After a disastrous screwup on my Revell Henschel 33 D, I decided to go from wheeled to tracked.
This is Sovereign’s 1988 StuG III, Ausf. C&D.
I’ve picked up some aftermarket bits in the hopes of giving this build some additional details.
Unfortunately, the kit did not come with instructions, but looking at the markings on the lower hull, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get the running gear installed correctly. That, and there are plenty of pictures online and instructions of other StuG III’s in Scalemates should I get stuck.
The upper and lower hull are one piece with the inside a rather rounded (from the pouring) empty void. The resin tracks included are fair at best with several runs having small pieces broken, hence the Quick Tracks. The Tamiya accessory set is to replace some of the missing bits for the upper hull and the PE is for added detail where needed. The kit did not come to me with decals, so I’ve added the Star Decals set.
Let the (hopefully) fun begin.
Mike
p.s. Instead of working on a shelf queen (the 33 D) or starting a new kit, maybe I should finish the Schwimmwagen for the Mr Tamiya Tribute Campaign. Nah.
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First white metal bits on.
Only one bit of surgery was to the lower glacis - removing the pour plug. I’ll need to pull out my little battery powered sander to get that little bit of “lip” still showing.
I have had to clean up some of the “over pour(?)” to a couple of spots and use some CA glue to repair the cracks in the front fender (to body) areas. There are a couple bracket/fender hinges that have broken. I’m hoping the PE set has some replacements and if not, some really thin styrene sheet should fix that.
So far, cleanup of the white metal parts has been minimal. I’ve used some 600-grit sandpaper to smooth/clean/give a grip for the CA to the flat parts of the bits that go on the lower hull (running gear related).
Mike
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so i remember seeing the master that John Tassel had built . it was a brass Master and was just stunning , he was a insperation . RIP John sadly missed .
great kit by the way .
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That would be something impressive to see. I’m liking this kit so far. I haven’t gone through the accessory’s baggie yet - the one with the OVM and such. I know the only thing that wasn’t included were the “S-hooks” that the Tamiya set has.
Mike
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John use to make is figuers out of pewter and solder stuff on , i saw a Persian Knight done for verlinden and every flake of scale of the armour was soldered on using a dimmer switch , he taiught me how to use plasticine and milli putty 50/50. its cheaper has a filler also great for carving , hence the inside of your model was filled with just that. he taught me how to use oils to weather and loads more stuff .
The 222 series command with a tarpaulin , top is plasticine and filler and the rope is wire and to give some detail rubbed with a file .
look forwward to seeing it finished Ossie
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Getting the running gear supports installed. Next up will be the shocks and bumpers. The roadwheel arms are not yet glued.
Mike
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All of the “undercarriage” parts have been attached along with a couple of other upper hull bits.
I’ll pull the roadwheel arms off for ease of handling so I can repair a couple of the fender hinges and add more of the upper hull “permanent” parts (front vision port, lights, shackle mounts, etc.
Mike
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This is what happens when I get up a 3 AM.
It’s hard to see in the picture, but the Aber set comes with PE for the lights above the front shackles. Of course, Aber wants you to BUILD the hinges and I don’t have microscopic fingers, so I pulled out my set of Eduard Strap Hinges, part number 35245 (super handy!) and cut two short pieces and installed those. If you click the pic and zoom in you can see a bit better.
All of the kit supplied white metal upper hull parts are attached (except the antenna mount) along with some of the PE. The kit did not come with an antenna or rack for the antenna. I’m debating about making one as the PE set does have the rack brackets.
I’ve been bouncing back and forth between online line drawings and the instructions from Bronco’s Ausf. E. If you happen to notice anything wrong, feel free to let me know.
I’ve been seeing what looks like a “shot trap” inside the area where the barrel mounts - I’ll scratch one of those and add that. And….I need to fix/replace that broken angle bracket on the left rear of the bottom picture.
Something else I’ve noticed about the StuG’s and their spare roadwheel sets - some pictures and/or kit instructions show three threaded rods attached to the fenders and the spares slip over those and then secured by nuts. Others seem to show one central rod with the spare placed over that and a central “cap” over the rod and held down with a nut. Is this the difference between the various Ausf. models? I’ll have to look in my box of goodies and see if I have either some nuts or bolts that I can use instead of the rod or rods.
I think that after I fix that bracket, it’s primer time! And still having a good time, even tho it was stupid early.
Mike
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Primer!
