Dragon Pzkpfw III Ausf. N sPzAbt 501 Afrika (2008)
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
Dragon Pzkpfw III Ausf. N sPzAbt 501 Afrika (2008)
Build log for Dragon/Cyberhobby kit #6431.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 02-15-2008
Step 1 starts where most kits start, with the road wheels, sprockets, idlers, and return rollers. I removed all the road wheels and trimmed/sanded down their seams and set them off to the side for much later when I do the hull painting. The sprockets were assembled without any issues. The idlers have a very nice detail in the form of PE rim inserts that required some careful removal from the fret to avoid bending them and had a couple of nubs that needed cleanup, accomplished with careful use of a grinding head on the Dremel.
This step also calls for the assembly of the idler mounts and the diagrams are a little tricky here and aren't exactly crystal clear. You have to be sure to attach the screw arm covers, B2/B3, correctly for them to line up properly when they are attached to the hull in Step 4. I test fit both sides multiple times before committing to glue just to be sure I had them lined up correctly. The design of the parts means that the idlers are not positionable but will be fixed in place once installed, something to bear in mind if you choose to go the aftermarket route for Fruils or MKs instead of the kit-supplied indy links.
Step 2 is a simple step, it installs the lower half portions of the fender support arms. The parts in question are all labelled as "blue" A sprue parts since there's more than one A sprue, so don't panic if you don't find them on the first A sprue you hunt for them on. I also removed the tabs on the hull sides with sprue cutters at this point since the instructions don't tell you to ever remove them and they will interfere with the fender installation in later steps if left in place.
Next up, Step 3 deals with the installation of the torsion bar suspension and arms. The layout on the sprues makes it a little tricky at first glance to tell the difference between the A1 and A2 bars, so look closely as there are 6 per side and they all need to match up properly to avoid issues with installing the arms themselves. The default on the kit is a non-workable suspension however that can easily be modified by removing the support pins on the hull and not gluing the torsion bars down but rather keeping them "trapped" by the interior caps (parts A4/B18) if you like. I chose to install them in the fixed position and even with that, there's a little bit of play in the arms, so alignment checks after each one was installed were necessary to keep everything lined up and level.
So far so good!
This step also calls for the assembly of the idler mounts and the diagrams are a little tricky here and aren't exactly crystal clear. You have to be sure to attach the screw arm covers, B2/B3, correctly for them to line up properly when they are attached to the hull in Step 4. I test fit both sides multiple times before committing to glue just to be sure I had them lined up correctly. The design of the parts means that the idlers are not positionable but will be fixed in place once installed, something to bear in mind if you choose to go the aftermarket route for Fruils or MKs instead of the kit-supplied indy links.
Step 2 is a simple step, it installs the lower half portions of the fender support arms. The parts in question are all labelled as "blue" A sprue parts since there's more than one A sprue, so don't panic if you don't find them on the first A sprue you hunt for them on. I also removed the tabs on the hull sides with sprue cutters at this point since the instructions don't tell you to ever remove them and they will interfere with the fender installation in later steps if left in place.
Next up, Step 3 deals with the installation of the torsion bar suspension and arms. The layout on the sprues makes it a little tricky at first glance to tell the difference between the A1 and A2 bars, so look closely as there are 6 per side and they all need to match up properly to avoid issues with installing the arms themselves. The default on the kit is a non-workable suspension however that can easily be modified by removing the support pins on the hull and not gluing the torsion bars down but rather keeping them "trapped" by the interior caps (parts A4/B18) if you like. I chose to install them in the fixed position and even with that, there's a little bit of play in the arms, so alignment checks after each one was installed were necessary to keep everything lined up and level.
So far so good!
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 02-16-2008
Continuing on from yesterday, Step 4 deals with the assembly of the rear hull plate and the exhaust/intake arrangement. This step is a very busy one with lots of arrows and parts all going on to the rear plate, so you have to pay close attention to what goes where and when. There's a sub-assembly step that directs you to install the towing pintle pins, B39, into the halves of the pintles first before installation but this is just asking for trouble, so I installed them into their respective slots on either side and then inserted B39 with just a touch of liquid glue to hold it in place. The twin exhausts were installed next. The rounded armored access cover on the lower hull has a little call-out box that presents the option of including a small towing pintle for it, however the pintle part is incorrectly labelled as G12 when it's actually C18 and to use C18 you will have to perform some surgery on the cover B29 since it's molded solid and doesn't have the required D-shape hole to take it. To add to the mystery a bit more, C18 is marked as "not for use" on the sprue directory page...so I just left it off and installed it as is.
The last parts to be installed in this step are the most critical in terms of placement and alignment. These are the fins, parts A5/A6, that attach above the exhausts and will also install into slots in the hull tub. The attachment points for these parts are very small and don't sit flush but rather have a slight curve to them, making it easy for them to slip out of alignment. To get around this, I installed them one at a time and then inserted the plate into its installation area and adjusted the fin to match to its corresponding slot and then let it sit there until the glue held, then slid the plate out and installed the next fin, repeating the process until all 4 were installed.
Step 5 calls for the installation of all the road wheels, sprockets, etc. and so was largely skipped with the exception of the installation of the final drive housings for the sprockets and the idler mounts since they will play a role in Step 6 with the installation of the rear hull plate.
Step 6 is a multi-step process, the first of which calls for the installation of the rear plate along with the mesh screens and smoke grenade racks. To accomplish this, the rear plate has to go in first and this is a tight fit as it also has to fit over the posts on the idler mounts and the fins have to go into their tabs, all at the same time, so some very slow and careful maneuvering is necessary to get it all into place. Once that was done, the smoke grenade rack was installed followed by the PE mesh screens. The mesh screens actually rest on a series of small tabs instead of flush to the hull and it's important that the screens not overhang at all at any of the edges to avoid problems when fitting the angled rear plate. The screens had to be coaxed gently into position due to the tight spaces but once in place were glued down with some liquid glue to the tabs since additional parts were going to be installed in just a bit to further trap and hold the screens in place.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the rear plate and the housings on the idler mounts to meet...and I believe it's because instead of installing them flush as I did in Step 1, they probably should have had a slight overhang. The gap that results isn't large and was solved with some putty, but perhaps waiting to install them until this Step would've eliminated the problem altogether. There's no real reason to do the assembly in Step 1 vs. Step 5/6 other than the instructions follow the theory that the mounts should be constructed at the same time as the wheels themselves I guess.
