At the end of WW2 Norway inherited a bunch of German equipment, among them several Panzer IIIs. Three of them (and a Stug III F/8) ended up with the garrison of Bardufoss airfield in northern Norway:
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
Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
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Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
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Re: Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
Good to see this one being built Philipp and once again you have an interesting back story to the build.
Looks like the Academy kit is worth picking up.
Vincent
Looks like the Academy kit is worth picking up.
Vincent
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Re: Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
Great subject! Looking forward to more.
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Re: Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
Thank you Gentlemen
I have a soft spot for WW2 stuff after WW2. Some of my future projects are a Polish IV J and a French Panther A from the early 50s
Here's the current state of affairs....as you can see, not much has happened
Since the kit has a lot of locator holes in the fenders and the Norwegian tanks were apparently stripped of most fittings I sanded off the (very nicely moulded) tread pattern and put these etched covers on that came with a Voyager etch set.
Most of the time was spent on the tracks, which were donated by a Border Model IV J. That kit has both individual and link&lenght tracks, so you get one free set to spare. All of the tanks at Bardufoss had late type tracks fitted, otherwise I might have used the good looking kit tracks.
About halfway into assembly I noticed these aren't made from standard polystyrene but rather some sort of ABS plastic. So you can't glue them, but the glue still seeps into the gaps and fixes the track pins in place. Rather unorthodox, but it works
Philipp
I have a soft spot for WW2 stuff after WW2. Some of my future projects are a Polish IV J and a French Panther A from the early 50s
Here's the current state of affairs....as you can see, not much has happened
Since the kit has a lot of locator holes in the fenders and the Norwegian tanks were apparently stripped of most fittings I sanded off the (very nicely moulded) tread pattern and put these etched covers on that came with a Voyager etch set.
Most of the time was spent on the tracks, which were donated by a Border Model IV J. That kit has both individual and link&lenght tracks, so you get one free set to spare. All of the tanks at Bardufoss had late type tracks fitted, otherwise I might have used the good looking kit tracks.
About halfway into assembly I noticed these aren't made from standard polystyrene but rather some sort of ABS plastic. So you can't glue them, but the glue still seeps into the gaps and fixes the track pins in place. Rather unorthodox, but it works
Philipp
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Re: Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
A bit more progress....about 95% of construction should be done by now:
In the post-war years the Norwegians apparently used British uniforms for their tank crews. The chap above came from a Tasca Sherman The Fliegerbeschussgerät on the cupola will receive a covered MG42....once I've figured out how to made one
Philipp
In the post-war years the Norwegians apparently used British uniforms for their tank crews. The chap above came from a Tasca Sherman The Fliegerbeschussgerät on the cupola will receive a covered MG42....once I've figured out how to made one
Philipp
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Re: Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
What did you use for the tow cable clamps?
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Re: Academy Panzer III N, Norway, 1950s
These are from an old Eduard set I had left from a previous build.
No progress I'm afraid, I'm about to move and have everything packed away for the next few weeks
Philipp
No progress I'm afraid, I'm about to move and have everything packed away for the next few weeks
Philipp
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