Tamiya's stug III B *WIP* FINISHED

Biffa - love those older builds. Don't think I've seen those before. 

Looking forward to more progress on this monster!!! 

Interesting conversation guys and one that gets raised often, personally speaking i believe that it is hard to prove what is the right or wrong shade/colour given timeframes and the conditions vehicles were exposed to, also i do think colours would vary depending on their source and application, so that said i tend to try different looks on my builds depending on what i think will look cool and not worry so much about is thought to be correct but still an interesting debate nonetheless,

here is the stug III C/D i did with a blueish tinted grey

here is a PZ II i did with the more black shade

with this one im not decided yet but might try the more black shade just to be different from the earlier stug i did.

A big update soon as the build is almost finished just a few small bits to add and thanks again everyone for the comments.  

Hi Doog, yup that was definatly one of those "what was i thinking" moments lol and definatly proves the benefits of posting ones progress so it got caught before the wheels and tracks had been added.  

wbill76 wrote:

tigerman wrote: I thought the blue was more myth than fact. I always thought it to be dark-grey or thought I heard it so. Color period photos suggest it's a dark grey, no blue tint, so dark that it's almost black depending on the quality of the photo. On the second photo, realize that the panzer crewman uniforms themselves are black in terms of the shade/contrast similarity.

I'll try to post some pics of the "Leningrad StuG" tonight which shows the blue tint...

tigerman wrote:

I thought the blue was more myth than fact. I always thought it to be dark-grey or thought I heard it so.

Color period photos suggest it's a dark grey, no blue tint, so dark that it's almost black depending on the quality of the photo. Vehicle color on subjects recovered from bogs or lakes is somewhat suspect given the influence of chemicals or minerals in the water/sediment depending on the location and paint. Not uncommon for a bleaching effect to occur under various conditions.

On the second photo, realize that the panzer crewman uniforms themselves are black in terms of the shade/contrast similarity.

Glad you got the info about the suspension in time to save this baby, Ron! When I was just reading through it here, I went "Whoa!" when I saw the first pics! Good thing that you got straightened out with it! (PHEW!)

Looking good so far! 

dood_dood wrote:

I think we share a common strategy.  When I'm a little rusty, or just tired from a few complex builds in a row, I've been going to the new Tamiya stuff to recharge my batteries.  No headaches, quick build-up, yada yada. When I built this beauty, I really liked the blue tinted gray on the box art.  I tried to duplicate with 50% Tamiya Field Blue and 40% Dark Gray, 10% flat white mix.  I liked the shade so much, I've used it on several other panzers, but it looks best on my stug III B.  Good luck with yours, its a good kit, and builds pretty fast too.

I think we share a common strategy.  When I'm a little rusty, or just tired from a few complex builds in a row, I've been going to the new Tamiya stuff to recharge my batteries.  No headaches, quick build-up, yada yada.

When I built this beauty, I really liked the blue tinted gray on the box art.  I tried to duplicate with 50% Tamiya Field Blue and 40% Dark Gray, 10% flat white mix.  I liked the shade so much, I've used it on several other panzers, but it looks best on my stug III B.  Good luck with yours, its a good kit, and builds pretty fast too.

thanks fella's, Manny i agree about the magic tracks i love them, it took me all of about 30 minutes per side to get these on normally having to cut then and clean them up its 4 times that which leaves more time to build other stuff, and they fit the Tamiya sprocket just a tad snug i may sand the sprocket a little before painting because after paint they could be tight but all said it was a painless experience :)

Moved on a little.

i got the right hand tracks on and began the interior

at this point i attached the upper hull to test for fit and it is perfect i will leave it taped on for now but everything will be disassembles for painting

Whew! Great save. I'm glad to see you back at the bench my friend.

Oh yeah! Nice save on the StuG!

I wonder why DML doesn't sell their Magic Tracks as a separate item (talk about giving MK a run for their money)? Looks like they fit the StuG just fine...looking good so far.

Good catch Eric not sure what i was thinking but im sure glad you were on the ball, and after some tugging, pulling, pushing, bending and welding all is well once more, thank you and the gang for getting me back on the straight and narrow heh,

Ben i built the Dragon stug III C/D which might be the one your thinking of these two are very similar and i love the squat look they have, (not quite as squat as i almost had) i have already used the griffon tool clasps on other models i just showed a unopen pack for the pics, i must say i really like them they are much easier to use and i got mine from luckymodel and concidering how many you get in a pack they are very cheap i will show some closeups when i get the that stage so you can see.     

After getting the suspension arms fixed i added the wheels and sprockets etc, them began on the tracks.

...maybe some liquid cement will soften the joints enough to reposition them???

That would be the way to go.

Otherwise, a really ruff and jarring ride. 

tigerman wrote:

That's interesting about the arms being level. I had to check my Tamiya Pz III L and they are definitely not level. I know it's a later variant, but I wonder.

wbill76 wrote:

tigerman wrote: That's interesting about the arms being level. I had to check my Tamiya Pz III L and they are definitely not level. I know it's a later variant, but I wonder. Ron, Tigerman's on to something here. The suspension arms shouldn't sit level, they should be at an angle, regardless of III chassis variant. It should look something like this: I don't know if you can correct it or not, but the way you've got them mounted has the suspension fully compressed with the suspension arms up against the bump stops on every station.

Thanks for concurring to my concern. I hope Ron can fix them.

tigerman wrote:

That's interesting about the arms being level. I had to check my Tamiya Pz III L and they are definitely not level. I know it's a later variant, but I wonder.

Ron,

Tigerman's on to something here. The suspension arms shouldn't sit level, they should be at an angle, regardless of III chassis variant. It should look something like this:

I don't know if you can correct it or not, but the way you've got them mounted has the suspension fully compressed with the suspension arms up against the bump stops on every station.

Glad to see you back to the bench Ron.

I thought you build already that Tamiya Stug ?

Can you let us know how is that Griffon German tool handle works for you ?

---
Ben

Hi Guys, another update and i have to say this is a very nice kit and i couldnt have picked a better one to get back into the swing of things with.

ps1, Bill is dead on about the tracks and it is a pity that dragon dont sell these they would be a winner in my books.

step 2, this consists of the suspension arms and can be built as "workable" but i have decided to fix mine in place, a beautiful fit all round.

step 3, attaching the rear plate, track tensioners and the rest of the suspension.

A few pics of what it looks like this far.

Thanks for checking it out and commenting.

Off to a good start Ron!

ps1,

DML doesn't sell their Magic Tracks separately, Ron must've sourced them from someone else or used them from a DML kit that had the kit-supplied tracks replaced.