With the rear plate installed, the angled lower hull plate B15 was also installed. This has some nice weld seam detail provided but the overhanging weld bead isn't quite thick enough in some places and little holes/gaps were present even with the judicious use of liquid glue and finger pressure. Those would be filled in with putty afterwards without any real issue. The upper rear plate was also installed along with the crank starter port and the deflector screens also installed to finish off this step. The edges of these parts are bevelled to make them appear more to scale in terms of thickness but the side parts still appear thicker than they should IMHO and could benefit from PE replacements.
Moving on to Step 7, the left side fender was assembled with all of its various components. The tools will be detailed and installed later as will the spare wheels, but all the fender braces and various other items were installed as directed. One of the neat options presented here, although I didn't use it, is the choice on the rear mudflaps to go with either the one-piece with the triangular underside mini-flap molded together or have the triangular flap separate as either a styrene or PE piece with an independent flap with the hole cutout present. This option would conceivably allow you to pose the mud-flap in the raised position over the Notek light if desired. The trickiest part of assembling this fender has to be the jack and its mounts. The jack is a multi-part assembly and you have to be sure to have the foot extended slightly to allow for the mounting bracket to fit...something the instructions don't clearly indicate but becomes readily apparent when you try to fit the bracket if you've installed it flush. There's also an error in the instructions, part G48 is actually part G54 as the base portion of the mount.
Step 8 is a simpler step even though it deals with the right side fender, there's a lot less that installs on that side and so goes quicker. The fender support braces are installed along with a small stowage box at the front and the antenna tray. The other pioneer tools and gun cleaning rods were left off until later, same as with the left side. The antenna tray presents two options in terms of how the support feet are arranged, you can choose to have the leading foot pointing either outward or inward...I chose the inward as a coin-toss choice more than anything else. The tray has molded in wood-grain that's very nice as a detail.
That ended the day's efforts, next up will be the rear engine deck.
The last parts to be installed in this step are the most critical in terms of placement and alignment. These are the fins, parts A5/A6, that attach above the exhausts and will also install into slots in the hull tub. The attachment points for these parts are very small and don't sit flush but rather have a slight curve to them, making it easy for them to slip out of alignment. To get around this, I installed them one at a time and then inserted the plate into its installation area and adjusted the fin to match to its corresponding slot and then let it sit there until the glue held, then slid the plate out and installed the next fin, repeating the process until all 4 were installed.
Step 5 calls for the installation of all the road wheels, sprockets, etc. and so was largely skipped with the exception of the installation of the final drive housings for the sprockets and the idler mounts since they will play a role in Step 6 with the installation of the rear hull plate.
Step 6 is a multi-step process, the first of which calls for the installation of the rear plate along with the mesh screens and smoke grenade racks. To accomplish this, the rear plate has to go in first and this is a tight fit as it also has to fit over the posts on the idler mounts and the fins have to go into their tabs, all at the same time, so some very slow and careful maneuvering is necessary to get it all into place. Once that was done, the smoke grenade rack was installed followed by the PE mesh screens. The mesh screens actually rest on a series of small tabs instead of flush to the hull and it's important that the screens not overhang at all at any of the edges to avoid problems when fitting the angled rear plate. The screens had to be coaxed gently into position due to the tight spaces but once in place were glued down with some liquid glue to the tabs since additional parts were going to be installed in just a bit to further trap and hold the screens in place.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the rear plate and the housings on the idler mounts to meet...and I believe it's because instead of installing them flush as I did in Step 1, they probably should have had a slight overhang. The gap that results isn't large and was solved with some putty, but perhaps waiting to install them until this Step would've eliminated the problem altogether. There's no real reason to do the assembly in Step 1 vs. Step 5/6 other than the instructions follow the theory that the mounts should be constructed at the same time as the wheels themselves I guess.
With the rear plate installed, the angled lower hull plate B15 was also installed. This has some nice weld seam detail provided but the overhanging weld bead isn't quite thick enough in some places and little holes/gaps were present even with the judicious use of liquid glue and finger pressure. Those would be filled in with putty afterwards without any real issue. The upper rear plate was also installed along with the crank starter port and the deflector screens also installed to finish off this step. The edges of these parts are bevelled to make them appear more to scale in terms of thickness but the side parts still appear thicker than they should IMHO and could benefit from PE replacements.
Moving on to Step 7, the left side fender was assembled with all of its various components. The tools will be detailed and installed later as will the spare wheels, but all the fender braces and various other items were installed as directed. One of the neat options presented here, although I didn't use it, is the choice on the rear mudflaps to go with either the one-piece with the triangular underside mini-flap molded together or have the triangular flap separate as either a styrene or PE piece with an independent flap with the hole cutout present. This option would conceivably allow you to pose the mud-flap in the raised position over the Notek light if desired. The trickiest part of assembling this fender has to be the jack and its mounts. The jack is a multi-part assembly and you have to be sure to have the foot extended slightly to allow for the mounting bracket to fit...something the instructions don't clearly indicate but becomes readily apparent when you try to fit the bracket if you've installed it flush. There's also an error in the instructions, part G48 is actually part G54 as the base portion of the mount.
Step 8 is a simpler step even though it deals with the right side fender, there's a lot less that installs on that side and so goes quicker. The fender support braces are installed along with a small stowage box at the front and the antenna tray. The other pioneer tools and gun cleaning rods were left off until later, same as with the left side. The antenna tray presents two options in terms of how the support feet are arranged, you can choose to have the leading foot pointing either outward or inward...I chose the inward as a coin-toss choice more than anything else. The tray has molded in wood-grain that's very nice as a detail.
