Cyber-Hobby StuG.III Ausf.b

Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:55 am

So,while the primer is drying on my Sdkfz 251 and Fiat drag car I was looking through my little stash and decided...what the hell,why not start a third build and grabbed this kit off the shelf

Now,I have a confession to make...I absolutely love the looks of a Stug III! I don't know if it is the low profile or what but to me they just look sexy.I have been holding off building this kit until my skills develop further but then decided the only way to get better is to build more,right? I will be building a Stug from StuG.Abt.192 that saw action on the Ostfront in 1941.I haven't found a ton of info online on this unit so here is a brief summary of their service record and some photos.

Sturmartillerie-Abteilung 192

Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 192 (Feb 41)

Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung Großdeutschland (Apr 42)

Nov 40 - formed with three batteries and transferred to Huta-Dambrova, Poland shortly afterwards

Mar 41 - assigned to XXXXIV Corps, 4th Army, Army Group B

Jun 41 - XII Corps, 4th Army, Army Group Center

Jul 41 - XXXXVII Corps (mot.), 2nd Panzer Group, Army Group Center

Sep 41 - XIII Corps, 2nd Army, Army Group Center

Dec 41 - 4th Army, Army Group Center

Feb 42 - 4th Army, Army Group Center (less one battery assigned to XII Corps)

Mar 42 - transferred to Germany and deactivated

Apr 42 - consolidated with Sturmgeschütz-Batterie 640 and 16.(Sturmgeschütz) Kompanie/Infanterie-Regiment Großdeutschland and redesignated as Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung Großdeutschland. Attached to Inf.Div. (mot.)/Pz.Gren.Div. Großdeutschland

Dec 44 - redesignated II./Panzer-Regiment Brandenburg

This is my first Dragon/Cyber-Hobby build and I have to say that after building old AMT car kits for years it is nice not having to sand tons of flash off of every part

I don't know the age of this kit but the sprues are nicely molded and have almost zero flash.Anyway here are the pics of the sprues and other goodies.

Hull looks pretty nice.

Decals and PE.The skull markings are two-piece and lack the colored back ground for some reason

I will probably use Star or Archer decals to make things a little bit easier.

And Dragon's famous/infamous Magic Track.I have never used Magic Tracks before so this ought to be interesting

This kit also comes with some pertty nice Wehrmacht figures.

Simplified instruction sheet with nice color call-outs as long as you are using Mr Hobby or Model Master paint

Anyway,enough rambling on...it's time to get to work

Post by **SyntaxModels** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:24 am

You're not alone in loving the look of the Stug III! It's one of my personal favorite fighting vehicles of WW2! Those sprue shots look nice and I can't wait to see you tackle it!

Post by **Tiger131** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:41 am

Them are some superb picture of this stug...look foward to seein u capture some of the drama

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:46 pm

Looks great! I find the massive skelton baby jumping to be quite funny. Good luck with the build!!!

Post by **Coen** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:02 pm

I couldn't agree with you more Steve! The StuG is an awesome machine. I've loved them from the first time that I saw one.
They were also the most successful AFV of WWII. Fantastic piece of engineering.
The A B and Cs are my favourites so I'll look forward to seeing what you chose to do with this.

Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:37 am

Thanks guys

I have got a little more done tonight.I got all the road wheels,drive sprockets,idlers and return rollers done and the lower hull together.Everything went together pretty good despite Dragons somewhat cryptic instructions

There were some ejector pin marks on the idler wheels that needed some Mr dissolved putty but other than that everything is looking good so far.

Lower hull.

Drilled the exhaust tips out a little more.

Road wheels and such.

Thanks for looking

Post by **SyntaxModels** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 7:27 am

Looks great steve, can't wait for the Stug to come together!

Post by **Tiger131** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:14 am

got some dragon kits for xmas so this is putting me in the mood for them

Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:36 am

Well,life has been getting in the way of my modelling lately but I have managed to get this beast a little bit closer to being done.I am pretty much done with the build stage of this project (except for the tracks) and it has been pretty much trouble free except for a couple minor hiccups that were totally operator error

Now,one of there errors I have Coen to blame,I have been watching all of his shadow build videos (All the way through,not just seven minuets

) and whilst watching him apply zimmerit I was gluing down the engine hatches and was mesmerized by his silky smooth voice and suave debonair-ness

and Bam,thumb print on the rear deck

Oh,well at least it was in an easy to get to spot.

