Dragon Stug 3 III Dec 44 Production

Here are a couple of photos of a Stug III that I have been building for an IPMS Review so I can't post too many right now. I'm done with the basic kit but plan to add some extras for myself. The build is sorta OOB. I tweaked a lot of the little items that weren't "late 44"  most of which you don't even notice now.  I did replace the kit barrel and tracks. I started working on this July 26th. This is probably one of my fastest build/paints in a long time with a goal of getting it finished over the weekend but that hasn't happened. The model has been painted with Tamiya acrylics. I experimented with John's Windex trick but no amount of scrubbing worked so I used the old standby HS technique for the worn paint. All weathering is achieved with oil paints and AK enamel and pigment products. Yesterday was mud and dust day and it took me a few hours to achieve the look I was after.  



The kit doesn't include Schurzen, so I made those. I'm experimenting with the foliage. So far I used MiniNature foliage over a dried root. I then sprinkled on Oregano leaves and set with HS. It needs a touch of paint. The spare track armor rust looks a bit hookey right now. I need to redo those and add the hanging hooks or the weld beads. I used Alliance Model Work two piece stencils for the Balkenkreuz. Very nice system.



I looked at this build as a dry run for the Early and Zimm'd StugIIIs I have planned but I have a few MaK things I want to get back on first.

Cheers BK

Very cool Stug.

Great Job!

Fabrizio.
All in my blog

Wow! I love it!
Alex!

Thanks. I've made a few minor tweaks and have a couple of touch-ups before calling this finished.

A special thanks to IPMS/USA and Dragon-USA for the review sample.

The build review has been posted. Additional images and review can be found here:

http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/stugiii-ausfg-late-december-1944

There are some minor issues I see from the photos that need to be touched up. Funny how you don't see certain things or forget about them until you say you're done.    I'm also going to apply the schurzen and rest of the foliage for StuG 2.0. Stay tuned.

Here are the final images with foliage. I applied MiniNature foliage over dried plant roots. I then sprayed these bundles with hairspray and rolled in dried Oregano. Then more HS to set the leaves. I then airbrushed to apply light coats of green.

Stug is allways great when at this top level.... but the Foliage is fantastic !! I wish I could do that!

best
Mark

Thanks a lot Mark. I appreciate the comments. The foliage has been the easy part.

I found out from a couple of sources that the green base color was being phased in at this time frame and this stug probably should be green. It bothered me enough that I decided to paint this again. The model still had a winning combination of paint thinner and hair spray odors but I decided to just dive in again. Parts like the schurzen and roof were stripped down to bare plastic for repaint. The upper hull was sprayed with gray primer and cleaned up a little. The lower hull and running gear were painted directly over the prior weathering.

Paints are Tamiya acrylics with HS for some of the chipping. I went with the same basic scheme as before. MG is loose for now. Lots of touch ups needed.

Going to be a PITA to paint all those little details in place.

My goal will be the same amount of mud and dust. Photos are quick ones with the phone before bed last night.