhorse of the Wehrmacht from 1940 through 1942 until the long-gun Pz IV took over the MBT role, it is often not thought of in those terms and is left in the shadows a bit. Since the older kits require some work anyhow, I always try to individulize them a bit where possible, especially since the Pz IIIs were widely photographed and there's plenty of room for improv!

Bill your man crush on PZ.III's shows through everytime you build one.

I would dare to say it's your favorite vehicle.  Your details look great and Merry Christma Eve Eve!!

Today was another productive day with all major construction completed. Picking up right where I left off, I added the wiring conduit from the siren/indicator light down to the main headlight with 0.5mm diameter solder. This was carefully bent to shape and then glued in place with liquid glue. Once that had dried, I added small retaining brackets using the flexible bits on the Eduard frets that are the connection points for regular PE parts that were bent to a curved shape around a piece of solder with tweezers then glued into place with CA gel.

The remaining element from Step 14 was also dealt with by installing the mount for the antenna swivel arm to the hull side. The kit doesn't provide an antenna, so I clipped off the stub that was molded onto the swivel arm and drilled out a hole with a #72 finger drill and installed a Lion Marc 2m brass antenna with CA gel. To protect the antenna, this was only dry fit for the shot to be sure I had the alignment correct for the mount and will be permanently installed later.

The remaining steps deal with the turret and Step 15 assembles the top and bottom halves along with the hatch hinges and interior frames and turret front plate.

Step 16 adds the interior portion of the gun mount and hinge pin covers and can remain movable after installation if you don't apply glue to the hinge parts E30 and E31 where they mate up with the assembled E25 and E26. I also skipped ahead a bit to Step 20 since I am replacing the gun and mantlet entirely with the Armorscale barrel and resin mantlet. Adding it now is much easier than after all the details were installed and some small surgery was needed on the Armorscale resin mantlet to get it to fit. The back of the resin mantlet has mount points and guides that are designed to work with the newer DML Smart Kit and these all had to be cut down and sanded smooth to allow a proper fit to this older kit's mount parts. The mantlet was glued in place with CA gel and there's sufficient stiffness in the pins to support the weight of the gun so for now I haven't glued it down but will after painting to pose the gun at the desired angle.

Steps 16-18 deal with various details including the turret stowage bin. The bin assembles easily enough but the base is hollow so this needed to be blanked off using sheet styrene  to avoid it being visible once mounted. Some putty work was also needed at the top portions to create the right seamless look.

The rest of the turret details were added as called for in the instructions and everything was going great right up until it came time to add the side hatches. The kit provides some nicely detailed doors and hinges and the doors fit very tightly together. While I was test fitting one side, the smaller half of the hatch pinged off into oblivion...I spent a full hour carefully searching the work bench, shelves, and floor but to no avail. This required a "Plan B" solution which involved removing the hinge points and using the one-piece hatches provided on sprue F and marked as not for use instead. The detail isn't as good but at least I still have hatches!

The turret lifting eyes were the only parts that required some modifications in these steps...the kit parts aren't really hooks as they are molded as solid knobs. I opened them up by drilling a hole in their centers with a #76 finger drill and the carefully creating the "hook" by cutting into the hole with the tips of my sprue cutters and then carefully removing the base to create the hook.

A test fit to the hull showed everything is playing nice together and the turret fits well into the ring opening provided. I had originally planned to fit a small canvas dust cover to the gun barrel but have decided against that as I don't want to cover up the nice detail provided by the Armorscale barrel. That means this one's ready for paint as the only other thing remaining is the track assembly and I can do that while the paint is curing.

My pleasure Tony and a very Merry Christmas to you and Catherine! I've enjoyed your contributions to the forum as well, may 2010 be a prosperous modelling New Year!

Bill

Now that is what I call boo coo progress Bill.

Bill I want to wish you and the family a Very Merry Christmas. Thanks for the informative builds you've given us this year.

More importantly, Thanks for the helping hand you given me all through the year my friend.

