Pz.Bef.Wg III Ausf.J w/schurzen Dragon 6570

[Quax]

Hi all this is my belated entry into the GB, a Panzer iii J variant. My reasoning behind this is that it was £25 which for a Dragon kit is a good price although according to Scalemates some parts of it date from 1987. It comes with a small PE sheet and DS tracks along with nickel type schurzen. The aerial that seems to have been developed to allow the crew to practise their basketball in combat looks like a nightmare and may well have been destroyed in action…
I suffer a little from arthritis brought on by drilling out Fruil tracks for an early King Tiger so I’ve decided to try the Easy Metal links to see how they go. I gather there may be sprocket fit issues with them but I’ll let you know when I get there.
Now for the obligatory sprue shots, I’m sorry if they’re blurry it’s the cameras fault… There are 3 A sprues 2 from the Stug III and one from Panzer III as well as at least one Panzer IV sprue.

Nice box art

Instructions and sprue map, a bit of blue but not too much

Top of the hull and fenders etc

More hull plus turret basket and turret schurzen

Rest of the turret plus fuzzy bits…

PE, clear bits and tiny bits plus the gun

Wheels, hull and parts for the hull

Easy Metal Links Winterketten
So construction begins, all the wheels needed the seam removing from the rim and they were slightly odd in the sense that it seemed to be in a W shape which made it more work than usual as you couldn’t just scrape a blade along them. They are from a Stug III G sprue as are the sprocket and returns. Unlike the Stug III G late the pe that goes in the wheel is in 3 pieces rather than one, this caused a degree of consternation as it was difficult a)not to bend the ends and B) trying to support the arc sensibly

I got there eventually and with a little remedial CA to pin it down. This is the fully assembled lower hull. All the wheels are removeable for painting

You then move on to the exhaust area

And then the pe goes on top…

Next comes the fenders which threw me into deep dudgeon on the Stug III G late but that’s for the next exciting episode…

[Quax]

Hull completed but I've left the aerials and schurzen hangers off at the moment because I know I'll only break them. There are some holes in the fenders for other variants that need filling but I'll do that all at the same time.

[SergioSolo]

Nice project and great start

[Quax]

Thanks Sergiotron

[panzerman825]

The build is progressing nicely. Cool after market tracks. Enjoy the rest of the project. Bill

[Quax]

Thanks Bill, when I get to the tracks I'll let you know what I think of them, the sprocket teeth may need a hack but it remains to be seen whether that overrides the 400 holes you need to drill with Fruits...

[Quax]

First a quick note on Easy Metal Links:
Are they flash free and easy to use: yes, about 20 minutes a side or less



Do they require 3 weeks of drilling 400 holes like Fruils? No



Do my hands hurt afterwards? No



Do they fit the sprocket properly? Sadly no…



Are they cheaper than Fruils? Just, but not a lot in it
Are they as good as Fruils: no
Do they look ok, sag etc? well if you ignore the sprocket then yes. It could be that the guide horns are slightly too big, I have a few spares left and when I get a chance I’ll do a test and hack them up…



And the other side for balance… Looking at the diagrams on the instructions it shows 4 standoffs per side attached to the skirt for the schurzen, these seem to be completely missing from the instructions but are actually on the pe sheet



Nearly there now, I even managed to get the aerials off the sprue without snapping them which for me was a minor miracle…
sorry for the fuzziness, I'd had a glass of wine
Thanks for looking

[Tiger213]

Nice and clean build so far
I like the tracks, to be honest, never heard of Easy Links, but I like the speed of build...I've been using only Friul and Spade Ace. Where did you buy these?

[Quax]

Hi Tiger, thanks.

They're from Historex Agents and the code is EML35003.

cheers

Paul

[Bissyboat]

Looking good. I like the side armour plates.

[Quax]

Many thanks Bissyboat

[Quax]

I managed to make some progress this weekend, the Pz iii was primed with Ultimate black and at that point I was planning on chipping with worn effects so added some Tamiya Hull Red lighteed with a bit of white



I then changed my mind deciding that most of it would be hidden with whitewash so covered this up



And then I had a look through the catalogue of “Made up camouflages R Us” and added brown and green lines in as artistic fashion as I could muster…



I then did the same with the schurzen and added a bit of chipping here and there across the kit



I have plans for a diorama so thought I’d do a quick mock up of figures with the tank to see if it looks ok. The commander and the motorbike and rider are from the Tamiya KT Ardennes kit and the kneeling one is Miniart. The commander had to go on a diet to fit in the cupola….



On the theme of a diorama I bravely decided I would add a Soviet tank in a damaged state so I bought this from evilbay £12 delivered.



