Plastic Soldier StuG III Ausf. G Assault Gun Build in 1/72 Scale Part III

Here is the Sturmgeschütz III with the added concrete armor after painting.  I completed most of the assembly first and painted in the details.  Painting the rubber on the bogie wheels is not difficult if you thin the paint and allow capillary action to carry the paint around the rim, filling in the rest of the color after.  The simplified suspension is not as glaring as I feared but it still does not stand up to close examination.

The same StuG after washes and weathering.  The model was first coated with Future (Klear) to protect the paint.  Decals from the spares box were then applied and a second Future coat sprayed to seal them in.  Next they were washed overall with Tamiya Black with Brown added for the tracks.  The loader’s machine gun shield was fixed in the stowed position, if it is shown raised the loader’s hatch must be opened as the front half props up the shield.  The hatch is provided as a separate piece and can be posed open but I lacked an appropriate figure to fill the opening.

A tighter shot of one of the other StuG III showing details.  The radio antenna are made from 0.005” Nitenol wire set into 0.5 mm tube.  The advantage of Nitenol is it is flexible and does not bend or break so any bumping of the antenna will cause no damage.  The bore cleaning rod was scratched, Jerry cans are from the spares box.

Here are the Plastic Soldier commander figures.  I replaced their headphone supports.  These guys are a little hard to paint in this scale but I’m working on that!

All three of the Plastic Soldier kits posed together for a group shot.  I tried to make each one a little bit different than the others.  The Schürzen are in place which helps the appearance.

One of the Plastic Soldier StuGs on the left compared to the Trumpeter kit on the right.  The Trumpeter StuG is a more finessed display model as you would expect, but by the same token it would not stand up as well to handling for use in wargaming.

 

SUMMARY

I really didn’t know what to expect from the Plastic Soldier kits.  They are intended for wargaming and are certainly well suited for that use.  There are several concessions made to ease of assembly and strength of the finished model which makes them quite robust when put together.  There is also a generous array of optional parts which facilitate construction of different variations.  While these are not called out in the instructions, modelers with even the most basic of references will have no trouble determining which parts are required to make these.  For their target market they will do nicely especially given that there are three to a box.

For a display model they need a bit of work but not a prohibitive amount.  The biggest improvement needed is replacing the overly-thick kit Schürzen which has the added benefit of concealing the simplified running gear.  These are not the best place to start on a super detailing project for a contest model, but they are not intended to be either.  Having said that I may sneak one onto a contest table just to see how it will do.

In the end these are fun little kits which turned out better than I feared they might.  I think they will look right at home in the case!

Completed builds here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/07/07/plastic-soldier-sturmhaubitze-42-in-1-72-scale/