Along the way I have researched numerous websites, books, and picked the brains of forum historians. Virtually everything has turned up a blank. The Ausf N was the last of the line, very few were built, and as to where they served, well, Kursk is probably a safe bet, but there are pictures of some that were surrendered in Norway.
Most of the problems I encountered were down to the fact that many PzrIII's were retro upgraded. This is something that seems to have escaped the attention of many experts. I have found numerous examples of earlier versions with a short gun that are described as N's, but they are not. Some websites even have a pic of a Pzr IV that is annotated as a Pzr III, which is mind boggling.
The only sure fire way to identify one is to check for a single hatch on the cupola, no escape hatches in the lower hull sides, and no spaced armour on the mantlet.
Having said that, some Ausf N's do indeed have spaced armour on the mantlet, and some do not have the spaced armour on the hull front over the machine gun and drivers slit. Talk about confusing?
The Ausf N was used as a scout tank. Several of them would accompany Tigers and seek out the enemy. The Tiger would then move in and engage them. It was not the role of the III to engage, by the end of the war it was too lightly armed, and the armour was too thin.
The history of the Pzr III is arguably the most complex of the lot, it went from day 1 of the war to the last day, through A - N, and was modified at every step. The Russians even captured one, copied it, and used it as the base for a tank destroyer. The road wheels changed, the return rollers changed, along with guns, shape and armour. If you ever decide to build one, the best option is to find one that has multiple photo's and replicate it. I doubt if there are two the same out there, as after they left the factory they were either blown up, upgraded, or modified in some way or other.
Interestingly the Pzr III/IV was a designation more for the hull than the tank. The hulls were used for various combat vehicles, a tank being only one of them.
So, what did I do...I made a lot of work for myself, that's what!
Thinking that I wanted a resplendent grey one, I decided to use Plastikote. It dries as hard as nails and gives a flawless finish...so
Filled all imperfections in moulding (loads).
Rotated Cupola.
Single Cupola hatch.
Brass tow rope clamps.
Stowage bin support brackets (not accurate, but they cover a join in the HL parts)
Narrowed extended mantlet armour.
Removed rivets on mantlet.
Filled holes in mantlet front.
Filled holes behind mantlet.
Short barrel.
Added smoke launchers.
Modified turret lifting hooks.
Modified vision slits on turret side doors.
Removed heat deflector from above exhausts.
Removed headlights.
Removed spare tracks.
Removed tow rope.
Modified rear navigation light.
Added mesh covers to air intakes.
Trimmed mudguard supports back from edges.
Raised return rollers.
Added metal sprockets and rear idlers, using late version centre caps on sprockets.
Removed hull escape hatches.
Removed HL aeriel
Added side mounted ariel.
Repositioned spare wheels.
Installed IR emitter tube in mantlet machine gun hole, and designed so that mg plugs into it for display purposes.
Mounted mushroom in cupola.
Sprayed it.
Added a bit of weathering...and then fitted Elmod kit.
Then decided that grey was boring, and that this should actually look like a battlefield tank, so I mixed up some Kursk green and hand painted the entire tank. I use Vallejo paints as they brush paint to a very good finish.
I also added scuffs and dents with a dremel, and then weathered it all up. I also removed the lovingly crafted turret hooks, as they do not exist on turrets with smoke launchers.
So now it looked more like a tank, and I could have left it there. Problem was I picked up a book, then another, then looked at websites, modelling sites, painting sites and camo sites...there is no evidence that a Pzr III was ever green? Oh dear...
It seems that everything was Dunkelgelb and Dunkelgrau by that time in the war, so no matter where the tanks went, they started out the same colour, and had all sorts of colours painted on once they arrived for a tour of duty.
The next problem was that I could not find any accurate colour photo's of Pzr III at Kursk, with camo designs. Sure there are a million books and modelling websites with camo schemes...but all of these have to be taken with a pinch of salt. It is artistic licence, not historical accuracy.
What should I do? Only one thing for it, I got out my Auto-Glym motorcycle cleaner, sprayed the tank, and wiped all of the paint off, right back to the HL plastic.
I then went over the entire hull again filling and smoothing all of the HL moulding imperfections, and polished the two grades of filler down with lots of water and fine emery. It took many hours.
The hull was so well sanded by the time I finised that it had a gloss finish.
Right, now I can start again.
