Dragon StuG III Ausf A Michael Wittmann Barbarossa 1941 (2008)

[Bill Plunk]

Build log for DML kit # 9031 StuG III Ausf A with Eduard photo-etch set #35828, Aber PE grilles, Jordi Rubio aluminum barrel, and Model Kasten SK-26 workable tracks.

[Bill Plunk]

In honor of the extended Thanksgiving Day weekend, I started up the latest project, DML's Imperial Series # 9031 StuG III Ausf A. This is the kit with the Michael Wittmann figure included although I will be building this one sans Herr Wittmann.

Work began where it usually does with Step 1 dealing with the road wheels, sprockets, idlers, and return rollers. This is always a tedious step and one that I prefer to get out of the way early on. Since this is an older kit, there's more to watch out for such as the ejector marks on the outer face of the idlers that required putty and sanding to fill. The sprocket halves also needed some work, the mating tab on the outer half is supposed to match up with a notch on the inner half...but the notch isn't there, so the tab was removed and the halves carefully glued together so that the teeth aligned properly. I triple checked the spacing with the MK and kit links both to be sure I had the right gap since this is a critical element. The road wheels were left separate for now to facilitate painting the hubs later on and each one had a seam on the rubber portion sanded down with a sanding twig. The return rollers were assembled and the outer halves had an ejector mark in the middle of their hubs, this was carefully removed using a round needle file to avoid damaging the bolt detail in the process.



With that out of the way, I proceeded to modify the lower hull to get it to the correct configuration for an Ausf A. This meant removing the front molded on return roller post as directed in the instructions and replacing it with one in the correct level position with the other two. The molded on outline for the crew escape hatch was also removed and sanded down and an unneeded mount hole for the fender supports filled in with putty. This was done on both sides of the lower hull. I also cut down the mount post for the sprocket to just 1 mm in height in preparation for mounting the MK-supplied final drive housing and sprocket mount, more on that in just a bit.



The rest of Step 2 was completed by adding the suspension arms, shock absorbers, bump stops, and the idler mount. The idler mounts were carefully assembled so as to allow the idler to be movable just a little. To do this, the piston arm was only glued to the idler mount and not to the semi-circular armored housing...allowing the piston to slide a few MMs both ways, this will come in handy when mounting the MK tracks.



Step 3 calls for all the road wheels, sprockets, idlers, and return rollers to be mounted but I skipped this to allow for easier painting later on. The exception is the sprockets, the MK set includes a replacement set of final drive housings and parts to allow for the sprocket to remain able to rotate, but this means it all has to be mounted together at the same time. The MK axle posts were glued into the sprockets directly and the housings assembled with just the retaining nut left separate.



The posts slide inside the housing, then the nut is glued to the posts to retain them but still allow the sprocket to rotate freely. The entire assembly is them attached to the hull just like the kit supplied parts would've been. The armored covers for the shock absorbers were also added in this step.



Step 4 calls for the track installation which I skipped for now. It also installs the rear hull plate along with the exhausts, the rear air exhaust, and the towing pintles. Some slight putty work was needed on the lower hull plate due to a small gap from trimming off the sprue attachment point too deeply, but otherwise everything assembled just fine.



At this point I departed from the instructions from previous experience with these older Pz III kits. I've learned that it's much easier to attache the upper and lower hulls now before there are details to get in the way, so I cleaned up the upper hull and joined it to the lower hull, using liquid glue and several rubber bands to do the deed. This was allowed to set up overnight to get a good solid join before moving on. A small rectangular cut-out that isn't used on this Ausf was also filled with putty and sanded down to round things out here.



Going back to Step 5, I assembled and installed the gun mount. This is a tricky assembly because it's meant to leave the elevation and traverse of the gun pose-able, but the fit is loose at both the elevation pins and the base that attaches to the hull. For now I left it loose, but when it comes time to install the gun proper, both elements will be glued into a fixed position to avoid complications. The support platform for Herr Wittmann I left off entirely (poor guy doesn't have all of his legs and there's no interior, so he has to be supported somehow if he's added!)



