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DRAGON MODELS LIMITED Product Specifications. 6365, StuG.III Ausf.G Early Production w/Schurzen Smart Kit. 1/35th-scale styrene/multimedia kit containing 391 styrene parts (including 10 clear), two bags of Magic Tracks, three etched metal frets, one length of braided metal wire, six water-slide decal marking schemes and eight pages of instructions in 19 steps. Introduction. As DML continues to work their way through every possible variation of the Sturmgeschutz III Ausf.G, it is perhaps inevitable that they would offer up a version equipped with Schurzen (skirts). These thin sheet metal plates were mounted on racks on each side of a vehicle, beginning in 1943, to combat the effect of Soviet infantry anti-tank rifles. These close-in weapons could penetrate the side armor of nearly every contemporary German tank and assault gun of the 1943-44 era, including the vaunted Panther. The mounting hangers and rails are now included as styrene parts, while the plates are supplied as etched metal components. They are designed to replicate the first type seen, which had small square cross-sectioned hangers, with corresponding openings in the plates. Furthermore, the middle two plates on each side were reinforced on their upper halves with a second plate; these are also provided for maximum authenticity. Tracks. These come loosely packed in a two bags and are so-called Magic Tracks. They represent the 40cm-wide links that had hollow guide horns and plain cleat faces. These tracks are also handed, so the modeler is cautioned not to open up the bags and mix things up prior to assembly; as an added bit of help, each sides links are a slightly different color of gray styrene. Being Magic Tracks, they have no sprue attachment points, which is a definite time saver since no cutting or clean-up in that regard is required. Each has a pair of extremely faint ejector pin marks on the inner face. These can be ignored or erased as the modeler sees fit. They fit together easily but quite loosely, and must be fixed together with glue prior to handling. Suspension System. The road-wheels are conventionally molded in inner and outer pieces, with integral rubber tires. The outer faces of the wheel hubs feature perforations and weld beads where appropriate, while the tires have a facsimile of the manufacturers logo (ContinentaU) on their rims. On the inner faces, the pins (or tubes?) that helped join the wheel halves together are molded on (for the first time in styrene) providing an unprecedented level of detail in this regard. Spare road wheels and spare track pins are also given for stowage. The return rollers are in two parts (inner and outer halves). The drive sprockets come as conventional inner and outer pieces and are completely detailed. The idler wheels are also in inner and outer parts, but feature separate hubs as well as etched brass inner rings. The idler wheels also have a separate axle arm that can be adjusted for fit. The modeler is advised not to glue it in place on the hull until the fit and sag of the tracks have been worked out. Separate internal torsion bars are given as are beautifully-detailed separate external swing arms. This will allow the suspension to be fixed in an articulated fashion if the modeler desires to place his work on a base with irregular terrain; to do so, simply cut off the pins that protrude from the hull sides, which are there in case the modeler wants a level, fixed suspension. Bump stops, slide-molded shock absorbers and final drive housings (as well as mounting plates for the latter, which have the holes for tow hooks) are also separate parts Hull. The main part of the hull comes from a slide-mold so it is fully detailed on all faces. This includes mounts for the road-wheel torsion bar/swing arm units, idler wheel mount, bump stops and shock absorbers, as well as the various bolted strips that connected the hull to the superstructure. Weld seams and weld beads are also present. The belly has drain plug and access plate detail molded in place, plus bolt and rivet heads, as well as weld beads. The bow plate is separate and its configuration represents the base armor of 50mm. To this base armor is added the bolted 30mm plate, which has crisply-rendered nut and bolt heads that are all at different individual angles. The latter is certainly a nice touch. The hull rear plate is composed of many separate parts including one version of the exhaust deflector, spacer plates, various access covers, tow points and exhaust pipe/muffler assemblies. These last come with opened pipe ends and separate mounts. Finally, an etched brass screen is provided to be placed under the superstructure over-hang. The separate glacis plate also depicts the type with a 50mm armor basis and also has a separate part to depict the bolted-on 30mm applique plate. On this is mounted a three-piece Notek black-out driving head-lamp, stem and base. The split-style final drive/brake drum access hatch lids are all separate parts and feature separate locking levers. Separate fenders are provided, with the main parts being detailed on the top and bottom surfaces; neither is marred by ejector pin marks. There are a number of styrene and etched brass parts added to these main parts so that all braces, etc. can be depicted in great detail. Most of the tools, as well as the five-part jack, two-part, slide-molded jack block, tow cable mounts, end-loops and brackets (with braided metal wire for the cables), fire extinguisher and two-part convoy tail-lamp are attached to the fenders. The tools have nice clasp details, while the tow cable mounts and jack mounts are separate parts. A number of small wing-nuts are given to detail these items and the end result is bound to be most impressive. Superstructure. The engine deck is a separate part and is configured much like the original; the entire assembly can be left off to depict an engine change. Coming from a slide mold, it has details on all faces including various styles of plate and weld detail as well as attachment flanges and bolt heads. It is of the type that was not inter-locked along the top side edges. The four hatch lids are separate parts, with proper coaming detail around the hatch openings. The armored guards