That ended the day's efforts, next up will be the rear engine deck.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 02-23-2008
A very big update today, so lots of photos.
Steps 9 and 10 deal with the rear engine deck with Step 9 calling for the construction of the main engine bay access doors and their armored vents as a precursor to their installation in Step 10. Step 10 then installs them along with their corresponding hinges, the three lifting eyes, the side air intakes, and the tow cables. You have to be careful to select the correct air intakes as called for in the instructions, A29/A30, instead of D2/D3 (these are from the StuG III) as they look virtually identical if you aren't watching the sprues closely. In addition, the PE screens need to be bent slightly on the edge that attaches to the hull, something the instructions don't point out but which becomes obvious when you test fit them. The tow cables come pre-molded into their brackets or, if you prefer, you can install the empty brackets that are also provided and either make your own cables or leave them empty. I want to mount the cables, so these were carefully cleaned up and dry-fit for now and will actually be installed later after painting.
Step 11 is a very simple step, simply removing four posts from the hull roof and installing the three lifting eyes.
Step 12 deals with the glacis plate and the installation of the front hatches, the armored brake housing vents, and the front head-lights. The choice is given to install either the clear lenses or the black-out covers and I opted for the black-out covers, saving the lenses for another future project. It's also necessary to drill out two holes that will take the base of the spaced armor arrangement, easily done with a pin vise.
Step 13 deals with the hull front and side plates. The front plate has the ball mount for the hull MG installed along with the MG34. Although the fully detailed gun and mount is provided, the only parts really necessary are J28 and J20 as the others will never be seen and were not used. I installed the armored glass block and visor in the open position, giving the glass a slightly greenish tint with some Tamiya Clear Green. The side hull plates had their visor ports installed in the closed position and the right side had the antenna mount installed and the antenna test fit.
Step 14 is a very important and busy step as it brings all the elements previously constructed together to form the hull. There's lots of different ways to go about this one potentially, but the key parts are the fenders, the hull nose and glacis, the main hull, and the rear engine deck. I started by first constructing the main hull using the platform A61 and installing the roof, sides, and front as a sub-step.
Next came the hull front. The add-on plates, part D1, were actually called for way back in Step 1, but I held off until this point to make sure everything had good alignment. This was installed along with the glacis plate as the next sub-assembly followed by the fenders. The front hull fender supports consist of two parts and the round brace portion, B9/B10, need to be switched around in terms of what side they match up with. The fenders themselves have to be precisely positioned and the left side required a little more attention than the right, but both went into place relatively smoothly. I also skipped ahead slightly and installed part C3, the base of the spaced armor plate, now instead of in Step 15 as the instructions would have it. Due to the tight space it goes into, it was easier to add it now before installation to the hull than later on. The main hull and rear engine deck were then installed without issues.
With all that squared away, the spare track holders were mounted to the front hull and glacis plate. The placement of these is not very clear on the instructions and it was necessary to check some reference photos to see how they should go. I used a couple of links from the Magic bags to check to see how they would line up relative to each other and that helped tremendously. I also added some blue-tack to protect the clear piece in the armored visor at this point since it's easier now vs. when the spaced plate is installed. This completed Step 14, which also calls for the tracks to be installed but which I'll actually do later after painting.
Step 15 is actually two different parts, the first part deals with the installation of the spaced armor to the hull front. This is a straightforward process with the exception of the top plate, MA8. The instructions indicate that it should attach all the way over to the right side when in fact it should attach all the way over to the left. The cutouts are designed to match up to the lifting eye and this is the give-away, along with the small bolt holes in the straps, that indicates the proper position.
The second part of the step deals with the construction of the commander's cupola. This is exactly the same as in any of the Pz IV Smart Kits or the III J Smart Kit, so nothing new here really. I opted for the closed position on both the vision ports and the hatches as I didn't really have the desire to show it open this time around.
Step 16 starts work on the main gun with the assembly of the mantlet and recoil housing. The choice of a plain or bolted collar is provided and I opted for the bolted. I also test fit the one-piece styrene barrel just to be sure it wouldn't cause any problems before gluing, everything fit just as it should.
Step 17 continues the process with the installation of the recoil housing to the gun barrel and then into the mantlet. All of this is then supposed to install into the mount that will attach to the turret face plate but the instructions here contain an error that will stop you in your tracks until figured out. The instruction indicate that part E11 should be used when in fact you should use G5. E11 doesn't have the correct D-shaped hole on the left side and the diameter of the hole for the main gun is too small, making it impossible to mount it. In the photo below the correct part G5 is on the left side. One of the hazards of having so many sprues/parts from different kits thrown together is also compounded by the instructions not being updated with the correct part call-out. Curiously, the parts diagrams on the instructions also don't show E11 marked as "not for use", so this one slipped by as an artifact from the III J kit instructions.
Once the correct part is found and used, the installation is pretty smooth. It's a good idea to not install parts E2/E3 just yet if you want the gun to remain elevatable, something the instructions don't indicate as possible.
Step 18 mounts the mantlet and gun assembly to the turret face plate. Uncharacteristically for a DML kit, the face plate has multiple ejector marks on the exterior surface of the face plate and these have to be dealt with as they will be easily visible.
With that taken care of, the plate and the hinge points, E2/E3 were installed along with the mantlet and gun. The breech and guard rails were also added along with the spent shell basket to finish the step.
This is all the detail that's provided for the gun area in terms of interior. No optics are provided for the gunner for example nor are there any interior details for the coaxial MG. Next up will be the turret construction and details as the last major component before painting.