Step 6 deals with the superstructure and calls for an important modification to be made for it to be accurate for an Ausf A. The superstructure is borrowed from the Ausf B kit and it has the incorrect hatch arrangement for the gunner's sight as a result molded in. This means that hatch panel has to be removed in its entirety and replaced with the kit supplied separate part. I used a razor saw blade to make general cuts to remove most of the hatch to start with.



Sprue cutters removed the bigger chunks and the rest had to be shaved down with a #11 blade with a lot of dry fitting and sanding to go with it before the opening was the right size to take the replacement part.



Step 7 calls for the installation of the various hatches and the addition of the front superstructure plate. The larger hatches have molded on and in detail that doesn't belong to the A, so the raised detail was removed with a 11 blade and the molded in detail puttied and sanded smooth. The front hull plate required some small putty work at the lower edges to fill small gaps there and with the superstructure where it fit to the lower hull.



Skipping around again, I worked on the details on the engine deck, using the Eduard items to replace inaccurate molded on detail. The clamps for the tow cable were just solid blocks, so these were clipped off and sanded down in favor of the open clamps from the Eduard set and the engine hatch handles also added. The small hasps for the hatch locks were also added to the top commander and loader hatches. The smoke grenade holder was assembled and added and I scrounged the actual grenades from spare parts left over from a DML DAK Pz I-B since the kit didn't supply any grenades. After painting, I will add some fine chain to complete their look.



Next up will be building and installing the gun as well as dealing with the front hull details and then on to the main attraction, the fenders!

[Bill Plunk]

The final day of the holiday weekend produced some progress, although not as much as I'd hoped for...but isn't that always the case of "eyes too big for the stomach" when it comes to holidays?

The next step was to mount the replacement gun barrel. To do this I had to remove the molded on portions of the housing on the two part assembly, this was done with sprue cutters and then the opening carefully enlarged enough to take the base of the barrel. It took some careful back and forth since I didn't want to glue the two halves together until I had the fit right, but once set, the halves were glued with liquid glue and allowed to set up. The seam was then carefully sanded down and then the aluminum barrel added with CA gel. The Eduard set supplied the small U bracket for the strap that normally holds the muzzle cap...but since I'm not installing the cap, I left the strap off as pics showing the cap stowed don't show the belt dangling, so I'm assuming they would stow the strap along with the cap inside the vehicle when it wasn't used. The gun was then attached to the mantlet plate with liquid glue and allowed to dry.



To install the gun, I first used a small brush and applied some liquid glue to the movable base to fix it into the desired position. Glue was applied both at the locking nut as well as the elevation pins to keep everything nice and steady. The mantlet was then glued on and supported with a paint brush handle for an hour or so until the glue had firmly set. The driver's visor was also added at this point along with the front towing pintles. The two-part pintles had ejector marks on their outer faces, so these were filled with putty and carefully sanded with a small strip of sandpaper super-glued to a toothpick for reaching the tight areas. Putty was applied around the pintle edges as well to simulate their weld seams. I held off mounting the front head lights for now to avoid damage and provide some extra work room for putting in the fenders.



I added the remaining details for the left hand side of the superstructure in the form of the driver's view port, the radio armored housing, and the air intakes on either side. The surfaces of the intakes were carefully sanded to make them level and then the Aber grilles installed using Gator Grip glue to allow for some work time and careful positioning. I used small amounts of liquid glue to secure the small attachment bolts to the engine deck. I also added some putty work to the top of the radio box and around the base of the mantlet where the housing attaches to simulate weld seams. I let the putty dry thoroughly then carefully created a weld seam pattern with the back edge of a #11 blade. Some additional putty was used under the driver's side port to fill a small gap that would otherwise be visible.



The next little detail involves the missing radio antenna. The kit supplies the base and swivel arm for it to mount to the box but the antenna itself is AWOL. I used a brass antenna from Armorscale since it doesn't have a base and is just the rod, carefully drilling out the kit part with a pin vise and then gluing the rod in with CA gel. I set this off to the side for a bit until the fender was installed to avoid damaging it in the process.



