Dragon 1/35 Stug. III Ausf. G 10.5cm
Kit No. 9058
MSRP: $33.50
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History
In December of 1942 the final Stug. III model, Ausf. G appeared. This
version had some improvements to the hull shape, a better gun mantlet,
a new cupola with periscopes for the commander, and other small improvements.
This version stayed in production until the end of WWII, 7720 being produced.
In 1943, the Alkett factory, which was the principal producer of the
Stug. III models, was bombed and much production was lost. In an endeavour
to compensate, the Krupp production plant working on Pz.Kpfw. IV tanks
was switched to making Sturmgeschutz's, using the Pz.Kpfw. IV chassis
and hull as the basis. It used the same gun and superstructure design
as the Stug. III and was generally the same except for the running gear.
It remained in production until March of 1945, 1139 being built.
The Sturmgeschutz's were originally intended to be issued to special
Sturmartilerie battareies, but they proved so useful that by the end of
the war they could be found in all sorts of formations. Since they were
easier, cheaper and more quickly built than tanks, they gradually assumed
the major proportion of German armoured vehicle production, to the eventual
detriment of tank production. While they were extremely effective vehicles
in their designed role, there was a tendency to use them as substitutes
for tanks, to which role they were not well suited.
What's in the box?:
The kit comes in a tray and lid type box. The box art is by an artist
by the name of Jameson and not by DML's resident artist Ron Valstad this
time. It shows a Stug. III G in a winter landscape. Side panels shows
two sets of photos of the finished model built twice with different gun
mantlets and guns, which are provided in the kit.
Inside the box are 15 light gray trees of parts in nine cello bags.
Also included are two frets of brass photo-etched parts and a turned aluminum
gun barrel in their own cello bags. The decal sheet and two instruction
sheets complete the contents of the kit.
The first, large, instruction sheet accordian folds out into eight
pages. It is for assembly of the plastic parts and the aluminum barrel
only.
Page one, of the this instruction sheet, begins with a black and white
repeat of the box art. There is no history of the vehicle given. This
is something that DML really needs to rectify in their kits and begin
to include. The bottom of the page gives the parts tree drawings and a
lot of these parts are shown shaded in blue. This is the indicator that
those parts are excess and not used for construction of this kit. So our
spares box is going to get some large additions.
Page two begins with some cautions in six languages, including English.
This is followed by assembly symbol interpretations and a paint color
listing. Assembly step no. 1 finishes this page.
Pages 3 through 7 give us the balance of a total of 16 assembly steps.
Page 8 shows two painting and marking options as four view drawings:
A Sd.Kfz. 142 10.5cm Stug. III Ausf. G, Germany 1945.
A Sd.Kfz. 142 10.5cm Stug. III Ausf. G, Ardennes 1944.
These markings consist of just numerals and national crosses. The numerals
are in the black stenciled style. There are no division or tactical marks
given.
A smaller instruction sheet is just for assembly of the photo-etched
parts.
Large letter 'A' tree holds: The upper hull's walls and roof sections,
a cast type mantlet, a gun barrel (there are three alternates for the
barrel given), tools, hatches, a MG 34 machine-gun and its shield, periscopes
and cupola parts etc. (40 parts) Seven parts are excess - not used to
build this kit.
There are two identical, medium sized, letter 'B' trees. They hold:
suspension arms, return rollers, idler wheels, one drive sprocket, road
wheels, tow shackles, final transfer covers etc. (44 parts per tree).
Only eight parts per tree are used for assembly, the rest are excess.
A second, medium sized, parts tree is marked as lower case 'b” tree.
It holds: a Pz.Kpfw. III turret bottom and rear turret basket part (not
used), also a mantlet for a turreted III (not used), there are several
body panels etc. (19 parts) Only four parts are used from this tree for
assembly of the kit. The rest of the parts (15 of them) are excess.
Letter 'C' is the hull tub piece. Suspension arms are molded integrally
into this part.
There are two identical, small sized, letter 'D' trees. They hold:
return rollers and road wheels. However, the return rollers are marked
as excess and not used.. This means that 5 parts on each tree are excess.
(20 parts per tree)
There are two identical, small sized, letter 'E' trees. One tree is
by itself and the second one is attached to the letter 'I' tree. These
hold: the return rollers that you do use for this kit, lift hooks, side
fender supports etc. (24 parts per tree) All of these parts are used.
Small letter 'F' tree is attached to the letter 'H' tree. It holds:
tools, hull side escape doors (not used), Pz.Kpfw. III turret side doors
(also not used), suspension parts etc. (27 parts) Nine are excess and
not used for this kit.
There is no letter 'G' tree.
Small letter 'H' tree holds a lot of small fittings, but only a few
of them are used to build this kit. The main part used being one of the
final transfer housings. (44 parts) Only 11 of these parts are used for
assembly, meaning that 33 are excess. Didn't I tell you, earlier that
your spares box was going to fill up fast?
Large letter 'I' tree holds: the other final transfer housing, side
skirt supports (however, no side skirts are provided in the kit), engine
deck parts, more return rollers etc. (35 parts)
All these parts are used.
There are four identical trees marked as lower-case letter 'i'. These
hold the individual track links. (60 links per tree). Strangely, the parts
drawings only says that there are two trees of this in the kit, when there
are physically four.
Next is the turned aluminum barrel. It is marked as 'MA' on the parts
drawings.
There are two frets of brass photo-etched parts provided. The larger
of the two frets holds side skirt bracket parts, hatch handles and locks,
banister style storage rack railings etc.
(67 parts). The smaller fret just has two parts on it. These are air
intake screens.
No crew figures are provided.
The decal sheet completes the contents of the kit. You get national
crosses and black stenciled style numerals only.
Conclusion
This is one great kit. The three different gun barrel options and different
mantlets, PE and turned aluminum barrel make the kit's price very reasonable.
Especially when you figure how much more it would cost to get PE and turned
barrel for this kit elsewhere. Nice accessories there DML. Some division
and tactical markings would have been nice and some side skirts to go
along with the mounting rails too. Otherwise highly recommended.
I suggest you avail yourself of Squadron Signal Publications Walk Around
no. 2 book, which is a Walk Around on the Stug. III G. It is a great reference
for the Ausf. G and will really help getting the alternate parts combined
correctly into your finished model.
I purchased my kit at my local hobby shop.
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