Tony and Catherine

Merry Christmas to you too Edmund! Glad to hear you've been following along, I've been enjoying your LRDG build as well...'tis the season for desert builds I guess!

Eric, sorry to hear you are out of commission but hope you will get some build time in after the New Year! Thanks for the comments and for following along.

Looking smart Bill. Lucky you get a little play time. I'm out of commission until after New Years.

Merry Christmas Billiam!

I have been remiss on responding to your posts as of late.  i read them of course like a good newspaper column but then I get too busy to post a reply.  THIS ENDS NOW!

Your Jerry can rack is sublime and your PE is deviine!

Love PZ.III's  at this stage they look like beetles without their road wheels

I started an extended Christmas vacation yesterday so was able to get some more time in on this one as a result. Work continued with the fenders and focused in on Steps 10-14.

To begin with, the instructions are not quite accurate in terms of the tool layout particularly on the left hand fender to represent the stowage as seen on a standard G. The instructions call for the jack block to be installed at the front behind the Notek light when in fact it belongs on the rear fender and the jack's position as well as the fire extinguisher's are not placed correctly on the second-to-last section. In that case, the jack should be moved forward to the point that the "claw" end overhangs the fender support rod slightly and the fire extinguisher moved to the rear of the same panel instead of the front. These mods are easily done without too much trouble, just a matter of filling the mount holes with putty and clipping off the pins and gluing the parts in the right positions. I replaced the kit-supplied FE with a better detailed spare from a DML Smart Kit from the spares bin.

Other modifications were called for in terms of removing the entire first full section of the fender to replicate the missing portion seen in the reference photo for this particular vehicle. This was done using sprue cutters and then carefully trimming down the remainder with a #11 blade in order to leave the mount tabs for the fender support in place at the junction of the lost section and remaining fender. This vehicle also had a spare road wheel mounted next to the tool box so this required moving the S-hooks forward one section and placing them next to the wire cutters. I used some generic Griffon clamps and "clean" S-hooks without molded on clamps also drawn from the spares bin. The photo also shows that the rear fenders were removed, so this was also cut down using sprue cutters and the stub plate added courtesy of spare parts from the DML Pz III N Smart Kit.

Other kit parts were also replaced with better detailed items including the jack block with one from a Tamiya Pz III L, the rear Notek light and spare road wheel from the DML Pz III-N Smart Kit, and wire cutters from the spares bin (these had to be trimmed slightly to fit the Griffon clamp). 

The fender braces were added and then the fender was installed to the hull. I also found some spare wing-nuts while digging around in the spares bin and added a couple of those to the jack mount for a little extra detail. After reviewing the exposed area of the hull around the drive sprocket, I decided to use some putty and add a little bit of weld detail to the plate joins there as well.

The right side fender was not quite as complicated an area to work with...although it too needed some modifications. The rear mud flap was removed to match the left side and the stub plate added. The brake light was replaced with a modified spare part from the DML Pz III N kit that had better detail, ditto for the width indicator light and siren at the front of the fender. The front mud flap was carefully cut down and removed as well and the additional tool box added behind the siren/indicator light using the parts available on the F sprue as parts 20 and 21. These are marked as "not for use" but were commonly seen on Gs and Hs, so I added it for greater accuracy. 

The axe was left off in favor of adding a field-installed jerry can rack...although that side of the vehicle isn't visible in the photo, this type of rack was a common feature in N. Afrika vehicles, particularly the 8th Regt. So even though this is a 5th Regt vehicle, I took a little license and decided to add it. The kit provided the jerry cans already and the rack was scratch built using strips from an Eduard PE fret cut to size and glued together with CA gel. The starter crank had its molded on clamps removed and Griffon clamps installed in their place. Last but not least, the antenna tray and supports were assembled and installed to complete the fender layout for the time being. The shovel will be added later after painting.

The braces were then added and the fender installed to the hull. Once it sets up, I will add the radio antenna mount and swivel arm to round things out and move on to the turret.