The next step involved some careful surgery...I removed both the front and rear mud flaps with sprue cutters then carefully trimmed back the kit styrene fender to take the Eduard replacements. The rear flap is a must to replace since the kit provided fender has the rectangular cut-out for a Notek light that isn't fitted to the A and the kit provides a styrene replacement...so if you're going to do the cutting, might as well get the benefit of the PE part IMHO. The rear flap had a left-over DML piece added to represent the cover for the rear light cut-out when the flap is in the down position. The open holes in the fender for the tools were all filed with putty, both on the underside and top side, since the Eduard clamps will be used instead. The antenna was installed into the mount and the Eduard PE support holder also installed just behind the intake.



Now that the fender was in place, I added the wiring from the width indicator lights and the Notek light in the form of some solder cut and bent to shape and carefully glued into position with liquid glue. The kit instructions tell you to remove the base of the Notek light but after checking several photos of A's in both France and on the Eastern Front, the Notek light was fitted more often than not, likely as a retro-fit. I've got photos in both Spielberger's Pz III and Variants and in Trojca's Stug III/IV At War showing A's with it fitted (these same photos show other unique A features so I'm sure it's not a case of bad captions), so it saves on some sanding as well as the inevitable bare spot in the tread-plate pattern that would result. The wire doesn't lead all the way to the tow pintle on purpose to allow sufficient clearance for the hooded headlamp to be mounted later on.



Next up will be the right side!

[Bill Plunk]

The latest batch of work dealt with adding the PE details to the fenders and, because it involves a lot of small pieces, was kind of slow going as a result. A lot of time was spent checking the fit and alignment, removing sections of the raised detail on the fenders, etc. I started on the left side fender first and worked front to back. The large storage box on the fender was completely replaced with the Eduard items and the rest of the tools for this side all had their molded-on clamps removed and the Eduard clamps installed in their place. The fire extinguisher got the biggest makeover, basically keeping only the cylinder and replacing everything else with the Eduard parts. While the kit instructions don't call for it, the rack for the cleaning rods installs on this fender. The kit has parts to achieve this but I opted instead for the Eduard parts and a left-over set of cleaning rods from a more modern DML kit. In order to get it placed properly, I had to install the shovel in place to insure there was enough room, but all the other tools are able to be fit into the clamps later on after painting and detailing.





With that out of the way, I added the right side fender after replacing the front and rear mudflaps and adding in the PE insert to the rear mudflap just as I had done with the left hand side. The mount holes for the various equipment were filled with putty and the fender installed. Once the mounts had set up, I added the right side superstructure extension and grab handle. I wired up the front width indicator light and siren with solder just as I had with the left hand side. I added the small clamps that secure the conduit in place with some small left over connecting strips from the Eduard fret. These are thinner and easier to bend to shape and there were plenty to choose from now that I'd completed the one fender side, so it was easy to find three of the same length. To shape them, I took a small piece of solder and secured it with a blob of blue tack, then bent the U-shape using a pair of pointed tweezers and voila! the same diameter bend I needed for the conduit was formed. A small dot of CA gel and they were secured in place.



The right side details were next, with the mirror image storage box added again. The jack had its molded on clamps removed in favor of the Eduard items and the two ejector marks on the outer side filled with putty and sanded down. The track changing tool was almost completely replaced (the kit item is styrene and calls for it to be bent into the correct shape) with the Eduard item, only the connecting cross bar was retained after I'd removed its molded on clamp. The clamps for the wire cutters were installed along with the simple holder for the S hook. The kit doesn't supply a jack block and I've got photos of A's with and without them, but opted to go ahead and add one and use the elevated Eduard tool box stand to accommodate it. The jack block is a single piece of PE with separate parts for the bolt straps and carry handle as well as the two mount rails to hold it in place. To allow access to the block for painting, I left the tool box and stand off for now.





The tool box and stand is almost a mini-kit all by itself, consisting of 17 different pieces in all. To get it all together required some careful consideration and I started with the box itself first, getting it all assembled before adding the stand elements. The two base parts were added directly to the box and then the legs with the retaining strap elements added last.



