Stug III Ausf G in Italy 1944
- Thread starter TIM FORSTER
- Start date
TIM FORSTER
SMF Supporter
Thanks folks!
A word on the tracks
I wanted to ensure that this vehicle sat in the landscape like a 23.9 tonne 'tank' should. Since I had manipulated the suspension to make the wheels adjust to the contours of the ground, the easiest solution was to use workable tracks rather than the separate track links provided with the kit.
There are really only three choices: Modelkasten, Masterclub and Friul. The former are almost impossible to find in the UK, but the latter two are easily available.
I also checked my references and discovered that, for a Stug of this date, several patterns of track links would be accurate - including those with hollow or solid guide horns and those with and without chevrons.
I had picked up a set of the Masterclub tracks at last year's Scale Model World (hollow horns, chevrons) and set to work. Now I have encountered some of these before when one of my sons used them for his SU-122, but they had metal links with resin pins. They were hard work - but they worked.
Sadly the Panzer III/IV tracks which I bought were a disaster. They are entirely cast in resin which meant that, as I tried to hollow out the pin holes, many of them broke - and even when they didn't, half the time the pins (also resin) snapped when I tried to push them into place.
So I gave up and bought some Friul tracks instead. These were the ATL-05 set without chevrons and with solid guide horns.
And these went together like a dream! There was very little clean up needed, apart from running through the pin holes with a 0.4mm drill bit and snapping off the odd bit of flash with my finger nails. Although some suggest using a jig and cutting the wire to length prior to inserting it into the links, I found that keeping the wire loop intact and cutting it once inserted was far easier. I managed to assemble both lengths in a couple of two hour sessions.
Since these links were also fitted to the Panzer IV the set has quite a few more than you need. So how many do you need? Well I read somewhere that 93 or 94 links was the right number. Sitting my Stug on the flat (which it won't really do anyway now that I have manipulated the suspension) this didn't look enough - so I added a couple more. However, having set the vehicle down onto the diorama, I suspect that the first number was probably right! The left (port side) track will be broken in any event.
Anyway, the important thing is that Stug now sits low into the ground and wraps around the landscape - which is the look I was after.
By the way, one area where the Masterclub tracks do win over the Friul versions is when you turn to spare tracks. Because the former have one end of the track pin moulded in place, if you want a link without a pin at one end then you will have to drill this out. Also the MC links come with two types of track pin end - those where the cotter pin was inserted (on the real thing a tiny piece of metal hammered horizontally into a hole to stop the big pin slipping out) and those with the 'mushroom' end. So you can use one each at either end of a link and use plastic rod to fill in between - and, hey presto, you get a very authentic looking spare track link!
You can see the difference between the ends of the track pins in this image. In the middle link one of the pins is in place and the cotter pin has been driven into one end.
A word on the tracks
I wanted to ensure that this vehicle sat in the landscape like a 23.9 tonne 'tank' should. Since I had manipulated the suspension to make the wheels adjust to the contours of the ground, the easiest solution was to use workable tracks rather than the separate track links provided with the kit.
There are really only three choices: Modelkasten, Masterclub and Friul. The former are almost impossible to find in the UK, but the latter two are easily available.
I also checked my references and discovered that, for a Stug of this date, several patterns of track links would be accurate - including those with hollow or solid guide horns and those with and without chevrons.
I had picked up a set of the Masterclub tracks at last year's Scale Model World (hollow horns, chevrons) and set to work. Now I have encountered some of these before when one of my sons used them for his SU-122, but they had metal links with resin pins. They were hard work - but they worked.
Sadly the Panzer III/IV tracks which I bought were a disaster. They are entirely cast in resin which meant that, as I tried to hollow out the pin holes, many of them broke - and even when they didn't, half the time the pins (also resin) snapped when I tried to push them into place.
So I gave up and bought some Friul tracks instead. These were the ATL-05 set without chevrons and with solid guide horns.
And these went together like a dream! There was very little clean up needed, apart from running through the pin holes with a 0.4mm drill bit and snapping off the odd bit of flash with my finger nails. Although some suggest using a jig and cutting the wire to length prior to inserting it into the links, I found that keeping the wire loop intact and cutting it once inserted was far easier. I managed to assemble both lengths in a couple of two hour sessions.
Since these links were also fitted to the Panzer IV the set has quite a few more than you need. So how many do you need? Well I read somewhere that 93 or 94 links was the right number. Sitting my Stug on the flat (which it won't really do anyway now that I have manipulated the suspension) this didn't look enough - so I added a couple more. However, having set the vehicle down onto the diorama, I suspect that the first number was probably right! The left (port side) track will be broken in any event.
Anyway, the important thing is that Stug now sits low into the ground and wraps around the landscape - which is the look I was after.
By the way, one area where the Masterclub tracks do win over the Friul versions is when you turn to spare tracks. Because the former have one end of the track pin moulded in place, if you want a link without a pin at one end then you will have to drill this out. Also the MC links come with two types of track pin end - those where the cotter pin was inserted (on the real thing a tiny piece of metal hammered horizontally into a hole to stop the big pin slipping out) and those with the 'mushroom' end. So you can use one each at either end of a link and use plastic rod to fill in between - and, hey presto, you get a very authentic looking spare track link!
You can see the difference between the ends of the track pins in this image. In the middle link one of the pins is in place and the cotter pin has been driven into one end.
Last edited:
TIM FORSTER
SMF Supporter
So on with the paint...
OK. So, as my first full-on paint job since the 1980s, this was always going to be a slightly fraught experience...
I will spare you most of the grizzly details before I arrived at the relative success of the above image (which is still only the base coat). Let's just say I made a few schoolboy errors along the way.