Here are the exhausts roughed up with some Mr Surfacer 500 ready to be rusted.

After that little engine hatch mishap everything went pretty smoothly except for breaking one of the nickle PE antenna trough supports (again,another easy fix) and now I am ready to attempt my first go at Magic tracks.

Post by **Coen** » Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:24 am

Haha! " silky smooth voice and suave debonair-ness "
You're a funny guy Steve

Get yourself one of these little things bud.

I use them to remove pesky fingerprints. Works like a charm. They're also good for cleaning up glue spills and excess glue marks.
You can also use them to distress paint to make it look worn.

Post by **AchtungPanzer** » Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:34 am

Nice professional kit . Good strat and good luck

Post by **Yevgeny** » Thu Dec 11, 2014 1:31 am

Looks very neat

Looking forward to see the rest

Post by **Hillbilly** » Thu Dec 11, 2014 4:02 pm

Thanks for looking guys

Nice tip on the fiberglass pen Coen.I had kinda forgotten about these things,I used to use a different version back in my R/C car racing days to clean up the commutator on my brushed motors,might even still have one laying around here someplace.

Post by **Nige99** » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:19 pm

Not got a stug but will be having one soon! Looks great

Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:26 pm

Nige99 wrote:Not got a stug but will be having one soon! Looks great

Thanks Nige

Ok,I have made some more headway on this thing.I was kinda leery about doing Magic Tracks at first but then I watched Coen's video on them and said stuff-it and dove in with both feet.After I got them done I kinda felt stupid for being hesitant,they went together like a dream.While I was building track I went ahead and made a small run for the extra track links between the front towing eyes.After that I have everything primed with Alclad black primer and now ready for some dunkelgrau

Post by **PaulAyrey** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:40 pm

Looks great so far!

Post by **SyntaxModels** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:48 pm

Looking ace so far mate

Watching for more

Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:24 am

Great work on the magic tracks!

I'll be interested to see how you weather it as a grey camouflaged tank can be quite hard to add interest to as monotone colours limit the modulation options.

Post by **Nige99** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 4:15 pm

I must say I love the way you've put sag into the tracks with the cotton buds! Great idea

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 11:15 pm

SyntaxModels wrote:Looking ace so far mate Watching for more

PaulAyrey wrote:Looks great so far!

Thanks guys

WirbelwindModelling wrote:Great work on the magic tracks!

I'll be interested to see how you weather it as a grey camouflaged tank can be quite hard to add interest to as monotone colours limit the modulation options.

I am still deciding my plan of attack on that subject,I will probably try some combination of these.

Nige99 wrote:I must say I love the way you've put sag into the tracks with the cotton buds! Great idea

Yep they work great,It's a tip I learned from one of Coen's Jagdpanzer buddy build videos......Now,not trying to come off as a nut-swinger here,but I think anyone new to AFV modelling should watch Coen's Jagdpanzer video series,sooooo much good info there

Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:44 am

Good choice of products you have there, I would also suggest for chipping a reddish-brown colour in very small quantities as metallic and get chips don't really stand out well on a great base.

I do look forward to how this progresses

Post by **Coen** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 1:45 am

Nut-swinger? Hehe. I'll have to remember that one.

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Wed Dec 24, 2014 11:56 am

This looks like a fun project, very nice

Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Dec 31, 2014 6:30 pm

Alright,getting closer to the end now.

Got the base paint of Tamiya XF-63 laid down.It's not really that light the lighting makes it look that way.

The Alliance Modelworks wheel masks worked a treat when painting the road wheels.

Next were the tools.Kinda got carried away with the metallic pigments,but oh well it is what it is.

Then I got the exhausts rusted.I started with a base coat of Vallejo rust and then used a combination of AK medium and light rust pigments.After that I used the hairspray technique to chip the XF-63 top coat.I am not real happy with one of the mufflers as the top coat came off in too big of pieces

Now I am trying to decide whether to do some panel fading then filters or just go straight to filters....

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:10 pm

Small update.I have the clear coat down and the Star decals on.These decals went down real nice,very minimal carrier film overhang and they are DEAD flat.Next is another coat of clear and then a pin wash with AK wash for Panzer grey vehicles.