Rounding out the day's activities, I installed the two front head lights now that the major handling is done prior to painting anyway.



Next up is the initiation of the paint process and assembling the tracks.

[Bill Plunk]

The latest round of progress dealt almost exclusively with painting. I started things out by applying a primer coat of Italian Dark Brown to check everything and provide a foundation for the follow on coats.



Since I'm finishing this as a 1941 vehicle, the finish will be overall panzer gray, so that came next in the form of very light multiple airbrush passes of Panzer Schwarzgrau thinned down to allow the paint to slowly build up vs. a single heavy coat.



Next I added some highlights and shadows by selectively applying an 80/20 mix of Panzer Schwarzgrau/Light Gray. I dropped the airbrush pressure down to around 15 psi and used a 50-50 thinned mixture so as to avoid splatter but still be able to control where it went. This makes a nice foundation for the later weathering and variation steps that will take place while building on the underlying coat.



The road wheels came next, they were mounted on cut-down toothpicks with blue poster putty and stuck into my trusty styrofoam box base.



The appropriate circle diameters were masked off on my circle template, in this case 1/2" for the inner hub and 7/16" for the outer hub. The return rollers called for the 13/64" circle.



I sprayed the entire wheel first with Gunmetal to establish the desired rubber color, then used the template to airbrush the panzer gray portion. Once dry, the inner hubs were also sprayed.



The road wheel halves were then assembled and allowed to set up for about 1 hour before being mounted to the suspension arms with liquid glue.



Rounding things out, the return rollers were installed on both sides. This is a little tricky as the mount posts on the rollers are slightly smaller than the supports on the hull, so they have a little room to sag if not careful. I glued them into position and laid the model on its side, checking every 10 minutes or so as it set up that they didn't drift out of alignment. Once one side was done, the other went through the same process.



Next up are the tracks and the detailing work will begin on the fender equipment.

[Bill Plunk]

I started in on 2 weeks of vacation today so I hope to get in quite a bit of time to finish this one up before the year's out!

Today's efforts focused on the tools and fender gear. I had previously removed all the molded on clamps so now it was time to paint and detail them. The first step was to paint all the metallic surfaces with Testors Non-Buffing Metalizer Gunmetal. Even though the bottle says "airbrush only", these paints work great with a normal brush provided you keep the bottle well shaken, you have plenty of ventilation (they are lacquer based so heavy on the fumes), and you clean the brushes properly after use. The metalizer has the added advantage of drying very fast, so it's easy to move from one step to the next.



The metalizer by itself is pretty dark, but because it has small flakes in it, it serves as an excellent foundation for dry-brushing. I use a small brush and Model Master Steel to lighten it, wiping the brush on a doubled-over paper towel several times before committing it to the metalizer surface. Areas that I want to be brighter get multiple passes. Doing the dry-brushing now provides a lot of flexibility for both handling and not having to worry about it bleeding over into non-metallic areas.



Next is the detail painting for the "mixed media" tools...the wood handles or staves and the bakelite handles for the wire-cutters. I have my own special mix of "wood" color, but any tan or similar color will do as a base depending on what you've got available or feel like mixing up. I used Italian Dark Brown for the wire-cutter handles and Gunmetal for the rubber bases. The leather cover for the gun swab was painted first with enamel Leather and then brushed with black artist pastels to darken and vary it a bit.



Focusing in on the wood portions, I created an impromptu wash of Leather and thinner using a contact lens container as the mixing cup. I take a single brush full of paint, add thinner up to the top, then use the same brush to mix it all up together into a wash. There's not much time since the thinner will start to evaporate quickly because it's pretty thin, so I mix it up and apply immediately. This wash gets added to the wood portions in a single pass (anything more than that and the base paint will lift up) and then they are stuck into my handy blob of poster putty and allowed to dry.



The color is then accentuated by using artist pastels, I have a set of Mungyo sticks that I picked up at Hobby Lobby for $5 several years ago...they last forever and are very versatile. I use a Filbert brush that has a stubby thick handle and load it up with the pastel dust, then apply it to the handles and allow the paint to "grab" it and produce some subtle shading and variation in the process. Passes are done lightly to avoid it getting too heavy.



