StuG III F - DML - Finished w/ Minor Update 4/3/13

[afvfan]

Hi guys! Here's another victim I'm working on. It's DML kit #6033 for those who care. As, up to this point, it has been a pretty straight OOB build, I've skipped the mundane part, and we'll join the effort just after priming. I did add a couple things to the exterior that will be shown in the pics below. As usual, comments, good and bad, are always welcome.

The first four shots are just general exterior ones:





The next few show some added details.

I added a rail system across the back to hold stowage:


And fabricated a set of mounts for the unditching timbers along the left side:


On the front I added the conduits to the lights, slotted the light covers, and filled in the hollows on either side of the gun with "concrete". I also cut off, thinned, and flipped up the front fender extensions:



At this time I've left the commander's hatch open in case I decide to add a figure there.

[danb.]

Great work buddy keep it coming

Dan B

[Deleted]

Oh good, another Stug    Good work so far, keep it coming 

[bullardino]

Very nice job

[Deleted]

looking good

[TRM]

Nice work there Bob!!! Love the primer stage of a job! Bring on some color!!

[deafpanzer]

Nice touch adding concrete to the hull!!! You have my attention as usual...

[Tojo72]

Nice start on this one

[modelfreak72]

Lookin good!The concrete has real nice texture to it!

[afvfan]

Thanks guys!

Unfortunately, the paint stage will have to wait a bit. I noticed in the pictures some areas that need to be cleaned up before I can proceed.

[Leon]

looking good Bob

[wbill76]

Off to a good start on this one Bob! Love to see StuGs of all types get build, will be watching this one with interest.

[bbd468]

Hey Bob, Nice to see primer on her fella, that means PAINT soon!

Gary

[afvfan]

Thanks guys! For those interested, I used this stuff called "light spackle" for the concrete. The texturing was done with a thin nosed palette knife.

I did get a little done today. Besides fixing the areas I noticed yesterday, I got the PE mounts for the spare tracks on (they're made from old PE frets and the track pieces are removable). I also got the base coat on the unditching logs. Here's where it stands now:




And a couple with the logs in place:

[bullardino]

Nice progress, Bob

[deafpanzer]

Looking real good!!! Always liked the look of excessive spare tracks...

[wing_nut]

Cool. Concrete huh? Didn't know they did that.

[afvfan]

Luigi - Thanks!

Andy - If you love spare tracks, you're going to be ecstatic when I get done with this one!

Marc - That's what I love about these forums, you learn something new every day!

[hasenpfeffer]

afvfan - like where you're headed with this... really cool job with the anti-ditching beams and such. Looking forward to a base coat and beyond.

[406 Silverado]

Very cool. I have the newer StuG III F kit from Dragon. Just not sure how I want to build or paint it yet.

[wbill76]

StuG crews were very inventive when it came to adding a little extra to those areas of the casemate since that's where the ammo bins were! Nice job on the logs and extra tracks.

[afvfan]

Hasenpfeffer - Thanks! Appreciate the comments.

Rob - I'm trying to pull a few extra tricks out for this build. So far, I'm happy with the results. I've got an idea for a rarely done finish. Have to see how it works out.

Bill - Thanks! Got 6 more pieces of track to go on it, yet. They've got to wait until I'm further along in the paint though.

[Mence]

We like rarely done finishes, bring it on!

[afvfan]

Feb 9, 2013 8:25:36 GMT -5 Mence said:

We like rarely done finishes, bring it on!

Sadly, I realized the finish I had in mind won't work with this one. There's just no way to make it a believable back story. That's ok though, it'll work on a future build.

[Deleted]

Like the model AFV .

[afvfan]

Thanks Carl!

Not much to update today. I spent a good part of the day drilling out the track pin holes in all those spare track pieces. After that my eyes were too crossed to do anything else.

[afvfan]

Well, as so often happens when you're having fun, life throws you a curve. I've had to focus my attentions elsewhere the past week or so, and haven't gotten in a lot of time on the bench or the forums. I did finally get the base coat of paint on with a little highlighting done. Here's where it sits now.





The next update probably won't be until later next week.

[deafpanzer]

Nice job on color modulation!

[Tojo72]

really moving along nicely

[wbill76]

I hear you about things stealing your bench time, story of my life since the New Year! Nice job on the paint work, looking forward to more.