Thanks Tony...don't remind me about the Cowboys! I have every confidence they will fall apart in the Dec/Jan timeframe, never fear.

Nice work my friend but Dallas won Saturday night.

Tony Lee

More progress was made today although not as much as I had expected and I blame it all on the NFL! The Niners game got moved to an afternoon slot due to all the snow in Philadelphia and that totally wrecked my day schedule plans. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

I did manage to complete Step 8 despite losing quite a bit of time assembling the Voyager smoke candle rack only to not be able to use it in the end. The rod that Voyager provided that is crucial to securing all the parts together was the wrong diameter and all I had was some brass rod to replace it with. That turned out to be too stiff and ripped out some of the delicate parts while I was trying to assemble it so I salvaged the smoke candles themselves and the chain and mated that up with the kit parts. The kit doesn't include the candles so that's the critical part to add here anyway IMHO.

I also installed the engine deck hatches and the Tropen vent covers along with the lifting hooks for the rear deck. Last but not least, I installed the crank starter port cover using part C14 instead of the kit directed A43. A43 is the wrong style for the G but fortunately the right part is available on the sprues, just not called out properly.

Step 9 was also finished today, this called for the installation of the side air intakes and the front tow points. The side intakes had a little bit of flash that needed to be removed on the insides and some sanding was necessary to smooth down the tops to allow the Aber PE screens to fit properly. The screens were added with some CA gel and the intakes installed into position.

The front tow points required a little bit of work before they could be installed. They had ejector marks on their outer faces that needed putty and sanding to correct and also some sanding at the top to remove the join seam that would be visible there. The points installed without issue and I went ahead and added the front headlights as well even those aren't called for until Step 12 to round things out.

Didn't get to the fenders yet since those will require a lot of rework and shuffling of gear, that's up next on the agenda.

Progress was good today, I started in on the upper hull since that was the next item of business in the instructions. The upper hull foundation is actually that of a StuG III so to convert it over to a Pz III hull there are several modifications that have to be done. Step 5 outlines most of these although there are some that are also called out in Step 8 that I went ahead and did at this point in time just because it's easier to do it now vs. later. These modifications include adding the hull side panels appropriate for the Pz III but these have several bolt heads that have to be shaved off as well as some locator marks that aren't used on both sides. This was easily taken care of with a sharp #11 blade and a little bit of sanding. At the rear hull there are some indentations on both sides that need to be filled with putty and there are 6 holes that need to be opened up in the engine deck hatches to take the Tropen cooling vent covers in a later step. Last but not least, the triangular stops for the engine hatches also needed to be removed and sanded down.

For the right side hull panel, two holes have to be opened up to take the armored port cover there for the hull gunner's position, unfortunately I wasn't paying too close attention and opened up the two holes at the rear of the panel instead of the two at the front...so the wrong holes were carefully puttied over and the right holes opened and the port installed. The front hull brake access hatch panel was also added at this point to complete the step.

Step 6 adds the hull roof and the superstructure front plate and both of these require modification to conform to the G layout. The roof needs the two corner lifting hook mounts removed and the indentations for the hook itself puttied and sanded. Three holes need to be opened up for the turret splash ring to be added later. The front plate requires some significant surgery as it doesn't have the square opening for the MG34 ball mount. The opening is outlined on the back side but it has to be cut out, so I drilled out small holes in each of the corners and carefully removed the square with a razor saw. The ball mount was added to the plate and the glue allowed to set up.

Before I installed the plate to the hull, I test fit the brass Armorscale MG34 barrel and needed to enlarge the opening for the barrel to install properly. This was done with a combination of a drill bit and pin vise and a round needle file to get the diameter required both front and back on the mount until the barrel fit snugly. The G featured the perforated type of cooling jacket and the kit part just didn't have the level of detail needed to do this justice and I checked the length of the barrel against the scale plans in Panzer Tracts 3-2 before gluing into place with CA gel. Due to the tight space behind the plate, I had to trim down the rear portion of the barrel a couple of mm with side cutters so that the plate and MG would line up properly. 