Once everything was set and dry, the tools were installed into their various clamps and secured. Photos show that the gun swab was sometimes installed with the head towards the front, sometimes to the rear...I chose the front just to allow it to show some color contrast to the hull.



The opposite fender got the same treatment with its tools installed. The jack block received the same treatment as the wood handles on the other tools and the Eduard etched wood-grain really "pops" under this approach. Too bad most of it will get hidden away...



...by the installed tool box.



Still need to work on the rear hull details and then will start the weathering of the lower hull and get the tracks squared away.

[Bill Plunk]

I finished up the track runs today for the Model Kasten links. The set recommends 92-93 per side for the Pz III and I assembled the runs first with 90 links each per side for consistency. This particular set has separate hollow guide horns that have to be added to each link and the runs are handed, just like on the real deal, vs. the DML links which were not handed. The DML links also had flash in their molded on guide horns on most of the links as well as some very deep pin marks depending on where the links were on the sprue. At the end of the day, the DML links would likely have taken more work to use so I'm glad I went with the MKs.



After test fitting them to the suspension (I used blue tack to temporarily mount the idler), both sides needed 92 links to fit properly and produce the desired amount of sag. It wasn't necessary to adjust the position of the idler, so it worked out pretty well in both respects.



I used my standard method of painting these types of tracks, beginning with a "primer" coat of Model Master Flat Black by airbrush as a protective barrier before applying the over coat of Non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal. The metalizer is lacquer-based and past experience has shown it has a tendency to weaken the pins if applied directly in a heavy coat so the primer coat is mostly to prevent that but has the added bonus of reducing the amount of metalizer that needs to be sprayed. This was then dry brushed with Steel and a wash of Raw Umber applied to blend in the Steel with the metalizer.



While the lower hull was still readily accessible, I did some "pre weathering" prep work by dry brushing some Steel and Burnt Umber along with an overall Raw Umber wash. The sprocket teeth were dry brushed with Steel on their contact points as was the idler. The tracks were then installed and the final pins put in place and the idler glued into position.



Returning back to the details, I put in some work on the rear hull. The tail lights were finished with Tamiya Clear Red. The exhausts/mufflers were base coated with metalizer then given multiple successive washes of Rust to build up the finish and provide some variation. I also added some short lengths of 46 link-per-inch chain (originally intended as scale logging chain from a model railroad shop purchased on eBay), attaching them with small amounts of CA gel and then trimming the lengths to match.



The front hull also got some added attention. The width indicator lights had their faces painted with Silver and the glass faces will be added later. I also decided to add a detail that shows up quite frequently on both StuG As and Bs from the 1941 time period in the form of an extra run of track links suspended between the tow hooks. What makes this different is that the photos usually show that the guide horns were turned inward and the run deliberately hung so that it would create a "spaced" effect between the links and the hull for added protection. The MK set didn't have enough links to create this run of 15 links (only 8 links were left over from the set as spares), so I had to improvise. I used some of the DML links and added 2 of the MK links to either end to allow for flexibility in mounting to the tow points. Since I'd already installed the mount points earlier, I had to carefully cut through them and/or the links to get it to fit, but after installation the surgery isn't visible. This run was treated the same as the fitted tracks with the exception of a wash of Burnt Umber used followed by a wash of Rust after the Steel had been dry-brushed. I'm still going to fine tune this a bit more once the links have thoroughly dried in position to avoid problems, but they are 95% done the way I want them.



Next up will be a coat of Future, the markings, and then on to the weathering!

[Bill Plunk]

Just in time for Christmas...a small update. Small in terms of photos but no in terms of work that is!

I started in on the weathering today by applying a dot filter to the upper hull surfaces. The dot filter comprised Flat Sea Blue, Flat White, and Flat Yellow. I worked slowly section by section, fine-tuning as I went and taking breaks due to the thinner exposure on a regular basis.



