SimonT - 1/35 Zvezda Stug.IIIB - Bobs StugGB

[SimonT]

Not done any more on this yet but I did check it against the plans in Achtung Panzer

Good news is that it seems pretty good so there will be no need to slice it - sorry Si

[SimonT]

well, as previously mentioned this is not the best moulded kit in the world

A few more parts have been cleaned up but it is slow progress as every part needs either sanding flat, scraping square, filling/sanding or all of the above

Hatch doors shown in progress above have a typical mix of sink marks and ejector pin marks plus flared edges

Only bits assembled so far are the three sections of barrel housing - dry fit showed that they did not fit together at all well so the pins were sliced off and the mating surfaces sanded

This gave a better fit but a skim of filler was still required along the seams - the front section had sink marks so also needed filling

Day off today so may get some more done later.......

[Si Benson]

Morning Simon,
I see the squadron green is out In force! I’ve been meaning to ask about that as my tube was pretty firm and getting it to smear into plastic was near impossible!

The white wasn’t much better and I ended up thinning it with lacquer thinners .
Did I get some duff tubes or is that right?

[SimonT]

Hi Si - certainly is :smiling2:

If it was hard from day one then you got an old / duff tube

It should be nice and squidgy and smearable when new

Unfortunately the lids never fit very well and the toluene evaporates and it gets harder and harder to persuade it to leave the tube

I generally find that by the time I have used half a tube it is getting hard - rather wasteful but still my favourite filler

It thins nicely with liquid cement until it reaches the point of no return

[Steve Jones]

A day at the bench Mr T. You lucky bugger. Nice to see you beating this one into submission. Its certainly not an easy ride for you this one.

[SimonT]

Steve - using up holidays :thumb2: Back to work for three days :sad-face: off Friday:thumb2: then off until 6th Jan:thumb2::thumb2::thumb2:
It was considered to be a generally reasonable kit when Dragon first released it but this incarnation from worn moulds is not great. All pretty straightforward to rectify though - doesn't need major surgery

Update time

After spending most of the day on this I haven't really got too far because of the aforementioned requirement to rectify defects on every part



sink marks filled on both sides of the upper hull sides


sprockets were rather poor - every tooth had flash and all the holes between spokes had excess flare

the mating surfaces between front and rear halves had lumps and bumps and pin marks and badly formed location pins

had to sand them totally flat then try and find the best position to join them



gun barrel mount sink marks filled and sanded

missing bolt heads added to rear of front plate in each corner



the track guards have had the front and rear end sections cut off as they will be replaced with etch

these both now need sanding wafer thin

[Mini Me]

I think you are going to need some more putty after this build is concluded Mr. T. It seems this particular kit is not only lacking in detail but also in quality of the tooling as well. I am however, glad you haven't binned it. I'm rather fond of these early stugs. Cheers, Rick H.

[SimonT]

You could be right Rick

Detail isn’t too bad really especially when you consider how old this kit really is

It would have to get really bad before I binned it

When I did the Tamiya Stug IV that got sliced in every direction and rebuilt - good fun

[Fernando N]

Looking good, given the lack of detail and excess flash in the kit, glad you’re still on it Simon.

Will be an interesting companion to the many Tammie B’s in the GB :smiling: .

[Guest]

Well done Simon. Apart from all that flash I of course just put it all together and relied on the mud !

[BattleshipBob]

Thats a lot of work Simon, cannot fault the hard work:thumb2:

[SimonT]

Fernando - needs a bit more work than a Tammy but hopefully the end result will be ok

Hi John - it's ok you have special dispensation due to being ocularly challenged. Mud is good

Cheers Bob



sanding of the track guards continues........

[Guest]

Thanks Simon .
Christine says I'm a challenge ! :smiling2::smiling2:

Just how thin are you going on those guards ?

[SimonT]

About half a mm John

Once I get it down to the chequer plate I will then use pewter to make the angle irons for the outer edges

[Guest]

I'll look fwd to see the result , I take it you sand from the back ?