I never had any intention of buying this kit but stumbled across an Ebay listing for almost 50% off and couldn't help myself. I should point out that I intend to complete this build as a Hungarian StuG, but all of my research indicates that - with the possible exception of swapping the German MG34 for a Hungarian Solothurn M31, stowage additions, and insignia - these StuGs were virtually identical to their German counterparts.
The kit contains two sprues of dark grey plastic, an instruction sheet, and a small sheet of decals. First impressions were relatively good - everything was well molded with very little flash or mold slippage, the instructions seemed clear and straightforward.
However, when I started assembly and dry-fitting, I realized something was off, as the hull is rather to short. The frontal armor seemed very thin and the rear engine deck did not have the noticeable "overhang" of the Panzer III/StuG series. Upon further research, I found that StuGs after the F model had either a 30mm thick frontal hull with a 50mm thick piece of armor riveted on or (post-1943) had an 80mm thick piece of armor that was welded fully unto the front of the hull. In either of these cases, this extends the front armor out substantially, but this kit had frontal armor that sat flush with the front of the track covers. It's my assumption that Italeri used the F-model as a basis for this part of their design and not the later G model.
The kit contains two sprues of dark grey plastic, an instruction sheet, and a small sheet of decals. First impressions were relatively good - everything was well molded with very little flash or mold slippage, the instructions seemed clear and straightforward.
However, when I started assembly and dry-fitting, I realized something was off, as the hull is rather to short. The frontal armor seemed very thin and the rear engine deck did not have the noticeable "overhang" of the Panzer III/StuG series. Upon further research, I found that StuGs after the F model had either a 30mm thick frontal hull with a 50mm thick piece of armor riveted on or (post-1943) had an 80mm thick piece of armor that was welded fully unto the front of the hull. In either of these cases, this extends the front armor out substantially, but this kit had frontal armor that sat flush with the front of the track covers. It's my assumption that Italeri used the F-model as a basis for this part of their design and not the later G model.
Is something like that a big deal? Probably not to most gamers. Unfortunately, there are a few other issues. Italeri molded on what appear to be rivets on the hull frontal armor, the crew compartment frontal armor, and the gun mantlet itself. These should actually be hex nuts on the mantlet and hew nuts with protruding bolts on the frontal armor.....so I re-did the frontal hull armor, scraped off the rivets, and replaced them with plasticard hex and circle rod.
Okay, done right? Oh no, wait, there's more. The driver's visor is too small and there's a massive (and I mean, massive) armor block on the hull in front of it. So I was forced to very carefully slice the armor block to a manageable (and realistic) size and replace the visor.
With that done, I had to address the lack of the overhanging rear engine deck. This is a common feature to the Panzer III chassis, so it's really odd that Italeri decided to make their engine deck/rear armor plate flush with one another. I accomplished this by adding a piece of .020 plasticard to the last "angle" of the engine deck (disregard the stowage rack) and then sanding it flush with the rest of the engine deck. It's not complicated, just annoying to have to do.
At the point however, is something that I can't abide - incorrect instructions. At Step 5, the commander's periscope (Part #26) is mixed up with the Notek blackout light (Part #2) in the instructions. A beginning or unaware modeler could easily miss Italeri's mistake.
Otherwise, the rest of this build was fairly straightforward. The schurzen are a very tough assembly but they do look good. I actually haven't glued them on for these pictures; they can be held in (if you're delicate) just by tension alone. A minor quibble is that the gunner's hatch (when assembled in the closed position) is just a flat piece of plastic with no hinges. As with every Italeri kit, the crew figure included is both badly sculpted and badly molded, which I've come to expect.
Decals provided are fairly basic, which is in keeping with most of the real-life StuGs, including a variety of black and red numbers and two pairs of unit insignia. The painting guide includes directions for three separate finishes, all from 1944 - two from the Italian front and one from Normandy. Given my earlier critique of the incorrect frontal armor, I find these choices even more baffling, as after 1943, most StuGs were upgraded to the much thicker, welded frontal armor.
Overall, especially for the beginning modeler, this is a fairly solid build if you're not too worried about authenticity. For the skilled modeler and rivet counter, I would not recommend it unless - like me - you bought it at a very steep discount. I would highly recommend buying separate crew models (available from Warlord and Perry), as the base model is well suited for including them, but the stock crew is very poorly sculpted.
Pros:
- Easy customizations allows for model variability, regardless of skill level
- Nice base kit for conversions
- Easy and quick assembly, especially for beginners
Cons:
- Incorrect part placement in instructions
- Incorrect frontal armor arrangement
- Open gap behind the gun mantlet
- Badly proportioned and scaled crew figure
1 comment:
I am still of the belief that the 1/56 scale vehicles are a bit small for the 1/48 scale Bolt Action figures. You are correct about the 1/56 kit going together fairly well. I had problems with the retension pins inside the hull that held on the Gun Manlet and Barrel.
Post a Comment