I began by giving the model an overall coat of Mr Surfacer primer red from a spray can. Usually a highly reliable method, I unfortunately chose to do so out of doors on a damp (albeit pretty sunny) spring afternoon in London. Result: slow drying time and pooling of paint. Fortunately, it did dry in the end and the pooling practically disappeared. So I was lucky. Especially as I have a spray booth (with built in fan and light) that I should have used indoors.
Because, as I had on the interior, I intended to add scratches, I then gave the model a coat of ordinary cosmetic hairspray from a can.
Next, I had a bit of 'fun' trying to mix Ammo of Mig paints with AK Interactive thinner. Tip: DON'T.
Then I decided to turn to what I knew best: Tamiya acrylics mixed with Tamiya X-20A thinner. Now I know everyone has their favourites, but generally it's best to stick with what you know - especially if you are painting your first (and highly-prized) model in 30 years or so (I'm not going to count all the models I helped my boys to paint over the years because, ultimately, these were their efforts).
I have done quite a lot of research into paint consistency and compressor settings recently and I feel that I am finally mastering that tricky combination of factors that makes for a good coat with the airbrush. There's still a lot of trial and error involved and I cannot emphasis how important it is to have an old model to hand to spray onto first. I have a trusty old Tamiya Panzer II that has seen more exotic paint jobs than a graffiti hot spot and there's nothing quite like the grim fascination of looking at it just after I have hit it with a particularly unsuccessful mix of paint that my real model has narrowly escaped..!
Also, the absolute golden rule is NEVER to start spraying whilst pointing the airbrush straight at the model. That way, if it's going to 'spatter', then it's going to spatter something that doesn't count.
What you see here is the outcome of successive coats of Tamiya Dark Yellow, followed by a 50/50 mix with Buff and then a third coat with a little white added.
Now I will be the first to admit that it's looking a bit too light and a little too grey. Having said that, 'in the flesh' the yellow shows through a lot more, so I suspect that it's something to do with the lighting (to my eyes it even looks a little more yellow in the image at the top of this post). Also, as we all know, once you start to add washes, the base colour always starts to change - so it's best to start lighter than you mean to end up.
It's also worth adding that, compared to the colour chips supplied with the excellent AK Interactive book 'Real Colours of World War II' (a great Christmas present), the Tamiya Dark Yellow is a very good match. However, once you scale the tones down (smaller things look darker in the same colour) and take into account the effects of the Italian sun, I believe that this looks OK. At least as a starting point.
Then I got busy with the chipping. In fact, I had left this for at least a week before I started - not ideal and potentially a disaster had this been a whitewash finish. But after some energetic work with water, cotton buds, cocktail sticks, wire wool and even a scalpel blade I had something which looked OK. The slightly yellower patches are actually the original dunkelgelb shade showing through - not intentional, but it adds contrast and so I kinda like it...
You will notice that the barrel is a contrasting shade of grey (a mix of the last highlight shade and a little black). I have seen many black and white pictures where the gun looks to be a slightly different colour from the main vehicle. This is sometimes said to be the result of heat (from firing) affecting the paint, or else because the barrels, which were made elsewhere than the vehicle assembly plants, were primed or painted in different shades.
Whatever the reason, it adds visual interest - and also gives me an excuse to explain away why the muzzle brake of my Stug is the later war model which had only come into use shortly before the time scale of my diorama. Er, it's a very recent replacement..
The wheels (apart from return rollers) were painted off the model in the time-honoured fashion by mounting them on cocktail sticks (aren't these little things really the unsung heroes of model making?) The rubber parts were then simply blocked in with two successive coats of dark grey acrylic wash, which flows very easily up to the rims without too much overflow. Any big slips can be wiped away and anything smaller will have disappeared by the time I finish weathering. The two on the left have had two coats, the others only one...
So this is how it looked once I had put wheels and tracks (which were about to lose their shine) back on. I think we're in business!
TIM FORSTER
SMF Supporter
Jakko, you're quite right! However, as this track is going to be broken I probably won't bother...
The next step with the painting was to add an AK Interactive dark yellow enamel wash. You can see this in the pic below.
What you can also see is the only decal which I need to apply for this build. It may seem odd (it certainly did to me), but many of the Stugs that fought in this theatre had no markings whatsoever - or camouflage. Whether this was because the Germans had no time to do so - or because they didn't need them - I really have no idea.
So here, in all its glory, is the Fahrgestell (chassis) number. The number is based on one for a Stug of this period. The numbers came from the number plate numerals supplied with my Topolino.
I've seen a few pics of Stugs in Italy with it displayed in this position - or on the front of the lower hull. The one below shows a vehicle which is almost exactly the same type as mine, including smoke dischargers and a full set of side skirts (thus proving that vehicles could keep these up to the point of capture - whereupon they were often 'liberated' as a useful source of thin armour plate). You can see the Fahrgestell number just beneath the gun.
The next step with the painting was to add an AK Interactive dark yellow enamel wash. You can see this in the pic below.
What you can also see is the only decal which I need to apply for this build. It may seem odd (it certainly did to me), but many of the Stugs that fought in this theatre had no markings whatsoever - or camouflage. Whether this was because the Germans had no time to do so - or because they didn't need them - I really have no idea.
So here, in all its glory, is the Fahrgestell (chassis) number. The number is based on one for a Stug of this period. The numbers came from the number plate numerals supplied with my Topolino.
I've seen a few pics of Stugs in Italy with it displayed in this position - or on the front of the lower hull. The one below shows a vehicle which is almost exactly the same type as mine, including smoke dischargers and a full set of side skirts (thus proving that vehicles could keep these up to the point of capture - whereupon they were often 'liberated' as a useful source of thin armour plate). You can see the Fahrgestell number just beneath the gun.
I agree with Steven, Tim.
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- Jakko
In that case: never mind what I said
Looking good Tim
