This and the following photos are from the "Pz III in Norway" group on Facebook. Have a look, there are many more.
Once more modern tanks became available in the late 50s the three tanks were encased in concrete to serve as gun bunkers. At some point they became completely covered in soil and were forgotten...
...until a few years ago, when someone dug them up again:
As a fan of the weird and unusual, I wanted to build one of them. I picked "yellow 1", the troop commander's tank:
This tank is a hybrid, with a III M hull, a III J turret and a set of even older III E/F/G idler wheels.
A little while ago I got my hands on Academy's new Panzer III L "Battle of Kursk" kit, which comes with everything you need to build any late Panzer III from J to N. And after a lazy weekend, I got this:
I've used the kit's idlers for the moment, but I can loot the other version from another kit. I also need to replace the kit's tracks with the later version with ice cleats.
Overall fit was very good, just like on their Panzer IV I build a while ago. Some areas need a bit of filler, like the engine deck and the gun mantlet. But overall it was a very enjoyable experience....so far.
The fenders will need a bit more effort, most importantly I need to close the locating holes for the tools. I've ordered some Blue Stuff to make a mould of the thread pattern, but if that doesn't work out I'll resort to photoetch instead.
Philipp
