Panzer III based vehicles

[Philipp Gross]

I'm glad to hear it's not usable as a potentially lethal weapon then

If it's any consolation, the wheels on the M50 have quite a lot of flash too...and the plastic is hard enough to cut diamonds I suppose

Philipp

[Gary Boxall]

Lots of clean up needed with these parts - especially annoying seams lines around the drive sprockets teeth There are also some pretty heavy join lines between parts to contend with after assembly - nothing a bit of Mr Surfacer can't solve though Rather bizarre are the PE rings which are used on the idler wheels. On previous kits, these have always been one piece - Dragon, in their infinite wisdom, have changed this to 3 separate arcs to make up one ring Very odd indeed



Gary

[Gary Boxall]

Lower hull tub has its torsion bars added...





Raoul may be able to answer this but there were a couple of odd 'patches' on either side of the tub where the real idler wheel stub axles are. Almost as if a section was removed and a new one added? Assuming it is down to the tooling being modified from another III hull? I just sanded down the edges to make the patches 'disappear'.

Gary

[Rod Dumouchel]

Since I helped goad Raoul into also building his Taska/Asuka M4A3E2 I am going to build a Panzer III as well. These are the panzer III kits I have in my stash I'll let Raoul pick the one I build.



Regards,

Rod

[Gary Boxall]

Why not all 4 Rod?

More progress. Swing arms and shock absorbers fitted.



Dragon conveniently provide small locating pins on the swing arm guide brackets to ensure level alignment and these an easily be cut off if you wish to articulate the suspension when placing on an uneven base etc. Won't work for front and rear ones due to shock absorbers though Aber do make a fantastic brass set. Here's pics from a previous III build when I used them...









Gary

[Rod Dumouchel]

Why not all 4 Rod?
Gary

So that would be one a month for 5 months. That may be doable for you 2 is going to be tough enough

Regards,

Rod

[John Everett]

Love the brass shocks, Gary. Are you planning to "articulate" why you chose those over the kit parts?

I began the StuG blog by discovering that the instructions had gone missing.. Chris saved the day with a link to a set online.

Did wheels. Ate marshmallows. Used my cordless drill because I'm lazy. Even tried to roast marshmallows using the drill.......bad idea.



Blue tack putty and a sanding pad. Does fast work on wheels.

[Justin Wooding]

Looks like the Pz.III. camp is holding it's own against the Shermans. Nice builds gang, and Steve, good going with your full resin kit. I know you will give it the TLC it deserves

[Gary Boxall]

John - the brass parts aren't used here - they're from a previous build I did back on MA. Just showed them for interest

Woody - don't worry, changing back to the Sherman now


Not quite following the instructions at this stage as I've learnt from previous Dragon III kits. Assembled the idler wheel adjustment unit and fixed in place minus the shroud part B2(B3).



I add those parts next as I find it much easier to line everything up and get a good finish. As the cover is one piece it needs a little sanding but nothing major. Tow brackets are added along with the exhausts which have their tailpipes drilled out to a more acceptable scale thickness. Otherwise they look like they're made out of thick walled tube rather than thin pipe!



The remainder of the parts are then added including the PE mesh, exhaust shrouds etc....



A little Mr Surfacer was required to fill some small gaps when fitting the lower rear hull plate.

Gary

[Justin Wooding]

John, do we even want to know how you tried toasting your marshmallows with a cordless drill? I guess it's not the method, it's the result that matters