Steps 9 and 10 deal with the rear engine deck with Step 9 calling for the construction of the main engine bay access doors and their armored vents as a precursor to their installation in Step 10. Step 10 then installs them along with their corresponding hinges, the three lifting eyes, the side air intakes, and the tow cables. You have to be careful to select the correct air intakes as called for in the instructions, A29/A30, instead of D2/D3 (these are from the StuG III) as they look virtually identical if you aren't watching the sprues closely. In addition, the PE screens need to be bent slightly on the edge that attaches to the hull, something the instructions don't point out but which becomes obvious when you test fit them. The tow cables come pre-molded into their brackets or, if you prefer, you can install the empty brackets that are also provided and either make your own cables or leave them empty. I want to mount the cables, so these were carefully cleaned up and dry-fit for now and will actually be installed later after painting.
Step 11 is a very simple step, simply removing four posts from the hull roof and installing the three lifting eyes.
Step 12 deals with the glacis plate and the installation of the front hatches, the armored brake housing vents, and the front head-lights. The choice is given to install either the clear lenses or the black-out covers and I opted for the black-out covers, saving the lenses for another future project. It's also necessary to drill out two holes that will take the base of the spaced armor arrangement, easily done with a pin vise.
Step 13 deals with the hull front and side plates. The front plate has the ball mount for the hull MG installed along with the MG34. Although the fully detailed gun and mount is provided, the only parts really necessary are J28 and J20 as the others will never be seen and were not used. I installed the armored glass block and visor in the open position, giving the glass a slightly greenish tint with some Tamiya Clear Green. The side hull plates had their visor ports installed in the closed position and the right side had the antenna mount installed and the antenna test fit.
Step 14 is a very important and busy step as it brings all the elements previously constructed together to form the hull. There's lots of different ways to go about this one potentially, but the key parts are the fenders, the hull nose and glacis, the main hull, and the rear engine deck. I started by first constructing the main hull using the platform A61 and installing the roof, sides, and front as a sub-step.
Next came the hull front. The add-on plates, part D1, were actually called for way back in Step 1, but I held off until this point to make sure everything had good alignment. This was installed along with the glacis plate as the next sub-assembly followed by the fenders. The front hull fender supports consist of two parts and the round brace portion, B9/B10, need to be switched around in terms of what side they match up with. The fenders themselves have to be precisely positioned and the left side required a little more attention than the right, but both went into place relatively smoothly. I also skipped ahead slightly and installed part C3, the base of the spaced armor plate, now instead of in Step 15 as the instructions would have it. Due to the tight space it goes into, it was easier to add it now before installation to the hull than later on. The main hull and rear engine deck were then installed without issues.
With all that squared away, the spare track holders were mounted to the front hull and glacis plate. The placement of these is not very clear on the instructions and it was necessary to check some reference photos to see how they should go. I used a couple of links from the Magic bags to check to see how they would line up relative to each other and that helped tremendously. I also added some blue-tack to protect the clear piece in the armored visor at this point since it's easier now vs. when the spaced plate is installed. This completed Step 14, which also calls for the tracks to be installed but which I'll actually do later after painting.
Step 15 is actually two different parts, the first part deals with the installation of the spaced armor to the hull front. This is a straightforward process with the exception of the top plate, MA8. The instructions indicate that it should attach all the way over to the right side when in fact it should attach all the way over to the left. The cutouts are designed to match up to the lifting eye and this is the give-away, along with the small bolt holes in the straps, that indicates the proper position.
The second part of the step deals with the construction of the commander's cupola. This is exactly the same as in any of the Pz IV Smart Kits or the III J Smart Kit, so nothing new here really. I opted for the closed position on both the vision ports and the hatches as I didn't really have the desire to show it open this time around.
Step 16 starts work on the main gun with the assembly of the mantlet and recoil housing. The choice of a plain or bolted collar is provided and I opted for the bolted. I also test fit the one-piece styrene barrel just to be sure it wouldn't cause any problems before gluing, everything fit just as it should.
Step 17 continues the process with the installation of the recoil housing to the gun barrel and then into the mantlet. All of this is then supposed to install into the mount that will attach to the turret face plate but the instructions here contain an error that will stop you in your tracks until figured out. The instruction indicate that part E11 should be used when in fact you should use G5. E11 doesn't have the correct D-shaped hole on the left side and the diameter of the hole for the main gun is too small, making it impossible to mount it. In the photo below the correct part G5 is on the left side. One of the hazards of having so many sprues/parts from different kits thrown together is also compounded by the instructions not being updated with the correct part call-out. Curiously, the parts diagrams on the instructions also don't show E11 marked as "not for use", so this one slipped by as an artifact from the III J kit instructions.
Once the correct part is found and used, the installation is pretty smooth. It's a good idea to not install parts E2/E3 just yet if you want the gun to remain elevatable, something the instructions don't indicate as possible.
Step 18 mounts the mantlet and gun assembly to the turret face plate. Uncharacteristically for a DML kit, the face plate has multiple ejector marks on the exterior surface of the face plate and these have to be dealt with as they will be easily visible.
With that taken care of, the plate and the hinge points, E2/E3 were installed along with the mantlet and gun. The breech and guard rails were also added along with the spent shell basket to finish the step.
This is all the detail that's provided for the gun area in terms of interior. No optics are provided for the gunner for example nor are there any interior details for the coaxial MG. Next up will be the turret construction and details as the last major component before painting.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 02-24-2008
Continuing on from yesterday, work began with the turret proper in Step 19. This step installs the exhaust fan, something that's much easier to do in coordination with parts G5 and G6 in Step 21 vs. by itself to get it positioned properly. The interior frames, G18, for the side hatches are also called for in this step but I waited until Step 21 for those to insure good all-around fit with the hinges and doors. The rear turret pistol ports and support mounts for the turret bin are also installed at this point.
Step 20 deals with the construction of the turret bin as well as the installation of the commander's seat and frame into the lower turret base however I'm skipping that installation as it will just get in the way when painting the turret and I have no need for it to be present. The turret base has numerous large half-posts/half-ejector marks that need to be trimmed down at a minimum and also filled if you want to show the turret interior. The turret roof also has several large ejector marks to be dealt with depending on your intentions. I'm keeping the turret closed up so it's not a problem for me in this case.
