panzer III B from mini art

[Deleted]

A month ago I started with this kit I was waiting for since it was announced.
The suspension and wheel are very fine and gave a good result, however there was very much cleaning to do and the plastic breaks very easily even the thicker arms where the wheels come on.


the first little mistake is the center bolt of the pulling wheel must be octagonal and not round, which was easily fixed.The rest of the superstructure was easy and fitted like a glove, the MG was replaced by on of Aber.
The exhausts received an home made flange



The turret gave no problem, the guns are replaced by metal ones



But then it all started, I seemed that the front of the fenders were to short, so the support had to change too.



But now a big blow, photo's surfaced proving that the hull, more specific the engine deck is 7mm to short, there are 2 hatches missing and the ventilation next to the hatches are in a wrong place and of a wrong dimension. SO whole the back is lifted of again and surgery was necessary. I took the dimensions of the rear hatches  from an ausf E but that was wrong with new photo's asreference. On that photo it was obvious that the lay out of all the ventilation openings were wrong too, so this is the result after a lot of work



The complete restoration



Now the built is finished and the model is primed









Now up to the paint when this is thoroughly dry

Thanks for looking

Eddy

[reserve]

Now there's a pile of extra work...it turned out quite well from where I'm standing.

Regards,
Mark

[406 Silverado]

Have to agree with Mark. Lots of extra work but the results are well worth it.

[Tojo72]

Looks very good,lots of extra detailing.Forgive my ignorance,is this a III or a IV. I see 8 sets of roadwheels on each side.

[Deleted]

Thanks for your interest guys.
Tojo, The Ausf A,B and D were test versions with a limited production but used in front line service. From the E on the standard suspension was in use




Eddy

[Deano]

Great job on the kit , the corrections look perfect ... bring on the paint !

[Tojo72]

Thank you,you learn something every day.

[petros]

Looks nice! Would be following!

[DennisM]

You should have had somebody cast your correction in resin.

[deafpanzer]

Fantastic work... this is the first time I have seen a Pz III B being build in many years!

[afvfan]

Great write up so far, Eddy. Wonderful job with all the corrections.

I'm so upset with Mini Art right now I can't see straight! I've been waiting a long time for affordable versions of these early Mk IIIs. I was estatic when the announcement came out about these, as well as the recent revelations that they plan on releasing at least two others in the future. Now I find out that there's major issues. How can any company developing a totally new model not get it right when the reference material is obviously out there? I just don't understand... All I can say is I'm glad I found out before I bought one as I'm not willing to put in the time or effort to correct their stupidity!

[wbill76]

That's a lot of work to get it all right Eddy, hat's off to you for tackling it! I'm like Bob since the Pz III early variants have always been on my ultimate 'wish list' but unwilling to pay resin full-kit prices to get one. Each one of these variants has its own different quirks/dimensions in terms of the hull and suspension so will be interesting to see what they do with the III-D in term of corrections, if any, that's supposed to be released this year.

[dupes]

Wow. That's an awful lot of extra work...but it sure looks good under a coat of primer!

[TRM]

Some of MiniArts plastic does seem to be brittle form time to time. There is the lion share of work you had to do to bring this up to snuff...but you have done a great job doing so! Looking forward to that paint soon!!

[Wes]

Lots of extra work, but a brilliant job done. WOW

[S e r z h--Rest In Peace]

I like the transformation engine cover. Confidently and accurately. Respect.

[DeafStuG]

Very nice detail.

[steveh]

Hi Eddy

Excellent work on the rear deck, some skilled scratch building.
I am currently building a Stug III trial "0" from a Mini Art Pz III b and a Dragon Stug III A.
The references are very thin on the ground and I have not seen the rear decking in the layout you have re created.
What did you use for references for the new layout?

Steve H

[Deleted]

Thanks guys,

Steve, there are some pictures of the ausf B and C, also from the rear, so that was measuring an trying, I had some correspondence with Tom Cockle during the built, becouse he was working on it too. He put the final calculations in a plan what you can use. That is the closest to the real thing until now.
www.network54.com/Forum/110741/message/1421860288/Miniart+Pz.Kpfw.III+Ausf.B+engine+deck+corrections

I had some paint on it now, with a little shadowing on the turret yet.





Eddy

[deafpanzer]

Love the camo... great work!

[wbill76]

Nice work on the two-tone scheme. Looking good!

[steveh]

Hi Eddy

Nice paint, the early 2 tone grey brown is always difficult to capture and yours does look good.

Thanks for the link, I will review all my references to check if I have missed anything useful.

Very Nice build Eddy

Steve H

[richardcraig-Email Not Valid]

Excellent work Eddy... Hats off to you for you scratch work and your camo looks perfect...
I`m just so disappointed with this kit and will not dish out my hard earned money on a kit I`m going to have to tear apart and fix... Let`s hope the D is better ... but I`m waiting for reviews before plunging in... I was so excited when these were announced ...

Rick

[dierk]

Somehow I missed this one all together - sorry about that.
Excellent work Eddy Thumbs Up! ! I have found Miniart kits to be a bit hit and miss in the past - but it looks like they really put their foot in it this time. Still don't understand how they manage to make their plastic both soft and brittle at the same time...

Just got the lastest issue of the German mag 'Modellfan' - they gave this kit a 'model of the year' award...

[Deleted]

Thanks guys for following.
Recently some photo's showed up with the prove that the 2 hatches on the glacis were in a removable plate like the later panthers, so I engraved it and repainted the glacis.
I have finally chosen to make a model from the Polish campaign so there were smoke dischargers on the exhaust. I scratched and painted it today.






Eddy

[Leon]

Totally missed this one Eddy! Looking really good.

[afvfan]

Great progress, Eddy. You're definitely coming through on this one.

[wbill76]

More nice mods/additions to this one Eddy, looking good for the Polish campaign!

[Deleted]

Finally the decals are on and the color modulation is finished, now the weathering can start. Fot he exhaust I used the hairspray technique




Eddy

[Leon]

Looking really good Eddy!