With the Nashorn done yesterday, that meant I had the full day today on my hands and couldn’t let any grass grow under my feet…so the next victim was slated for the bench and work begun.
Ever since this kit was released at the end of 2009 I’ve been wanting to get to it and things finally worked out to allow me to build the StuG IV. I had to wait a little while for the Atak zimmerit to be available since this kit definitely needs zim to be accurate and other projects got in the way in the meantime like the #100 election and runner-up but now this one’s finally getting its due. I’m building it mostly OOB with the exception of the added zim and replacing the static Magic tracks with the MK workable SK-17 tracks.
I did things a little differently and built up the MK tracks right at the outset instead of waiting until later in the build. I had some time on my hands while my previous build project was finishing up so I took full advantage of it and assembled two runs of 96 links each and will add the extra links 3-4 links I’ll need for the full run later when I can test for fit and sag. Before committing that far, I assembled the kit sprockets and tested them with a short run of MK links just to be sure everything would play nice.
I also managed to complete today the rest of the elements called for in Step 1 which included the assembly of the idlers. I opted for the cast-type idler and added the PE inserts as called for in the instructions. I also opted for the simple design steel return rollers for no other reason than they had fewer clean-up points vs. the type with the reinforcing ribs. All 32 of the road wheel halves were removed from the sprues and cleaned up. The rear halves all had some minor flash on the back where they mount to the suspension arms so each one had to be cleaned up with a sharp #11 blade. Each road wheel half also had a mold seam that needed to be removed, easily accomplished with a sanding stick although somewhat time consuming due to the number of parts involved.
That’s as far as things got but the build is underway! More progress to come for sure.
Bill, you must have StuG fever or something. [:D] I just got the issue with your StuG III on it and now your starting it’s bigger brother. LOL
Just curious if you’ve ever done your own zimmerit before. Not that I myself don’t have any problem with resin. I tried it once, but wasn’t impressed, but I did it with putty and a screwdriver. The newer rake and roller tools make it look much easier.
Steve, it was rough taking that long of a break between builds but somehow I managed to plow through it and get back to the bench with fresh motivation! [:P]
Eric, Next to the 38t family the Pz III/StuG III family is in the all time favs list and the StuG IV is a close enough cousin that it too needs its due! To be fair, the StuG III G was built over 2 years ago so it’s been a while since I tackled a long-gun StuG of any kind. [;)] I’ve tried my hand at home-made zim and like you wasn’t too thrilled with the outcome. Using the resin sets is the better option in my view as a time-saver and I definitely take my hat off to those who can do it by hand using putty or the hot-knife method. [cwby]
Welcome back! It seems like forever since your last build and we all missed your blog posts!!![:)]
All kidding aside I enjoy your WIP and have learned so much. I have been using your RSO thread to walk me through some of my RSO/03 build and know if I follow your builds I am assured of building a decent kit!
Dave, Bob, thanks for the interest, will do my best to keep this one rolling along. [;)]
IB, glad to hear the RSO wip is helping with your project. Those older kits can present some challenges but looks like you’re doing just fine with yours. [Y]
More progress has been made on the StuG front from last time and I continued on with Step 2 in the instructions. This step is a fairly simple step as it deals with the details on the rear hull plate prior to its installation into the hull. There are two small bolts on the top edge that need to be removed as they were the fastening points for the retention bands on the auxiliary turret traverse motor exhaust that wasn’t fitted to the StuG IVs. You have to orient yourself carefully with the diagram to be sure you’re removing the right bolts but otherwise this is no problem. The option of the square or round blanking plate for where the exhaust would have exited the hull is provided but since the Atak zim set has the square cutout, I went with that one. The tow point was assembled and installed as well to round things out.
Step 3 deals with the lower hull tub and the first order of business is to remove part of the stiffening ribs molded in place in the middle of the tub. Since the tub is a standard Pz IV hull, these ribs have to go in order for the StuG casemate to install properly. These were cut down with sprue cutters and then the remainder removed with a micro chisel and sanded smooth. The small mold stubs along the top of the hull were also removed, these aren’t called out in the instructions but experience with previous Smart Kit Pz IV family builds makes it old hat to know to remove them. The rear plate from Step 2 was installed along with the front nose plate. The nose plate also received the front tow points and the openings for the tow pins had to be slightly opened up with a round needle file for the pins to fit properly but everything else worked as designed. The front portions of the final drive housings were added as well to complete the step.
Step 4 begins work on the suspension components, adding the final drive housings to either side as well as the two-part rubber bump stops and the mount points for the suspension bogeys. The rear tow hooks are also added in this step. The Atak zim set provides single panels for the lower hull and additional small strips for the areas around the final drive housings, making it pretty straightforward to add the zim to these areas. The Atak panels required some minor trimming on the openings for the return roller mounts as well as some adjustments around a couple of the bump stops but otherwise fit very well to the hull. I glued the large panels in place with Gator Grip glue to allow for adjustments and some work time and then followed that up with regular Testors liquid glue around the edges. The capillary action pulled the liquid glue into the small spaces left between the panel and the hull and made for a nice tight join. On the smaller panels I just used the liquid glue approach due to their small size and tight spaces. I also added the front hull zim panels at this stage as well using the same methods. There is a little bit of a raised area present around the tops of the final drive housings, this will get trimmed down once the glacis plate is fitted to provide for a seamless join.
Step 5 returns to the rear hull plate and installs the idler mounts as well as the exhaust. The Atak set provides multiple small panels to properly zim this area which makes it much easier to work around the complex surfaces vs. using a single large panel with a lot of cutouts. These panels were installed with liquid glue due to their small size. The instructions do have some confusion/error in the parts call-out for the bases of the idler mounts. In the small sub-assembly diagram, they refer to parts B13/12 but in the main diagram they are labelled B15/B14. The B sprue actually includes 3 different styles of idler mount and the front page of the instructions has all but the B13/12 combination marked as “not for use”. However in checking reference photos, the style presented for B15/14 are seen on the “early” model StuGs that this kit covers so I opted for those. It’s also important to install parts B2/B3 before you add the bases for the idler mounts as they form part of the attachment surface for the bases and it’s much easier to add them first vs. later. I also added the starter crank access pipe and cap at this point before installing the muffler due to the tight spaces involved.
Rounding out Step 5 is the muffler/exhaust assembly. This consists of 9 parts all by itself and the fit tolerances to the hull are pretty tight especially with the exhaust pipes and their curved armored trays. I needed to trim back a little on the Atak strips around where the pipes install since the Atak arrangement doesn’t take into account the fact that the armored trays need to make contact with the hull. Some careful work with the sharp tip of a #11 blade fixed that problem and the muffler/exhaust was installed.
Next up will be the glacis and adding the rest of the suspension components.
OK…Did you clean up from the last build…did you check and clean the floor…I know…the elves came into the workshop and set it up for you!!! If the Germans built tanks half as fast as you do…we would all be speaking German!!!
After all that I am glad to see you at least took a one day rest!!
Nice work so far. Gator glue is one of my favorites also…works well with those parts or PE you have to work into place. The stuff is great…by the way, it works as well on resin as it does on styrene and metal.
Glad to see the Bill time warp is still working!! Off to a great start
