1941 StuG III Ausf B

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Tue May 26, 2015 9:15 pm

Sunshine and lower hull priming...Pretty simple. ;o) Pics:

edpanzer · Post by **edpanzer** » Wed May 27, 2015 2:12 am

Sunshine what's that? Looks good painless although I find myself drawn to the advertising in the newspaper

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Wed May 27, 2015 6:04 am

Ed,
Back to thunderstorms this late afternoon so I'm glad I took the time while the sun was out. The StuG really grows on you, I've found. Whether early Assault gun or Tank killer, it really is a feast for the eyes. This 'B' is starting to come together.
regards,
Painless

P.S. The paper is a newspaper sized advert for an outfit called Micro Center. They still do brick and mortar locations and have more electronics gear than anyone I have seen, for (usually ) reasonable prices.

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Thu May 28, 2015 10:29 pm

Another sunny Lunch hour today so I took it as a good time to paint the new tracks. After a thorough wipe down, I laid them out and used some of the 'oil rubbed bronze' enamel on the interior run and 'root brown' on the exterior and chevrons to do two coats. Again, pretty simple work. I was really impressed with these tracks and their heft and detail. They will look great with a little wear on the chevrons and some weathering from Tamiya. Pics:

wibblywobbly · Post by **wibblywobbly** » Fri May 29, 2015 7:19 pm

I only recently discovered Rustoleum primer, it is top notch stuff. Way better than the car shop stuff I used to use.

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Fri May 29, 2015 8:42 pm

Good afternoon,
It's a never ending search, sir, for something to do a job better and new stuff is popping up all of the time. ;o)
regards,
Painless

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:09 am

*Click* Instant Summertime...Today was perfect for painting so the lower was set out and Model Masters Panzer Grau applied in a couple of deep coats. Tonight, I looked it over and touched up spots with a small brush. That's going to be an ongoing thing til' weathering while building this StuG in phases. I had some time left and mounted the Continental rubber back on. I am pleased with the progress today. Pics:

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 3:06 am

Simple stuff today, final touch-up on the lower hull's paint and mounting the tracks.I ran up the engines and trundled it around a bit on heavy carpet and tile to see how my idler wheel mounts were doing. The idlers have a little play in them but I found that this along with the spring mount adjuster allows them to follow the tracks very, very well. The new engines go from 'creep' to very 'fast' quite easily. The only consideration I have is maybe going down and getting a couple of 1/8 inch longer screws for the lower adjuster mounting point. That's a metal screw into plastic and the deeper it can bite, the more solid the whole mount. Pics:

PainlessWolf · Post by **PainlessWolf** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 5:24 am

Since there is only one solid point of attachment on either sidewall for the idler mount and adjuster, I felt that they could use some reinforcement where the plastic half-dome connects with the metal armature. A little thought and a quick trip to Home Despot got some needed longer screws, ( #4 x .75 ) Coming home, I drilled a couple of pin holes in the halfdome and glued steel pins into place to keep it from being twisted off by the bigger attachment screws. For the big bolt through the idler wheel, I added another layer of plastic sheathing so that the wheel is spinning on the bearing, not the bolt itself. I'm reasonably satisfied now that everything has been tightened up and should last a good long while. Idler alignment with the tracks has benefited as well. Pics: