Heng Long/Taigen Panzer III (Das Reich, Kursk)

[MrChef]

Soooo this one has been waiting patiently since last October.



HL with all the metal bits for a decent price I couldn't ignore.



What to do? H'mmm what to do?...


Ok, So I have a Das Reich Tiger already. Panzer III's were attached to Tiger units early on through summer 1943 as scouts, flank security, etc. Eventually they became obsolete and the Panzer III ceased production, only the lower continued production as part of the Stug III which continued production to the end of the war.

https://tankmuseum.org/article/panzer-iii-and-the-tiger

So I thought my Tiger needed a Panzer III buddy at Kursk and I prefer the Eastern Front theater.


Panzer III L


Panzer III's of Das Reich at Kursk


Panzer IIIL at Bovington


another Panzer IIIL

[MrChef]

Das Reich Panzer III leading Tigers

[MrChef]

So here we go-



Remember this was my first foray into the mystical mythical TK7.0 controlling the Asiatam recoil/elevation unit with help from Ian and some others here. Sooo swapped in the correct scale long 5cm KwK39 L/60 recoil barrel.

phpBB [video]

ahh I'm rusty, it took almost 30 minutes to tear this down to a pile of parts.

[MrChef]

So lets start work on the turret to replace the abomination of a pregnant storage bin.

Cutting, filing, sanding and more cutting. I chose the metal turret even though it would be more of a pain because the details are better, the opening side hatches, the recoil unit came ready installed and was on sale Annnnd the proper scale barrel upgrade was a drop in perfect fit.





I decided to mount the bin differently than I'd seen others do. I wanted it to be very sturdy for outdoor enthusiastic use. So I kept a small ledge of the metal to mount onto. I will bolt it on over JB weld.



test fitting the bin

[MrChef]

I had initially thought of filling the gap hole and putty the rest but decided after fitting a sample of the .75mm styrene that I would just make a whole new back panel which again would be more sturdy, simpler and less spot and crack filling.



So I used flexible cardboard, traced the shape, cut it out and made a nice template. It took 2 times to get the nicest template. I did still need to trim slightly and of course file and sand.


Note it's not easy to Trace backwards with your non-dominant hand...



Used boiling water to bend and shape the panel



Pretty close just a bit more massaging.



Stuck it on to see how it fits, used E6000 glue to mock it up. Two things I needed to do. Trim to fit the bin lower and trim the plugs for the pistol ports.



Sorted the plugs and applied a slurry of Tamiya putty for texture

[MrChef]

Shot some primer today to see where I'm at. There's a few small issues but not with the back panel.



Definitely an improvement



I'm digging all the hatches but I fear I may need to populate them.



There's a blemish on the roof I need to attend to.



It's got it's nipples back



I'm satisfied with this

[Meter rat]

I quite like these. Keep up the good work.

[HERMAN BIX]

Love it, watching on

[Stormbringer]

Really like that

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Wow! You made that Panzer III into a basket case and then rebuilt it into a better Panzer III altogether. Well done!