Post by **Coen** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:52 pm

That's excellent looking HB! Really nice decal work.

Post by **Hillbilly** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:35 am

Thanks Michael

I just noticed in the pics that there looks like some silvering but there isn't it's just the flat carrier film.I put a couple coats of clear on it and the decal carrier film is now invisible.

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:53 pm

With the build stage of my Brummbar out of the way I have made a little more headway on this build.After a coat of flat clear I used some of AK's filter for German grey to give the base coat some tonal variation.I have never used this product before so I didn't really know what it was gonna look like and to be honest I'm not really 100% happy with it.It went down a little bit streaky,it probably should have been thinned a little bit but it's too late now.

After that I used some AK streaking grime for German grey vehicles.Then I did some light chipping with Vallejo hull red and some Vallejo old wood for the antenna trough.The chipping turned out real subtle(like I wanted) but dosen't show well in the pictures

Next it's painting the tracks and installing them along with the tools.

Post by **SyntaxModels** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:57 am

Looking good mate!

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:03 am

Zoomed in and saw some great streaking effects!

Post by **EasyEight96** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:47 am

Very nice job on the build and paint job can't wait to see it done

Post by **Hillbilly** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:01 pm

SyntaxModels wrote: Looking good mate!

EasyEight96 wrote:Very nice job on the build and paint job can't wait to see it done

gustavlekstal wrote:Zoomed in and saw some great streaking effects!

Thanks alot guys

The more I look at it mabye it isn't quite as bad as I first thought,still could have been better though.But you know how it is ,we are our own worst critics sometimes.

Post by **JayCub** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:38 pm

Nice work Steve we can see a brilliant build from this side, and now im looking forward to seeing more of this build
Tom

Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:04 am

Ok,I got this thing a little bit closer to being done tonight

First off spare track links.They were already primed with Alclad black primer so I then gave them a light coat of Vallejo Model Air rust and then added some AK medium rust pigments fixed with some enamel thinner.After that I used some AK light rust pigment again fixed with enamel thinner.The effect is nice,but maybe a little OTT might have to tone it down some (they aren't really as bright as the pics show).

Next are the main tracks.As with the spare track links they were primed Alclad black and lightly sprayed with Vallejo rust.After that I gave them a drybrushing with Vallejo Model Color oily steel.

I used some Mig black soot pigments to give the exhausts a little more color.

Now it was the drive sprockets and idlers turn for some pigments.I used Mig gunmetal to give them some shine where the tracks ride.

All that is left is to get the tracks on and do some final touch-ups.I am still undecided if I am going to do any dust effects yet I'll decide after the tracks and tools are on.

Post by **gustavlekstal** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 7:47 am

Its one of my favorite things to add a bit of metal and it looks great!

the spare tracks rust looks a bit overpowered with orange on the photo. Maby its the photo but its hard to see the ground work.

This panzer gonna look stunning!

Post by **EasyEight96** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:04 am

cool don't mine if I use this technique on my other tanks too

Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:44 pm

gustavlekstal wrote:Its one of my favorite things to add a bit of metal and it looks great! the spare tracks rust looks a bit overpowered with orange on the photo. Maby its the photo but its hard to see the ground work.

This panzer gonna look stunning!

Yea,in hindsight I prob. should have stopped after the medium rust pigments.Shouldn't be a problem to fix though.

EasyEight96 wrote:cool don't mine if I use this technique on my other tanks too

Nothing I have done on this build is groundbreaking,it's just techniques I have picked up here and in various books and videos.

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:00 am

Ok,final post on this one.

I completed final assembly and done any touch ups needed and here is where she stood.

I was on the fence about doing anymore weathering but decided to add some dust effects.I used some AK earth effects and dust effects sprayed in light coats concentrating on the lower part of the model.

After spraying the dust effects look too uniform.

So I then took a brush dampened with enamel thinner and stumped the dust effects to give it a random effect.And here is the final result,I think I am going to call this one done and put it on the shelf and post some final reveal pics.Thanks again to everyone that has posted.

Post by **Yevgeny** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:05 am

Beautifully done. Tank looks heavy

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:09 am

Yevgeny wrote:Beautifully done. Tank looks heavy

Thanks

Post by **Kevinzane** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:25 am

Awsome work man! I believe The stug III is the most good looking tank of all time. Good work!