Pretty much everything that’s attached to the upper hull is added, minus the clamps for the tools. I’ll be using some resin printed clamps from Trex for those. Once I have the OVM laid out and clamp placement set, I’ll add them. I did find that some of the OVM don’t want to “fit” where they’re supposed to go, so some positionings will be “Builder’s Choice.” 
Drive sprockets, idlers, and roadwheel mounts have also been primed. The roadwheels have been sanded (yep, white metal will get seam lines too) but I still have to do the return rollers.
Oops. I forgot to fix that rear bracket…so that still needs to be done.
I had some Tichy-Train rivets that I used for the spare roadwheel mounts. They look the part enough for me.
I can tell you, after working on this resin/white metal version of the StuG, I’d really love to get high quality stubby-barreled StuG Ausf. ?? with interior and build that straight from the box (with only, maybe, AM tracks).
Mike
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Up again at 3:30 am, but had to wait - my wife would not be happy with the compressor running!
I used MRP Tank Grey for the StuG. First time using MRP and I’m quite pleased - smooth and ready right out of the bottle.
LOL, one of these days I’ll remember to fix that rear bracket!!
Mike
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The roadwheels and return rollers are ready for primer. Typical sanding of the edges was required to remove the slight seam lines. The two on the left have the Tichy Train rivets installed.
Mike
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The roadwheels and return rollers are primed and ready for paint tomorrow.
I pulled out the set of Quick Tracks and found that the tracks are about 2mm too narrow to fit the drive sprockets from the kit. So, I relooked at the resin link-and-length the kit provided and will give those a shot. I repaired a couple links and will need to clean up a few more. I’ve not used resin tracks like this before, but I’ve got a decent idea of how I’ll proceed.
If that fails, then I’ll look to see if I still have a set of rubberband tracks or worst case, I’ll file down the insides of the sprockets and try to make that work.
Mike
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A bit more painting today. I’ll flip them around later and give them their final coat.
The more I look at the MRP Tank Grey, I am wondering if it’s too dark compared to a couple of other German Grey vehicles I’ve painted. 
I’ll post a comparative picture later.
Mike
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A little painting update. The roadwheels and return rollers are all painted. The next step is to make sure the torsion arm ends are sanded down so the roadwheels fit properly (test fitting found some minor issues) and then attach those to the arms. Some things are a little loose, and white metal bends easily, so I need to take great care in making sure things align properly. After that, I guess it’s time to try out these link-and-length resin tracks.
Mike
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I’m about to set the road wheels (roadwheels?) in place and I need to make sure that I have them positioned properly. This line drawing, like most I’ve found, show the center of the hub just below the bottom of the hull. I imagine this is correct, so that’s how I plan to place them.
Mike
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I created a little jig (thin block of wood with a tongue depressor to get the extra height) to set the torsion arm/road wheel height. The arms are glued, but the road wheels are not. There will be some “depth” adjustments made to each arm/wheel set to make sure they are centered and spaced evenly. Once the initial CA glue has fully set, I’ll add more to the inside where the pin come through.
Some touch up and detail paint will need to be done in there.
I will also create a small “block” to go under the spare road wheels to get them level.
Mike
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Starting a new kit is always satisfying,
finishing a shelf queen though …
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After a break from the bench, I decided to give the resin link-in-length a try. Started out pretty rough, then figured it out, sort of.
A little help from the heat gun and then I realized I had the tracks going the wrong direction. Started to remove them and came away with pieces. So, done there.
The tracks from a Tamiya Pz. IV have been getting flattened for the last week and again, the heat gun helped.
I’m still quite PO’d about the workable resin tracks not fitting the sprocket. I’ll let the Tamiya rubberband tracks rest in this position for a while before I cut them to length. Right now the only things for the running gear that are glued are the road wheels. It shouldn’t be too difficult to remove, prime, and paint.
In the meantime, work on the OVM can go forward.
I did add a little bit of square styrene (top of the rear fender) to raise the spare road wheels above the fender supports.
Mike
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Starting to attach the tracks…a little bit at a time.
Mike
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First side of the tracks are done. The tracks came from an old Tamiya Panzer IV.
I’ve found that when I removed the tubes, the track likes to go flat. I have a box of “T” pins that I’ll use (pretty heavy duty) - drill a tight-fitting hole, trim the T pin to length, prime them and insert them from the inside out. A little track primer and some dust/dirt and they should be “invisible.” At least, that’s the plan.
Mike
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