Bob Lessels

This article appeared in the January 1997 issue of Boresight

First glance review of the H: mix the StuG III Ausf. Blower chassis, wheels, track, and rear deck with the Pzkpfw Ill Ausf. J crew compartment and turret, then add the bolt-on armor plates, fenders, etc. from the Pzkpfw III Ausf. G = Pzkpfw III Ausf. H. In short, no surprises other than the decal sheet. It's different from the one in the Ausf. G kit, providing markings for vehicles from theist PD (l,etovo, Russia, 1941 solid white serif numerals 711), 3rd PD (Russia, sans serifblack numerals w/white outline 531) and 8th PzRgt, 15th PD (North Africa, serif type face, vehicle number 1). Unit markings for IPD and 3PD are white instead of yellow. No division marking is provided for the 15th PD. The Afrika Korps palm tree has an "X" instead of a swastika in the trunk motif. Balkankreutzen are black, edged white. Parts sprue Fhas seven parts that are used on the tank (mufflers, radio mounts, jack block, starter crank and fire extinguisher) everything else goes to the scrap box.

Lessons learned building the Ausf. G: The drive sprockets, idler wheels and return rollers need to be moved about lmm closer to the hull. This is done by cutting about 1 mm off the drive housing, trimming the collar off the idler wheel axle, and sanding down the return roller mounts a bit. The forward return roller mount needs to be relocated to the rear per kit instructions. The road wheels fit well without any modifications to the axles. The next bit of surgery was to the turret roof. The kit's turret roof is that of a late Ausf. Gistandard Ausf. H, but the turret is the earlyl mid-production Ausf.G style with the bulge for the commander's cupola. I don't know if this roof/turret combination is accurate. All of the photos I have of the Ausf. H style turret roof (with the single signal port on the left and ventilator on the right) show it on later-style turrets without the cupola bulge at the rear. I sanded the signal port off the left side of the turret roof, cut the signal port off the extra turret roof (part E27) provided in the kit, installed this on the right side of the turret roof, installed the ventilator at the 11 o'clock position relative to this new signal port, and covered the space where the left signal port had been with the kit's extra ventilator cover plate(part 13F). I used the kit commander's cupola (a late Ausf. G-N style). I'm building a second Ausf. G with an even earlier style roof for which I will take an early-style cupola from Tamiya's Pzkpfw IV Ausf. D (building it as an Ausf. E with late cupola, instead). I elected to omit the bolt-on armor for the medel I was building, salvaging the brake vents from part C4, though. The finished kit looks accurate and scales well with drawings in Achtung Panzer #2.