Needed a base colour, something like this
But these are the two main colours
Next problem, due to photoshopping, digital camera's and printing processes, plus the fact that German RAL paint was manufactured by two suppliers in two shades, and changed colour with age, even in the tin, that there is, in reality no such thing as 'this is a perfect match'. There is nothing to match it to?
The best option is to pick something that is a close match, and either apply that, or mix some of your own.
My first attempt was Vallejo Desert Sand, I hand painted the entire tank, and achieved an excellent finish. I waited till it dried...but it was several shades too light for my tastes.
So next up was Tan Yellow, which is darker, but still the wrong shade. It was close enough to what I wanted though, as I decided to go for a camo scheme.
Mixing this was a pain. yellow, brown and green again, but gradually darkening it down to green/yellow, quite a filthy colour in the pot. I then tried several tests, and found that I had to let it dry completely before I could see the real colour.
I soon reached a point where 'this would have to do', so went with it.
Where am I now?
The tank is basically yellow.
The camo pattern has been applied.
The tools have been repainted.
I tried the salt weathering effect, but need more practice at that.
I will post up some more pics when I get the chance.... I intend to airbrush Vallejo Bare Earth, and greys over it to dull it all down, plus add the usual battlefield scars.
Here is a where I started on the final colour scheme, lots of work to do now...
You will see that the top two smoke launchers are missing, these are all scratch built, and every time I handled the turret they got knocked off, so they will be replaced when I have finished faffing about with it.
It has been a long journey, but at least it made me learn a great deal about Panzer III's that I didn't know before.
The general idea for the camo came from this pic.
Started weathering the lower hull. I think I am on a quest with this tank to complete it without using an airbrush. I haven't so far, so I will see how it goes with the rest.
I had to re-do the jack clamp, and the jerry can. They consist of tiny pieces of styrene and brass that stick to everything except each other. All done again now though and I managed to retain that battered look.
To weather the lower hull and wheels, I broke all the rules.
I used a wet narrow point brush and Vallejo Burnt Umber around the mouldings, just a pin line in the recesses.
I have several palletes of Tamiya weather powders. I got the one containing Orange Rust and Oilstain. Then I used a very wet brush and swirled it into each colour in turn, so that I had a dark earthy colour on the brush. Doing a small area at a time, I daubed this over everything and then used a dry brush to make it uniform in colour. It worked, not only that but as it went on wet, it is no different from an acrylic wash, so it won't come off in a hurry.
I then went back over the bits I had done with the burnt umber, but using a thicker mix of the weathering powders.
The 'rubber' on the wheels is being done in Vallajo Flat Earth, my colour of choice for wheels as it dries to a perfect earthy colour every time.
One good thing though, I paid a visit to my local Lidl's last week, and they were selling complete 10 brush artists sets, including a plastic pallete and a carry case...for 3.99 Euro's. They are the hard point brushes that are essential for accurate painting. An absolute bargain.
Digital camera's are a nightmare. I took about 20 pics to get these two, and it still looks nothing like what I am taking a picture of. lol
Gave it a wash with Vallejo Bare Earth, I only used 7 drops of paint to do the whole upper hull. Then added Vallejo Smoke to add tone to various bits and pieces. Stuck some decals on, though one wouldn't come off the sheet, I decided to scalpel it off and apply a dab of superglue to hold it...at which point it spun round on itself, and broke in half...grrr.
It's rather more subtle that it looks here, but maybe when it stops raining I can get some daylight pics.
Still more to do though.
The exhaust and how I made it..
How did I make it?
One cheap screwdriver handle.
Ground the end flat.
Measured 37mm along and cut the handle through to the shaft.
Removed the unwanted section of handle.
Cut the shaft off and put it in and electric drill to use as a clamp,
Filled the indents in the screwdriver handle with car body filler.
When dry, I ran the drill and sanded it down to a cylinder.
Cut off the shaft flush with the cylinder.
Drilled an off centre hole in one end.
Next, I used the following:
A piece of hollow alloy tube for the thick part of the manifold.
Brass pipe for the downpipes.
Brass rod inserted into the pipe so that it didn't kink too much when bending it.
Before bending, slid two washers down the pipe.
When all of the curves were correct, I slid four pieces of heatshrink onto the pipes. These held the washers in place, and a dab of superglue ensured it stayed secure.
The outlet on the top was made using two pieces of styrene tube.
Finished it all off with filler.