Step 21 is another important and busy step dealing with the assembly of the turret components. The first thing that must be done is mating up the turret face plate and gun mount to the turret top half. This is then followed by the turret bottom. The rest of the turret details can then be installed in terms of the hatches, the cupola, grab rails, turret bin, etc. It's interesting to note that the PE fret contains a replacement part for the commander's bore-sight pointer but the instructions don't indicate this, pointing out only the styrene part option F9. When installing the side hatches, the instructions have the order backwards for the hinges, the key here is to insure the pin is at the top and that determines which side gets G24 and which gets G19 left side vs. right side. The turret smoke grenade launchers are also assembled and attached in this step and care is needed when cleaning up the launcher tubes to retain their circular shape as they have two very large attachment points top and bottom. The mount tabs on the back of the holders is also too large for the slot provided on the turret and, in order to get it to fit flush to the turret, I removed the tab completely and just glued it directly to the turret side.
Step 22 is the final step and involves the optional construction of the jerry can racks for either the turret roof, the rear hull, or both depending on the version you are building. I've decided to go with the Red 07 vehicle and it only had the rear rack. The rack itself consists of three supports, the wood plank back, and a retaining rail at the front. I chose the PE option for the rail and the only slightly tricky part was getting all three of the support frames and the rail to line up squarely since there's a little bit of play in the frame pieces in terms of how they match up to the plank. There are also small seam lines on the inside of each of the frame support angles which needed to be carefully removed.
Once the rack was constructed, it was time to build the cans that would occupy it. The kit includes parts for a total of 12 cans (all of them stamped as being 20L Wasser cans) and the diagram for the can construction is an artifact from an older kit and can parts design, so some improvisation is necessary to actually get the cans assembled. The PE inserts have holes for 3 mount pins however the cans themselves actually only have 2 pins and neither of them will line up properly with the PE insert holes. This means that the lower pin needs to be removed entirely and the PE insert fitted tightly above the top pin before the two can halves are secured together to form the single can. Once that's done, then the handles and pour spouts can be added without any problems.
I installed the rack to the rear plate of the hull and the diagram for this step doesn't help much...it shows the rack being attached with an arrow pointing to the rear but doesn't actually show the rear area! Fortunately the finishing diagrams are a little more helpful and I also have a reference photo of a III-N fitted with this rack and was able to figure it out. The instructions indicate that you should be able to fit 5 cans to a side but in reality only 4 of the provided cans can be fitted per side. I also wanted to check the clearance on the tow cables so I positioned those just to be sure everything would play nice later on. Neither the cans or the cables have been permanently installed yet but when the time comes, the cables have to go first followed by the cans.
And last, but not least, I added a little detail to the front hull in the form of the power conduit for the Notek light on the fender that leads down into the headlight mount. Some solder was cut to length and formed with the required bends and angles and then glued into place.
Next up will be the preparations for painting.
Step 20 deals with the construction of the turret bin as well as the installation of the commander's seat and frame into the lower turret base however I'm skipping that installation as it will just get in the way when painting the turret and I have no need for it to be present. The turret base has numerous large half-posts/half-ejector marks that need to be trimmed down at a minimum and also filled if you want to show the turret interior. The turret roof also has several large ejector marks to be dealt with depending on your intentions. I'm keeping the turret closed up so it's not a problem for me in this case.
Step 21 is another important and busy step dealing with the assembly of the turret components. The first thing that must be done is mating up the turret face plate and gun mount to the turret top half. This is then followed by the turret bottom. The rest of the turret details can then be installed in terms of the hatches, the cupola, grab rails, turret bin, etc. It's interesting to note that the PE fret contains a replacement part for the commander's bore-sight pointer but the instructions don't indicate this, pointing out only the styrene part option F9. When installing the side hatches, the instructions have the order backwards for the hinges, the key here is to insure the pin is at the top and that determines which side gets G24 and which gets G19 left side vs. right side. The turret smoke grenade launchers are also assembled and attached in this step and care is needed when cleaning up the launcher tubes to retain their circular shape as they have two very large attachment points top and bottom. The mount tabs on the back of the holders is also too large for the slot provided on the turret and, in order to get it to fit flush to the turret, I removed the tab completely and just glued it directly to the turret side.
Step 22 is the final step and involves the optional construction of the jerry can racks for either the turret roof, the rear hull, or both depending on the version you are building. I've decided to go with the Red 07 vehicle and it only had the rear rack. The rack itself consists of three supports, the wood plank back, and a retaining rail at the front. I chose the PE option for the rail and the only slightly tricky part was getting all three of the support frames and the rail to line up squarely since there's a little bit of play in the frame pieces in terms of how they match up to the plank. There are also small seam lines on the inside of each of the frame support angles which needed to be carefully removed.
Once the rack was constructed, it was time to build the cans that would occupy it. The kit includes parts for a total of 12 cans (all of them stamped as being 20L Wasser cans) and the diagram for the can construction is an artifact from an older kit and can parts design, so some improvisation is necessary to actually get the cans assembled. The PE inserts have holes for 3 mount pins however the cans themselves actually only have 2 pins and neither of them will line up properly with the PE insert holes. This means that the lower pin needs to be removed entirely and the PE insert fitted tightly above the top pin before the two can halves are secured together to form the single can. Once that's done, then the handles and pour spouts can be added without any problems.
I installed the rack to the rear plate of the hull and the diagram for this step doesn't help much...it shows the rack being attached with an arrow pointing to the rear but doesn't actually show the rear area! Fortunately the finishing diagrams are a little more helpful and I also have a reference photo of a III-N fitted with this rack and was able to figure it out. The instructions indicate that you should be able to fit 5 cans to a side but in reality only 4 of the provided cans can be fitted per side. I also wanted to check the clearance on the tow cables so I positioned those just to be sure everything would play nice later on. Neither the cans or the cables have been permanently installed yet but when the time comes, the cables have to go first followed by the cans.
And last, but not least, I added a little detail to the front hull in the form of the power conduit for the Notek light on the fender that leads down into the headlight mount. Some solder was cut to length and formed with the required bends and angles and then glued into place.