I added the armored visor for the driver in the up position and then glued the hull roof into place using liquid glue to get a good join along the perimeter. While Step 6 also calls for the installation of the bolt-on armor for the glacis plate, I decided to wait to do that until I added the nose plate and the upper and lower hull were joined together to insure proper alignment of all the various components.

That led me to Step 7 which joins the upper and lower hull components together. The mating surfaces aren't large between them and some flash on the lower hull needed to be trimmed away in different places to get a good join. I used regular glue and a series of rubber bands to secure them together and left it to dry for a couple of hours.  I also added the bolt on panels for the glacis and nose as well as the armored covers for the brake vents.

Once the join was set, I removed the bandages and the patient came through just fine. The remaining items from Step 7 were added in the form of the superstructure front bolt-on plate, splash guard for the turret, and lifting hooks for the hull roof. The bolt-on plate fit generally well but some small gaps were the roof tabs met the hull roof needed some putty to fill them and simulate the welded on nature of the connection.

Next up will be working on the rear hull and fenders!

After much thought and deliberation, I've decided to use the reference photo below found in Trojca's Sdkfz 141 Pzkpfw III and will attempt to recreate some of the key features shown. Specifically, I will be modifying the fender to remove the forward section and rearranging the gear on the fenders as well.

Interestingly enough, the MK track set box has a photo of a build of this same vehicle replicating everything including the stowage and figures that will also provide some valuable insight. Work is getting ready to start on the upper hull and fenders so this was the right point to make a decision one way or the other!

Thanks Stephen! Sorry to take away time from your bench as a distraction!

Looking forward to this one Bill. Only problem is with all this time following your builds, I hardly have time to build any of my own!

-Stephen

Rob, Nate, thanks for the comments and interest in this project.

Lookin good Bill. I'm following along with interest!

Nate

Those old kits still have lots of potential Bill, especial;y for wrecks

Making great progress Bill,looks like you have everything under control with the old timer.

Rob

Thanks Guney! It's not the first older Pz III kit I've built by DML so I already know the usual pitfalls with the series.

Good luck Bill...I'll be watching...

I had a feeling you'd like this one Wayne!

Thanks Terry, glad to have you along for the ride!

Good Luck o this one Bill, I'm sure it will be up to your usual standards.

Terry.

I started work on this project yesterday and between then and today managed to make some decent headway. Since this is an older kit, the parts clean-up is higher with mold seams, flash, etc. taking more time to resolve than you would expect with a modern kit but nothing that basic model skills can't handle.

I started where most kits start with Step 1 dealing with all of the road wheels, the return rollers, sprockets, and idlers. The road wheel halves and return roller halves were left un-assembled to make it easier to paint and detail them later. Each of the halves had its mold seam sanded down with a sanding twig on the rubber portions and the external half of the return rollers had a prominent ejector mark on their faces. These were carefully removed using the tip of a round needle file since they are in a particularly tough spot to work in.

Moving on to Step 2, this deals with the lower hull and suspension. Since the hull is one that DML uses/re-uses in several Pz III/StuG III kits, there are some surgical modifications necessary to make it suitable for a III-G and the instructions call these out. The first return roller mount on either side that is molded as part of the hull has to be removed and replaced with an add-on part to put all the return rollers evenly spaced and level with each other in order to achieve the correct early Pz III arrangement. I cut down the molded-on mount with sprue cutters and then carefully removed the rest with a #11 knife, finally sanding down the remnants until the hull was smooth. Using a metal ruler as a guide, the new mount was installed at the correct height and spacing. One of the mount holes that isn't used was filled with putty and sanded down and I also removed the molded-on locator line for the crew escape hatches with a micro-chisel and sanded it down before installing the hatches. Last but not least, the mount post for the final drive housings was cut down in order to make use of the MK parts that allow the sprocket to rotate instead of installing static as the kit parts are designed.

Speaking of the MK parts, I replaced the final drive housing with the MK parts and adapters and added the sprockets to insure everything would rotate freely before installing them to the hull.

