Trumpeter's 1/35 German 12.8cm Sturer Emil
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Sturer Emil
"As a result of the decision
to abandon the VK 3001 project, (the forerunner of the Tiger I) the Waffenamt
had on hand several of the Henschel VK 3001 chassis. Two were allocated
for conversion to a heavy Panzerjaeger mounting the Rheinmetall 12.8 cm
K which was based on the 12.8 cm Flak. The gun was mounted on a pedestal
ahead of the engine and was surrounded by a heavily armored superstructure.
The hull was extended back to carry this fighting compartment; an additional
road wheel was fitted."*
Both vehicles saw service on the Eastern front and were lost in action
around Stalingrad. At least one example was preserved and currently sits
in the Soviet armor museum at Kubinka.
The Build
This kit is a very straightforward build, with no unpleasant surprises.
The fit of parts is very good to excellent. There is no appreciable flash,
molding seams are tiny and easily removed, and the vast majority of ejector
pin marks are located where they are either invisible, or covered by a
subsequent part. Raised locator outlines are molded on the inside of the
superstructure to show the location of the crew stowage items. These were
sanded down to near invisibility before assembly. The assembly instructions
are clear and follow a logical sequence. I did not have a lot of time
to build this, so I skipped around a lot to speed things up a little.
Here's what happened.
I did step 3 first, assembling all the road wheel halves and putting
them into numbered prescription tubes. There are also wheels to build
in step 5, and return rollers in step 6. This way the wheel sets can be
sanded and painted and set aside till needed.
Steps 1 and 2 were completed next. The torsion bar swing arms have square
pegs which aid in their alignment. The idler mounts and return roller
mounts also key in very positively. You may want to shim these or secure
them in such a way as to ensure that they cure straight and level. The
side hull escape hatches are identical to those used on the early marks
of the Panzer III, but are mounted upside down as compared to the tank
version. Photos prove they were indeed installed this way.
I next went to steps 8 through 14, assembling everything that will need
to be sanded later, such as the muffler halves minus the mounting brackets,
cannon breech and rear section, cannon barrel, and the gun trunnion plates
and mantlet. I just built the basic assemblies, leaving off the small
detail parts until later. I removed the locator pegs on the barrel sections
and gave them a quick swipe with a sanding stick to ensure a flat mating
surface. I use one of the thin liquid cements, gluing and gently squeezing
from one end to the other. This forces a small amount of molten plastic
up out of the seam, helping to fill it, and minimizing the amount of filler
needed later on.
Next I cleaned up and assembled the gun elevating and traversing gear,
and the gunner's sight and mount. I bored out the end of the sighting
telescope so it could be fitted later with a clear lens. The gun mount
platform and seats from step 16 were built next, parts B-22, B-16, B-19,
seat parts D-9 and 31. From step 17 I built the floor, travel lock, and
engine cover, minus the boarding ladder. They were left out of the lower
hull to facilitate painting.
Step 9 was next, assembling all parts that would be painted the overall
vehicle color. The jack blocks and tools were cleaned up and set aside
for painting. The driver's visor armored cover from step 17 was added,
as well as light cables made from .014" solder. In steps 10,11,12,
and 13 all parts that would be painted overall gray were cleaned up and
installed. The propellant charge cabinets were built ready for paint.
The shell racks were built ready for the shells after they were painted.
Now it was time to sand all those two-part items built earlier. I needed
only small amounts of thin filler on the cannon barrel and muffler. Sand
all those wheel sets and rollers and get ready to paint. I stick them
to two-sided tape in labeled groups prior to spraying. I assembled the
gun mount and breech after sanding, and put on the sighting gear and gun
controls. Test fit it to the floor and dry fit the superstructure to make
sure the sight fits up through the sight aperture in the roof. Adjust
as necessary. I scratch built an extension to the lower floor with a bulkhead
to block the view forward of the gun. As it turns out, if you look just
right, you can barely see the top of it . Not really necessary, but it
looked cool for a while.
Time now to fire up the compressor and airbrush. All of those previously
built subassemblies can now get painted. I did the interior parts first;
gun parts, floor, ammo racks and cabinets,and upper and lower hull. Next
the wheels(painted black overall), lower hull exterior, gun barrel, and
anything else that would be painted gray I used Tamiya German gray lightened
a bit with Tamiya Buff. While all this was drying, it was time to clean
up and paint all the internal and external stowage, shells, racks, and
the tracks. By this time, the wheels were dry enough to paint the inner
portions. I used a circle template to cover the rubber rims. When dry,
glue on the wheels, idlers, drive sprockets, and return rollers, and install
the tracks. They fit with no alteration, though they are tight enough
to eliminate any sag. The upper hull was then glued to the lower.
Install all the upper hull stowage next, along with the gun mount and
breech assembly. I left the long barrel and mantlet off until last to
ease handling. There are tiny numbers provided on the decal sheet to number
the shell racks and propellant charge cabinet doors, but they are not
called out in the instructions. Looking from the back, K-1 through K-6
are applied to the doors of the left-hand cabinet, centered in the middle
of each door. K-7 through K-12 on the right hand side, with K-13 on the
single bin, part D-23. The other tiny numbers go on the shell racks. Each
slot is numbered on the top rail, and also on the retainer ring mount
for the empty slots. When everything was dry, I installed the superstructure,
being careful not to ding the gunner's sight. I next attached all the
external stowage, antenna and mount, rear door, and crew ladder, and touched
up any paint as needed. When everything was dry, Tamiya gloss was applied,
followed by the decals. A little Micro Set was all that was needed to
make them lay down nicely. When thoroughly, dry, a coat of Testor's Dullcoat
was lightly applied to flatten and unify the finish. Light dry-brushing,
washes, and pastels finished the vehicle. I did add 3 figures, two from
Tristar's Self-propelled gun crew (build
review), kit number 007, and one leaning figure with hands in pockets
from Tamiya's Tank Crew at Rest set, # 35201.
Notes
According to photos in the Tiger I volume of the ACHTUNG! PANZER series,
and Spielberger's "Tiger und Seine Abarten", I added a jerry
can rack to the left fender. Since the vehicle is equipped with two jack
blocks, I thought it appropriate to add a jack on the right fender, as
well as a rolled up tarpaulin, since it is an open topped vehicle. All
the internal stowage had a white lettered name above the various locations.
You may wish to try to add these, depending on your insanity quotient.
Conclusion
The overall fit and finish are very nice. There are only two parts needing
ejector marks filled that would be visible, and these are quite shallow.
Two piece wheels mean they all need sanding, but so do solid molded ones.
Painting and marking choices are limited, since only two vehicles existed,
but that means it hard to get it wrong. German armor fans need to include
this one in their collections. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Stevens
International for supplying this review sample.
* Quoted section in history taken from the "Encyclopedia of German
Tanks" by Chamberlin, Ellis and Jentz.
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