This was followed up with a secondary filter of lightened Dunkelgelb that I normally use for dunkelgelb base coats and is an 80/20 mix of Dunkelgelb and Light Gray.



This process was repeated over all the other sections and then followed by a pin wash of Burnt Umber.



Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! I will try to get some bench time in tomorrow depending and, if so, will continue on with the pigment treatment for the lower hull.

[Bill Plunk]

Yesterday was too busy with Christmas activities (including going to see Valkyrie), so the pigment work didn't start until today. I decided to take a more layered approach vs. how I would normally apply pigments to the lower hull. The previous work was sealed with a coat of Testors Lusterless Flat in the spray can to remove any lingering gloss effects from the Future and to provide some "tooth" for the pigment treatment. Once that had dried, I began by applying MIG Dark Mud as a dry powder to the areas of the lower hull.



Next I wet the dry powder using water with a drop of dish-washing liquid soap added to it to break the surface tension and make it more manageable. I use the water as a means to fix the pigment as it allows a lot of flexibility for adjustment as I'll demonstrate in the next steps. While the Dark Mud was still wet, I stippled on some Europe Dust with a small brush in semi-random places and let that dry.



Once both colors had dried, I blended them together and removed some of the excess powder using a dry Q-tip.



Next I added some highlights and dust accumulation using MIG Gulf War Sand. This was applied as a dry powder to the hull sides first and blended in and to the raised torsion bars, bump stops, and shock absorbers as a wet powder...I applied water first to the areas I wanted to lighten, then added the powder to the water and let it air dry. Once dry I removed the excess with a stiff bristled brush.



As a final step, I mixed up a very thin wet mix of the Gulf War Sand and added it to the lower hull, being careful not to "flood" but just lightly apply it so that when it dried, it would combine with the previous Dark Mud and Europe Dust but without overpowering them in the process.



Satisfied with the lower hull, I moved on to the tracks and wheels. These received my "standard" wet mixture of Gulf War Sand and this was allowed to air dry.



Using both round and square stiff bristled brushes, the excess pigment was removed and smoothed.



The pigment is still too heavy and uniform, so to further adjust and fine-tune it, I used another Q-tip, one end wet and the other dry, to achieve what I was after. The dry end was used first on the inner hubs and areas where I wanted a little more pigment to remain and the wet end was used on the rubber tires and areas that I wanted less pigment to remain so that it provided a contrast.



This process was repeated for the opposite side and both track runs carefully positioned for the desired sag, then carefully glued in place to avoid shifting using liquid glue around the sprocket, idler, return rollers, and contact areas on the road wheels.

I also managed to get a light dust coat applied to the fenders before having to call it a halt for the day.



Getting closer to the finish line, tomorrow should see it all wrapped up.

[Bill Plunk]

Work continued with the pigments today and dealt with the upper hull surfaces for the most part. Using the same methods as with the fenders, I applied a very thin "wash" of Gulf War Sand mixed in water with a small brush and let it air dry. The same arsenal of stiff bristled brushes and wet and dry Q-tips were also employed. I started with the front hull and superstructure first. I went with the "less is more" approach, leaving only enough of the "dust" effect in the weld seams and hatch hinges/rims to suggest a slight accumulation but without overpowering the previous effects from the dot filter and pin washes. To get an idea of how subtle the change is, compare the front to the superstructure roof which hasn't yet received a pigment treatment.



The next area to attend to was the engine deck. I deliberately skipped the roof because I needed a place I can "handle" without risking disturbing the pigments. Since the deck is rather "bare" vs. the "gypsy caravan" look that StuGs rapidly took on, it presents a nice canvas to play with. There are lots of nooks and crannies so I worked carefully one section at a time and deliberately tried to avoid too uniform of a look as a result.



The last area was the superstructure roof and sides. I tried to keep this the lightest area for the dust due to the possibility of the crew moving about in their day-to-day activity and therefor limiting the amount of dust accumulation.



I'm just waiting for the lenses in the width indicator lamps to dry, I used Testors Window Maker stuff for that and it takes a bit to dry thoroughly, but once it does it will be off to the photo booth for this one.