The rest of the suspension was then installed as called for in Step 2. The instructions have an error in that parts B13 and B14 are reversed in terms of which side they install to but that was easily worked out and corrected. For the idler, I carefully assembled the idler mount so that the tension arm rod could remain movable and didn't glue the base of the mount to the hull. This allows the idler mount to be slightly movable and will come in handy later on when working with the MK tracks to get just the right tension arrangement when those are mounted.

Step 2 also calls for the installation of the rear hull plate and the air exhaust vents. These installed smoothly and without major issues and I added the rear mufflers as well. The exhaust pipes were molded partially hollow but I decided to drill these out a little deeper using a micro drill bit and pin vise to give them a more realistic appearance. The rear tow pintles were also added and these had some ejector marks on their outward faces that had to be carefully removed before installation.

Step 3 calls for the road wheels to be installed and Step 4 for the tracks so both of these will be skipped for now. The next steps will deal with the upper hull but that will have to wait until next weekend!

Thanks guys, appreciate the interest in this one. The older kits often require a bit more work but can still be built up into nice vehicles with just a little TLC along the way!

deafpanzer

I am looking forward to follow this.  I don't think I have seen this kit before... is it an older DML kit?  I am still learning how to use the new forum.  I see '2 Followers' at the top... what do I need to do to make myself a follower? 

DML has an older series of kits, called the "Imperial Series" that have kit numbers starting with 90xx and cover a wide range of subjects. For the Pz III family, the kits have the older multi-media Gunze Sangyo kits as their origin and DML swapped out those multi-media parts for styrene. These kits were produced in the '90s and are still bumping around but are OOP. They can usually be had for under $30 but aren't the same molding/quality standard as the modern DML kits, so you have to be aware of that going in.

As for your second question about how to become a "follower", first you must choose a kit from your stash, go out to your backyard and build a small wooden pyre 2 ft. square, no more and no less sayeth the....oh wait, that's something else entirely! The "follower" function of the forums is a pretty neat one, it's a subscription tool that allows you to receive emails whenever someone posts to that thread. To do this you need to have the email notices turned on in your profile and, once you do that, at the top of the thread you'll see a button that says something like "send me emails when someone replies" and then you'll become a "follower".

wing_nut

OH FUN! I'll be watching.

I got an Imperial Series kit as a freebie and was wondering what that was.  Older not as well engineered and detailed kits I assume.

Marc, depending on the kit some of them need more work than others. The parts count is usually lower than the Smart kits and of course they don't have things like Magic tracks or PE as a rule although the Pz III kits usually do include PE steel grilles for the intakes. As I mentioned above, they can be built up with a little TLC and look great so long as you know what you're in for at the outset.

Here it is not even winter yet and a lot of us are already thinking about warmer weather.

Go Bill, you've got my attention.                                                                                                                          Tony Lee

Wow , no rest for the wicked. LOL Right onto the next project, I'll be watching as always.This should be an interesting build, I like when you work your magic on an older kit.

Bill,

I am looking forward to watching this build.

Cheers

Dave

OH FUN! I'll be watching.

I got an Imperial Series kit as a freebie and was wondering what that was.  Older not as well engineered and detailed kits I assume.

Bill,

Classic!   Work your magic.

Rick

I am looking forward to follow this.  I don't think I have seen this kit before... is it an older DML kit?  I am still learning how to use the new forum.  I see '2 Followers' at the top... what do I need to do to make myself a follower? 

I'll say it again Bill..........Your a MACHINE!!

Wbill, cant wait to see this one get rolling.

Bob

Very Cool Bill I have almost bought this kit dozens of times at shows I am really looking forward to watching this one unfold. 

Excellent job on your Tiger Sir it was a blast to watch you build it!! 

Oh, I've got this bad boy in the stash and was considering it as one of my next builds. I've been hankering for a DAK build and am anxious, scared is the real word, to try the hair spray method on it. Bookmarking this one. Mine will be OOB though.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with that old kit Bill

Rob