that surmount the hatch lids are separate parts as are their mounts. A separate tool box as well as gun tube bore swabs and staffs are also mounted here. The latter includes fine separate bracket detail, while more tools are mounted on the side walls. At the side are proper air intake vents, with the correct means of attachment to the walls, including their internal openings. These are topped by etched brass screens, and detailed with, among other items, lift hooks. The casemate is also configured as a separate part and attaches much like the original. It comes from a slide-mold and features excellent weld and panel details, mounting strips and bolt heads, all molded in place. Separate parts are provided for the side lift rings, rear antennae mounts and flexible rubber bases (but STILL no rod antennae for them!), spare track rack (including separate wing-nuts) and cover for the exhaust fan. At the forward edge of the casemate, there are two banks of three smoke grenade dischargers, These are multi-part affairs that include a choice of loaded or empty tubes, complete with the notches at their bore ends. The roof plate is separate and has fine recessed screw head details around its edges, as well as hinge, weld and panel details, all molded on. Separate parts for the loaders machine-gun shield (complete with an excellent slide-molded, multi-part Gen2 MG34) are provided, as well as for his hatchs lids. The commanders cupola is a multi-part affair with clear periscope heads and clear scissors telescope. The separate hatch lid for it is a multi-part affair that includes separate locking latches and rubber bump stop. Up front there are separate armor plates as well as movable drivers view port cover (with the internal glass block represented in clear styrene); it is complimented by a separate splash plate. The gun mantlet is the welded/bolted type; it comes from a slide-mold and is completely detailed with proper weld beads and bolts. The gun tube is a single part with a slight seam that will need to be cleaned up; for this I recommend the classic Flex-I-File. The slide-molded muzzle brake is a three-part affair and includes the internal lug and external locking nut. The separate collar, where the gun tube enters the mantlet is exquisitely-rendered to include counter-sunk screw heads. Schurzen and Mounts. The Schurzen are based on etched aluminum panels with styrene mounting rails and hanging hardware. They are of the early style as described in this reviews introduction. The new styrene parts are crisply-rendered using a slide-mold, for maximum detail definition. The plates are given as separate etched metal items (aluminum?) and are thus rendered in scale thickness; another advantage of this material is that it can be bent to depict battle damage. Furthermore, some (or most) of the plates can be deleted if the modeler wishes. Interior. Internally, the 7.5cm StuK40 main gun is complimented by an almost totally complete mount. This includes cradle, recoil cylinders, mount, traverse and elevation hand-wheels, gunners seat, multi-part breech block, sight mounts and clear Sfl.Z.F.1a gun sight. This entire item mounts over the drive shaft tunnel, which in turn, is attached to the floor plate. A bulkhead/engine firewall unit encloses the compartment at the rear. Above that is the inner works of the exhaust fan, which includes a separate fan blade unit. There is also a commanders seat. Separate inner sponson units are detailed with various radio sets along with some of their ancillary accessories. To these are fitted separate mounting racks. Enough equipment is given to create a command vehicle. There is much missing here, but some of it is standard equipment such as head-phone boxes, gas mask canisters, MP40 and ammunition magazine containers. Many modelers will have these in their spares box. Major items such as 7.5cm ammunition racks and lockers, the entire drivers compartment, some vents and pipes will have to be scratch-built or sourced from the after-market industry. In essence, the interior is provided in this manner so that if the hatch lids are depicted in their opened positions, things will be busy enough.. Molding, Fit and Engineering. Slide-molds have been used in a very intelligent way either to allow for better detail rendition, or for ease of assembly. On visible surfaces, not a single ejector pin mark was found and there was no shrinkage of any kind. Fit of major parts was excellent and mold seams were faint and easily dealt with. As usual, the road-wheels and return rollers will require the most effort to clean, since there are 24 of the former (not counting the spares) and 12 of the latter; all have seams around their middles as well as sprue attachment points. Remember that the spare wheels, if new, should have seams as the rubber is molded just like a styrene part. Accuracy. As far as I could tell, using the scale drawings in reference 1 and 2, this kit is extremely accurate in its major dimensions, shapes and angles. In the area of omissions I noted the following that would still be of concern to me personally: there are no rod antennae provided, there is no ammunition magazine for the loaders external MG34, and no spent shell case bag is given for beneath the StuK40 main gun. Decals and Markings Information. The decals are the usual excellent Italian product from Cartograf. They are crisp, in register and have thin, closely-cropped carrier film. Markings and painting guide for six assault guns are given as follows: SS-StuG.Abt.2,
2.SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division Das Reich, Kursk 1943. Instructions. These are in the conventional drawn style and except for the markings placement info, appear to be well-done. As usual, they are busy. Conclusion. While I can certainly sympathize with those modelers who wondered why Schurzen were not included in the original release of this vehicle, those items are now in the box. Therefore, this is the most complete kit of a post-January 1943 production variant of the StuG.III Ausf.G yet from DML. Certainly, if the modeler passed on the initial release in hopes of this version eventually appearing, the wait should prove worth it. -Frank V. De Sisto Copyright 1998-2009 Dragon Models Limited. All Rights Reserved |