Dragon Stug III Ausf. G May 1943 Production

[ThatTankNerd]

Greetings all

Today I'm going to initiate the build log of my newest kit, one of Dragon's Stug III Ausf G kits. This version is an Alkett production model from around May 1943, so I'm going to represent it as a Kursk vehicle, which is exciting for me as I have never made a Kursk vehicle of any kind. Being a Dragon kit, there isn't much that needs replacing, no two-piece barrels, enough photo etch and even metal shurzen to boot. However, the DS tracks that came with the kit are just totally inadequate. The material used is way too floppy, which just doesn't look like a real track once on the model. Even more horrifying than this is the extremely spongy detail on the track insides. I would expect this from a 1970's Tamiya kit, but not a 2014 Dragon release! So some Fruilmodell tracks will need to be bought later on.

[img][IMG]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w47 ... aznu3c.jpg[/img][/img]

The wheels assembled very nicely, with two parts interlocking to form one road wheel. What really amazes me about these road wheels is that Dragon have managed to mold the Continental name on the tires of the wheels, something that I know exists on a few German vehicles like the Tiger I (I've had the pleasure of seeing Tiger 131 on several occasions in the last few months), but have never seen on a model.

[img][IMG]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w47 ... bufc3g.jpg[/img][/img]

I'll be updating the build with more photos, but not for a few weeks, as I am quite busy at the moment

[ThatTankNerd]

Back again, earlier than I had previously expected. Managed to get a bit more done on the construction of the Stug.



I finished the side fenders of the vehicle, with all of the tools and clamps in place. This wasn't that difficult to construct, and there were no big problems at this point with the instructions, apart from being quite busy. However, the parts did have a few knock-out pins, which have caused some irregularities in the parts from their removal.







The top superstructure is coming on nicely, with no seams or fit issues. As this vehicle comes with a more or less complete superstructure interior, I have chosen to leave the roof unglued, so that it can be removed to see the insides of the vehicle. The quality of the mouldings, with features like weld beads and rivets are going to take a wash so well



Finally, I have constructed a few of the radios for the interior, which have a very nice detail of buttons and knobs, I'm looking forward to drybrushing these.

Next update will probably be the remaining superstructure, upper hull, interior and gun, although this is probably a tad optimistic

[ThatTankNerd]

Just realized that the kits interior is far from complete, so the roof will be glued, gonna have to get some figures for the hatches

[SergioSolo]

It's a gorgeous tank. Good luck with it!

[HamilkarBarkas]

Beware of the tracks in this kit! They are too short, at least HollywoodModelling´s and mine were.

[ThatTankNerd]

Yea I've seen the DS tracks and they've awful. The inner detail is so spongy and they're way too short. Give me magic tracks any day of the week