Who doesn't love a grey Panzer III? I already have a bunch of grey Peter Pig Pz IIIG/H which have seen extensive service on various fronts, but they are all 50L42 versions. It occurred to me that for actions from mid 1942 onwards (2nd Kharkov? Stalingrad?) it might be handy to have a 50L60 variant too.
And here it is in its grey wonderfulness. Zvezda don't actually make a Pz IIIj, this is their Flammpanzer III kit with the gun sanded down lightly. It is such an exquisite model though, that I already have three of them.
This one is pretty easy to assemble, but still has several parts. They all go together cleanly and although it is designed to be push fit, I applied glue in sensible places. There is a moderate amount of hull furniture on it already, so I just added an ammo box on the rear deck and a commander (metal Battlefront figure I think - it is a pretty crude casting, typical of early BF). I didn't attempt to model the open hatch covers as they'd just get knocked off.
The box on the rear deck is a PSC one from the Russian 76mm gun with the lid cut off and turned upside down. The spare wheel is moulded on already. Sorry, this photo is a bit blurry. It is supposed to show all the nice stuff moulded onto the model.
This side view demonstrates what a dogs dinner this kit is. The hull is from a Pz IIIe (you can clearly see the lower side escape hatches), and it also has the early pattern drive wheels and no spaced armour on the hull front. The new turret is just plonked on the wrong hull. Fortunately the mantlet spaced armour is very distinctive and distracts from the other wrongness. The gun needed sanding as the 50L60 gun tapoers whereas the flamethrower is just a straight tube.
Panzergrau is a slippery shade, and it can often be far too dark. It fades rapidly, and is often depicted as having a bluish tinge (that varied by paint batch). For this I base coated it in Humbrol Sea Grey, which is a mid blue grey. Then it got a thin wash of Vallejo Panzer Grey, which is so dark it is almost black. The wash stained the Sea Grey nicely and also provided some shading.
Then it just got a good slathering of 'mud' all over the running gear and lower hull (which always looks good on grey or green vehicles) and a light overall drybrush of VJ Iraqi Sand to pick out the highlights and lighten it up a bit. The decals are all Battlefront, I couldn't be bothered to attempt a three digit turret number and just went with two.
I know I do! Looks great, Martin, looking forward to seeing her in action.
ReplyDeleteV/R,
Jack
Thank you, there is something very smart about panzer grey tanks.
DeleteVery nice Martin!
ReplyDeleteNeil
Thank you. It certainly made a change from doing sandy Afrika Korps tanks.
DeleteActually the side escape hatch seems to have lasted until the L or M variant. The early idler lasted through the G. Tank Encyclopedia actually shows the hatch on all variants, but I think they are wrong - the shurtzen on the M and N certainly made it ineffective.
ReplyDeleteI think thought the side batches went quite early, similarly the early wheels, but you see all sorts of oddities with Pz III as they are repaired and retrofitted. I've seen one photo of a Pz III in the desert with a sand hull and apparently a panzer grey (or dark anyway) turret. Presumably a complete turret replacement.
DeleteMost detailed variant description, but with some errors, here:
ReplyDeletehttps://armouredfightingvehicle.fandom.com/wiki/Panzer_III
If I were to guess the PzIII variant just from your pictures, I would have guessed an 'L', but that would have been going by memory. I have a notion that not all 'J' types were fitted with the spaced armour around the mantlet.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, it looks like what it's meant to be, so that is what it is...
Cheers,
Ion
I believe the Ls generally had spaced armour on the hull front too. It is hard to see in the photos but the model has the early pattern bow MG. Anyway, the main thing which stands out is the long gun, so that draws the eye.
DeleteGood idea to modify the flammpanzer. I see this model on sale regularly on eBay. I will start looking for them.
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely models, I just really like the way they have done the track sag. Much better than some of the early Zvezda kits, which are really quite crude.
DeleteI wouldn’t be too concerned about the side hatches. German tanks sent back for rebuilding were updated to the latest versions, but retained many original features. A good example is the Bovington Panzer IV. It is an early model, probably a D with the stepped front plate and has been upgraded to H/J standard with the L48 gun and uparmoured. No less than 2 lots of appliqué armour on the front and even side armour on the lower hull has been upgraded. Still retains the old style running gear and the aerial guard on the mantlet.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that the appliqué armour on the front hull should be relatively easy to add with some plasticard.