Next up will be the preparations for painting.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 03-01-2008
Today was a gorgeous day for painting in the garage, but before I could do that, some prep work was necessary. All of the road wheels, sprockets, idlers, and return rollers were mounted onto toothpicks with blue tack and then stuck into my trusty styrofoam earthworm container. The return rollers and sprockets, since they have mount pins, were stuck onto a pair of toothpicks with blobs of blue tack attached between them to provide a handling mount. The turret was positioned on a toilet paper cardboard tube that had a strip of masking tape attached to the bottom to help keep it stable, and then it was out to the garage.
When working with the airbrush, I always try to go dark to light in terms of the shades I'm using. The first thing was to spray all the wheels Flat Black in anticipation of the later stages where the circle template would be employed. Once that was accomplished, a primer coat of Italian Dark Brown was applied to the entire vehicle as well as the sprockets and idlers.
Next up was the application of a coat of Testor's enamel Afrika Grunbraun. This was applied over the primer coat by way of multiple thin passes to slowly build it up and avoid a too heavy/wet one-pass coat.
I also used the masked off circles on the circle template at this point to paint the rims, both inner and outer, on all the road wheels.
When that had dried, I applied a very light coat of the Grunbraun mixed about 10-20% with Light Gray to introduce highlights and fading. This was done very selectively with just a very slight amount of paint allowed to flow through the airbrush at any time, using the double action trigger on my Aztek to keep it controlled.
Next up will be the construction of the tracks and installation of the running gear along with all the other tools/gear for the fenders.
When working with the airbrush, I always try to go dark to light in terms of the shades I'm using. The first thing was to spray all the wheels Flat Black in anticipation of the later stages where the circle template would be employed. Once that was accomplished, a primer coat of Italian Dark Brown was applied to the entire vehicle as well as the sprockets and idlers.
Next up was the application of a coat of Testor's enamel Afrika Grunbraun. This was applied over the primer coat by way of multiple thin passes to slowly build it up and avoid a too heavy/wet one-pass coat.
I also used the masked off circles on the circle template at this point to paint the rims, both inner and outer, on all the road wheels.
When that had dried, I applied a very light coat of the Grunbraun mixed about 10-20% with Light Gray to introduce highlights and fading. This was done very selectively with just a very slight amount of paint allowed to flow through the airbrush at any time, using the double action trigger on my Aztek to keep it controlled.
Next up will be the construction of the tracks and installation of the running gear along with all the other tools/gear for the fenders.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 03-02-2008
The focus of today's efforts went towards the suspension and running gear. First up was a return to Step 4 in order to install the road wheels and return rollers. The wheels are a very tight fit onto the suspension arms and the addition of the paint on the mount arms made it even tighter. Some careful scrapping and strategic use of finger pressure was necessary to get all the wheels seated and lined up properly, but otherwise they installed fine. I also applied some pre-weathering to the lower hull sides and the sprockets and idlers by dry-brushing some Burnt Umber to simulate scratching/wear that will be supplemented later on. The sprocket teeth also received some light dry-brushing with Steel for their wear and were dry-fit along with the idler to insure all the suspension elements had the right alignment before the track assembly and installation.
The instructions call for the tracks to be installed in Step 14 but, as I normally do, I'd skipped that until after the hull had been painted. It's worth noting at this point that the instructions incorrectly call for 98 links per side. That track length is appropriate for a Pz IV but not for a Pz III. Pz. IVs typically had 98-100 links per side while the Pz III usually had 92-94 depending. Each of the Magic track links were cleaned up by having the little nub on the guide horn trimmed down and their two ejector marks on either side of the guide horn removed. Some of the links also had some slight flash in the guide horn opening that needed to be trimmed down but nothing out of the ordinary with this type of links. The tracks were then assembled using my "speed assembly" method that I described in the Pz IV G build and were painted with Model Master Non-Buffing Gunmetal Metalizer, then dry-brushed with Steel, and finally washed with Raw Umber before being installed. I assembled and installed the left-hand track first along with the idler and sprocket, using some toothpicks to produce the desired amount of sag. I'd also constructed a short run for the right-hand side of 16 links to insure the track set up level while I worked on the right-hand track.
Each track side takes roughly 1 hour to assemble, paint, and install once the initial clean-up is done. In order to speed things along, I always clean up both sets of links first so that while one track run is setting up, I can immediately begin on the second one. Once the left side was done, the same process was repeated for the right.
While Step 14 also directs the installation of the spare track runs, it (and nowhere else in the instructions) doesn't give you any guidance on how many links to assemble and install. After test-fitting, I determined that I needed 14 links for the hull front and 8 for the glacis. Reference photos (and the box-art) show that an additional run was tack-welded to the turret roof to help add protection from air-to-ground attacks and this required an additional 11 links. Now the Magic links provided contain plenty of spares since only 92 out of the 115 per track side are used for the tracks themselves but these links are handed, so I had to think carefully about how many to use and from which set for the different runs to keep things consistent. I ended up using 14 from the left hand side for the hull front and the other 19 for the turret roof and glacis runs from the right hand side. I also used a pin vise and micro-drill bit to simulate the missing pins and open holes on the first and last links of each run...a small detail to be sure but one I thought added a bit of individuality to the runs. The runs were base painted with the same method as the regular tracks with the exception of using a Burnt Umber wash since these weren't in-use. I also applied some Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, and Black artist pastels selectively to the runs to add color and deepen their look. The runs were then installed and, as an added bonus, I went ahead and painted the hull and turret MG34s to round out the day's activities.
Next up will be adding the missing gear for the fenders and detailing the mufflers before moving on to the markings and weathering process.
