AllenD's 1/35 Dragon StuG IV, Last Production '45 - Bob's StuG GB

[Allen Dewire]

Thanks Paul,

1st retirement comes from America. 2nd will be the Military (still fighting with them) and 3rd will be from Germany (beer money +)…...

[tr1ckey66]

Very neat and tidy work Allen. This will be one detailed Stug IV for sure!
Cheers
Paul

[BigGreg]

ALLEN... sorry that l missed this one....i'm IN late...but if I may i'm in..

[Steve Jones]

Terrific update Allen. Loads of options for the tracks and other goodies. Keep it comin mate

[Jim R]

Hi Allen
Looking great. All looks neat.
Jim

[BattleshipBob]

Evening Allen

Looking the business, lovely work!!!

Bob

[Guest]

Dude1, looking good buddy.

[Allen Dewire]

Morning StuG Lovers Around the Globe,

Like a lot of folks. I'm at home for a week or two and have been working on my StuG to pass the time. It's not easy, but with all the encouragement from you fine folks, It is fun not to worry where the time goes while playing at the table.

A huge thank you goes out to PaulS, Paul66, Greg, Stevie, Jim, Bob and Dude 2 (John) for fine comments and support on this project. The brain farts have pretty much subsided now too......

I did try out my plan to get the Saukopfblende on the gun and it worked without busting up anything,


I then decided to leave it on, cause if I tried to get it off, I would bust stuff. I painted all around it as there would be no way to shoot this with the AB. When I get to the hissy portion. I'll slip a cover over it. Next up was fitting the rear deck with the fencing. It sat too high and had a 1mm gap above the rear exhaust plate. I went about sanding the vents and finally got it to sit almost flush. While admiring my sanding skills and tipping the model towards the sky, the rear deck slipped off and hit the floor. DOH!!!...…...But I got lucky,


Just the fence popped off as well as one of the mounting feet. After a long while of scratching off the old CA and making 2 new feet, I was able to CA it back on. I also decided to glue on the rear deck to avoid any more mishaps,


I inserted a very thin strip of sheet to ensure the gap was sealed. It was now time for a little more of the glitzy stuff. Support straps for the forward side skirt mounts as well as my field mod on the left side skirt mount (tan Pieces),


My biggest fear was that the plate would not clear the strap on the right, but,


It was fine in the end and we could move on to more little details. I damn near forgot to add the gun sight. That would have been a fun job after the roof was glued on. Convoy light mount, ventilator cover, rear side skirt mounts, rear fenders and the tow cable hooks,


I must remember to paint the sight before fastening the roof. You can see that the left tow cable hook had pinged off into oblivion so I scratched up a new one. Another view of my baby,


In the mess behind her are the other various sundries needed to complete the StuG including a nice brass tow cable. The biggest remaining obstacle is whether or not to let the crew be warm inside or be chilly in the March to April '45 timeframe,


The etch plates are just set in place for a test fit. I might close a few and leave a few open. I'll kick it around a bit while working on the side skirts (schurzen). Still more tidbits to add and start gathering/prepping the Gerödel* for the rear deck. Then it's out with the hissy stick.....

That's all for now. Still a lot to do, but we are getting there. Thank You again for looking in and all C, C and C are welcome…….

Bleib Gesund (stay healthy)
Allen

*Gerödel = Crapintheback (from PaulE)

[Guest]

Dude 1 Greetings from sunny Race Towers.

looking really good buddy. Nice to see some real progress from Bamberg V2 Site.

[scottie3158]

Looking good mate.

[Mini Me]

Interesting feature I hadn't noticed before. The cover over the gun mantle, was that a standard feature of the Stug. lV or a field mod. ?
Great job so far Sir, looking forward to seeing it come together.
Rick H.

[Graeme C.]

Looking good Allen, are the etch bits in the kit or aftermarket?

[BattleshipBob]

Interesting feature I hadn't noticed before. The cover over the gun mantle, was that a standard feature of the Stug. lV or a field mod. ?
Great job so far Sir, looking forward to seeing it come together.
Rick H.

Field mod Rick, both the StuG 111 and IV always had a gap between the base of the gun shield and the superstruture, the StuG 111 often had canvas and the IV the metal rain and everything else shield.

[BattleshipBob]

Lovely work Allen, superb StuG, they all are (tablets not working lol)

[Mini Me]

Thanks Allen, that explains a lot. I knew about the canvas on the lll, I just never saw that tin plate over a mantle on a lll or lV. Obviously reminiscent of the TigerVl and Panther V debris shields that I so often see in ref. photos. Cheers Rick H.