Sprueshot



The kit is not great, the one sheet of Polish (I assume) instructions is ok if it actually gave sprue numbers and that the sprues actually had numbers. The fit was interesting… As I said I wanted a rusted damaged Soviet tank so I wasn’t really worried, had I have desperately wanted a T-26 with a BT2 turret I would have been alarmed!



Said T-26 with a bit of green and some early rust, note the turrets collision with a 5cm round. One would suspect that had it been an 88 the entire tank would just have vanished….



Thanks for looking

[Tomcat64]

Wow that's coming together really nicely - looking forward to how you bring all the components on the dio

[Quax]

Thanks Tomcat, mine compared to yours will be like comparing a Goya with a childs crayon picture...

[Quax]

So this is my attempt to make the poor T-26 look a bit burnt, I think it looks ok





Just needs a coat of varnish, some enamel rust stuff and then the snow added. I’ve surprised myself, considering just how distinctly average the kit is I’ve really enjoyed it so far

thanks for looking

[Bissyboat]

Coming together like a treat. That didn´t take you long at all.

[spock1701]

Great work, mate. That T-26 never had a chance. Rust effects=

[Stokesy44]

Being inside that turret is on my top ten list of places I don't want to be!

Very cool skills there Sir. Dio should be a real treat

[Quax]

Very cool skills there Sir. Dio should be a real treat

Thanks Stokesy, that's like Michelangelo saying it's just like painting the ceiling...

Thank you Spock for your kind words

Edited for incompetence...

[Quax]

let it snow let itsnow etc etc...





thanks for looking

[Quax]

Just a quick update on the Pz iii just to show I am still working on it








Hopefully it'll be finished at the weekend and then its the figures and diorama to go.....
thanks for looking
Paul

[Quax]

well this is the Panzer iii finished apart from a bit of snow in various places and I'll do that if I ever get a diorama finished...








thanks for looking
Paul

[Tomcat64]

Nicely done Quax - that looks really well weathered and battle-worn.

Looking forward to what happens next

[privatepete]

Hi Paul the T26 looks really good very nice effects well done

[Quax]

Nicely done Quax - that looks really well weathered and battle-worn.

Looking forward to what happens next

Thanks Tomcat, what with trying not to make men look like zombie killers and create a setting, I’m going to lose my hair
Ooops too late....

Hi Paul the T26 looks really good very nice effects well done

Thank you Pete, much appreciated.

Paul

[Quax]

So I’ve started on my basic diorama build, I’ve used a picture frame from the Range (£3.99) and created a roadway from cork ‘cobbles’



Gaps filled with polyfiller coloured with acrylic Paynes Grey so as if it cracks it doesn’t show



Apparently you’re supposed to add texture to the cork with texurey things I don’t possess so instead of removing the last layer of polyfiller I left it on to add some. It was then sprayed various shades of grey to add a bit of contrast, it now just needs a coat of varnish so as I can add a bit of weathering



A bit of a mock up just to check the dimensions worked and that it looked vaguely ok.



cheers Paul

[Tomcat64]

Great work on the base - never thought of using a cheap frame before - that's a really neat idea!

The roadway looks great - but the vegetation is brilliantly done!

Nice job all around!

[Quax]

Thanks for the kind words Tomcat and I'd love to be able to claim the vegetation as my own but it is of course a Model Scene mat, you are right they are amazing and worth every penny (or 1.24 cents)

Paul

[privatepete]

Hi Paul nice work on the base, keep it up

[Tomcat64]

Thanks for the kind words Tomcat and I'd love to be able to claim the vegetation as my own but it is of course a Model Scene mat, you are right they are amazing and worth every penny (or 1.24 cents)

Paul

I can honestly say I'd never come across the Model Scene mats before - done some Googling and can see why you went with them mate!

[Quax]

Snow arrives, the figures are all in place but the weapons I thought I had are missing so I'm waiting for those to arrive so as I can finish up.



I'm also trying to think what to do with the white background as it seems a little stark for a diorama especially a white one? Any thoughts welcome.



Paul

[Kevthemodeller]

Paul that's looking great mate

I'm in the same boat mate thought I had all my bits only I didn't should be here any day now

[Tomcat64]

That's coming together really well! Hope the missing bits turn up soon.

As for the background if I've got a light subject I've got a couple of black foam boards I use for a dark backdrop. Depending on how much you want to spend you can get them in A4 and A3 sizes - I picked mine up from Staples, originally for using as bases but I've kept a couple back as photo backdrops

[Bissyboat]

Wow! You tank modelers certainly know your business. Amazing accomplishment.

[Quax]

Thanks all for your kind words. I took your advice Tomcat and went to the Range (we cant afford Staples this far South... ) and bought a sheet of thick card, black on one side and white on the other, I never knew such things existed....



the others are here:-
viewtopic.php?f=583&t=22087

[Les]

Congratulations on your finished project!