The instructions call for the tracks to be installed in Step 14 but, as I normally do, I'd skipped that until after the hull had been painted. It's worth noting at this point that the instructions incorrectly call for 98 links per side. That track length is appropriate for a Pz IV but not for a Pz III. Pz. IVs typically had 98-100 links per side while the Pz III usually had 92-94 depending. Each of the Magic track links were cleaned up by having the little nub on the guide horn trimmed down and their two ejector marks on either side of the guide horn removed. Some of the links also had some slight flash in the guide horn opening that needed to be trimmed down but nothing out of the ordinary with this type of links. The tracks were then assembled using my "speed assembly" method that I described in the Pz IV G build and were painted with Model Master Non-Buffing Gunmetal Metalizer, then dry-brushed with Steel, and finally washed with Raw Umber before being installed. I assembled and installed the left-hand track first along with the idler and sprocket, using some toothpicks to produce the desired amount of sag. I'd also constructed a short run for the right-hand side of 16 links to insure the track set up level while I worked on the right-hand track.
Each track side takes roughly 1 hour to assemble, paint, and install once the initial clean-up is done. In order to speed things along, I always clean up both sets of links first so that while one track run is setting up, I can immediately begin on the second one. Once the left side was done, the same process was repeated for the right.
While Step 14 also directs the installation of the spare track runs, it (and nowhere else in the instructions) doesn't give you any guidance on how many links to assemble and install. After test-fitting, I determined that I needed 14 links for the hull front and 8 for the glacis. Reference photos (and the box-art) show that an additional run was tack-welded to the turret roof to help add protection from air-to-ground attacks and this required an additional 11 links. Now the Magic links provided contain plenty of spares since only 92 out of the 115 per track side are used for the tracks themselves but these links are handed, so I had to think carefully about how many to use and from which set for the different runs to keep things consistent. I ended up using 14 from the left hand side for the hull front and the other 19 for the turret roof and glacis runs from the right hand side. I also used a pin vise and micro-drill bit to simulate the missing pins and open holes on the first and last links of each run...a small detail to be sure but one I thought added a bit of individuality to the runs. The runs were base painted with the same method as the regular tracks with the exception of using a Burnt Umber wash since these weren't in-use. I also applied some Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, and Black artist pastels selectively to the runs to add color and deepen their look. The runs were then installed and, as an added bonus, I went ahead and painted the hull and turret MG34s to round out the day's activities.
Next up will be adding the missing gear for the fenders and detailing the mufflers before moving on to the markings and weathering process.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 03-08-2008
Today's efforts were all about the details and that meant returning to Steps 7, 8, and 10 to install all the gear I'd left off prior to painting. All of the various parts were removed from their sprues and cleaned-up. The tools come with molded on clamp handles, but on many of them these were too thick, so I used a needle file to get them more to-scale. This was done by a combination of enlarging the interior hole as well as sanding down the exteriors to get things more reasonable. Below you can see a comparison of a before (on the right) and the after (on the left).
Once the clamps were adjusted where needed, starting with the left side fender details in Step 7, the S-hooks, jack block, and crow-bar were detailed and then installed followed by the installation of the spare road wheels. The jack block was detailed by first painting the wood areas with Leather and then dry-brushing my home-made "Wood" color to bring out the molded in wood-grain pattern a bit. All of the bare metal tool surfaces were painted with Non-Buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and then very lightly dry-brushed with Steel. I also installed the tow cables and their brackets at this point as originally called for in Step 10.
Next up was the right side fender and this one was a bit trickier. The instructions in Step 8 contain an error in that they have the arrows pointing to the wrong holes for the shovel and the cleaning rod holders. The shovel installs outboard on the edge of the fender while the cleaning rods go inboard next to the antenna rack. The mis-directing arrows causes some head-scratching at first but the position of the L-shaped rear stop for the shovel on the fender helps steer you back to the right arrangement. The starter crank, A25, didn't want to quite fit into its assigned holes either, so I carefully trimmed off the pin on the handle portion since the one near the tip did fit into its assigned hole without problems and glued it directly to the fender. All of the wood handles received a light dusting of Burnt Umber artist pastels and the canvas cover on the cleaning sponge was painted with Khaki green and dry-brushed with the Grunbraun base color to fade it a bit to round out this step.
Next up the smoke grenades were painted and installed, I left one out deliberately just to add a bit of character. These are a snug fit and I painted them first before installing to avoid problems once in their launcher tubes. Having come across a couple of reference photos for the Red 07 vehicle that I'm doing, I noticed it had the two pick-axes indicated in Step 21 as "Free Layout" items that corresponded to the box-art on the front hull plate. The points of the pickaxes were placed into the open horns of the spare track links and the handles bound together with a leather strap, so I dug around in the spares bin and modified a left-over Eduard bracket with a leather strap to fit the bill. This was installed and painted with Leather while keeping the buckle in the original metal unpainted.
Then to round out the day's activities, I painted up and installed the water jerry cans for the rear rack. The same reference photos for the pickaxes showed Red 07 with two dunkelgelb cans and the rest panzer gray, so I did the same with mine. The white crosses for the water cans were hand-painted carefully with a detail brush and some wear added by dry-brushing Steel and then counter-dry brushing Panzer Gray and Dunkelgelb back over it to dull the shine but preserve the effect.
I've also applied the foundational Future coat and will let that set overnight before applying the decals in the morning and sealing that up prior to beginning the weathering. Down the homestretch now!
Once the clamps were adjusted where needed, starting with the left side fender details in Step 7, the S-hooks, jack block, and crow-bar were detailed and then installed followed by the installation of the spare road wheels. The jack block was detailed by first painting the wood areas with Leather and then dry-brushing my home-made "Wood" color to bring out the molded in wood-grain pattern a bit. All of the bare metal tool surfaces were painted with Non-Buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and then very lightly dry-brushed with Steel. I also installed the tow cables and their brackets at this point as originally called for in Step 10.
Next up was the right side fender and this one was a bit trickier. The instructions in Step 8 contain an error in that they have the arrows pointing to the wrong holes for the shovel and the cleaning rod holders. The shovel installs outboard on the edge of the fender while the cleaning rods go inboard next to the antenna rack. The mis-directing arrows causes some head-scratching at first but the position of the L-shaped rear stop for the shovel on the fender helps steer you back to the right arrangement. The starter crank, A25, didn't want to quite fit into its assigned holes either, so I carefully trimmed off the pin on the handle portion since the one near the tip did fit into its assigned hole without problems and glued it directly to the fender. All of the wood handles received a light dusting of Burnt Umber artist pastels and the canvas cover on the cleaning sponge was painted with Khaki green and dry-brushed with the Grunbraun base color to fade it a bit to round out this step.
Next up the smoke grenades were painted and installed, I left one out deliberately just to add a bit of character. These are a snug fit and I painted them first before installing to avoid problems once in their launcher tubes. Having come across a couple of reference photos for the Red 07 vehicle that I'm doing, I noticed it had the two pick-axes indicated in Step 21 as "Free Layout" items that corresponded to the box-art on the front hull plate. The points of the pickaxes were placed into the open horns of the spare track links and the handles bound together with a leather strap, so I dug around in the spares bin and modified a left-over Eduard bracket with a leather strap to fit the bill. This was installed and painted with Leather while keeping the buckle in the original metal unpainted.
Then to round out the day's activities, I painted up and installed the water jerry cans for the rear rack. The same reference photos for the pickaxes showed Red 07 with two dunkelgelb cans and the rest panzer gray, so I did the same with mine. The white crosses for the water cans were hand-painted carefully with a detail brush and some wear added by dry-brushing Steel and then counter-dry brushing Panzer Gray and Dunkelgelb back over it to dull the shine but preserve the effect.
I've also applied the foundational Future coat and will let that set overnight before applying the decals in the morning and sealing that up prior to beginning the weathering. Down the homestretch now!
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 03-09-2008
Made some good progress today but didn't quite cross the finish line as it took a little more time than I originally thought to achieve the results I wanted but better to go slow than rush through and regret it in the end.
The first step today was to apply the decal markings for red 07. All of the decals were applied and given a light dose of Walther's Solvaset to get them to snug down tight. Everything went great except with the left turret side...I had the decals perfectly in place and the Solvaset on and managed to somehow drop the turret...causing the 7 to crinkle just a bit...was able to fix it for the most part but it wasn't perfect so later on in the weathering process, I got a little creative but more on that later. Once all the decals were on and set, a 2nd coat of Future was applied to seal them in.
After letting that sit for an hour or so, I started by introducing variation to the base color using the "dot method", employing dots of Italian Dark Brown, Afrika Braun, and Afrika Khakibraun. A 0 round sable brush and clean thinner was used to blend the dots and produce some subtle color shifting in combination with the previous base coat and shading.
This was then followed with a pin wash of Raw Umber to bring out the details. The excess wash was removed with a small pointed brush and clean thinner.
Some of the tide marks that showed up in the photos were followed-up on and I also dry-brushed some of the Afrkia Braun onto the turret numbers and balkenkreuze. The left side turret numbers were weathered just a touch heavier due to the decal damage mentioned previously.
Weathering will continue with a dull coat up next (have to go to the LHS as I discovered today I was out) followed by a pigment treatment.
The first step today was to apply the decal markings for red 07. All of the decals were applied and given a light dose of Walther's Solvaset to get them to snug down tight. Everything went great except with the left turret side...I had the decals perfectly in place and the Solvaset on and managed to somehow drop the turret...causing the 7 to crinkle just a bit...was able to fix it for the most part but it wasn't perfect so later on in the weathering process, I got a little creative but more on that later. Once all the decals were on and set, a 2nd coat of Future was applied to seal them in.
After letting that sit for an hour or so, I started by introducing variation to the base color using the "dot method", employing dots of Italian Dark Brown, Afrika Braun, and Afrika Khakibraun. A 0 round sable brush and clean thinner was used to blend the dots and produce some subtle color shifting in combination with the previous base coat and shading.
This was then followed with a pin wash of Raw Umber to bring out the details. The excess wash was removed with a small pointed brush and clean thinner.
Some of the tide marks that showed up in the photos were followed-up on and I also dry-brushed some of the Afrkia Braun onto the turret numbers and balkenkreuze. The left side turret numbers were weathered just a touch heavier due to the decal damage mentioned previously.
Weathering will continue with a dull coat up next (have to go to the LHS as I discovered today I was out) followed by a pigment treatment.
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Bill Plunk
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 10:18 pm
WIP 03-12-2008
I decided to do a little bit of experimenting with this one since it's a monotone scheme and add another layer of weathering to see what effect it might produce. I applied an additional coat of Future to seal/protect the work already done and let that sit for an hour or so before starting in on the next layer. This layer consists of a more traditional approach of the "dot method" using primary colors on top of the previous work. Small dots of Flat Red, Flat Beret Green, Flat Yellow, and Flat White were applied and then blended with a brush dampened with thinner. In the pic below, the front half of the hull deck has already received this treatment while the rear engine deck has the dots applied but not yet blended to give a sort of contrast.
And how things look after the rest of the vehicle received the same treatment. I also added the neglected PE strap for the jack block that I'd somehow overlooked before and gave the spare track link runs another dose of Raw Umber wash since they'd also been sealed with Future to provide some deeper tones as well. One unintended side effect was that the previously dry-brushed effect on the turret numbers was removed...that was another experiment to see if it was possible to dry-brush in between Future coats and have it protected...the answer is no. Normally I dry-brush after a dull coat has been applied and I'll put that back in once the dull coat is on to restore them to the desired faded look.
And how things look after the rest of the vehicle received the same treatment. I also added the neglected PE strap for the jack block that I'd somehow overlooked before and gave the spare track link runs another dose of Raw Umber wash since they'd also been sealed with Future to provide some deeper tones as well. One unintended side effect was that the previously dry-brushed effect on the turret numbers was removed...that was another experiment to see if it was possible to dry-brush in between Future coats and have it protected...the answer is no. Normally I dry-brush after a dull coat has been applied and I'll put that back in once the dull coat is on to restore them to the desired faded look.