Re: 1/16 PzKpfw III Ausf M - Trumpeter/Heller kit with Taigen hull integration - Build
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 6:47 pm
The turret rear bin tub is molded in one piece and has a detailed interior... a nice touch if you can plug all the ejection pin holes inside and under the cover, no easy way to access. But the hinges are so small, it would have taken some scratch building with brass strips to create new operable hinges and i did not really see the need myself. But there are a lot of possibilities for the diorama builder.
The bin has accurate mounts on the turret rear, it's really good that we finally have a Panzer III with a nice turret bin mounted properly. I bet there will be a black market for these bins.
The ventilator has fan blades, sadly they do not show from the outside but cool from the inside, coming with the grill part to cover them.
The Panzer III cupola has positionable armored periscope covers with nice periscopes and mounts inside. I want to see them so i will have opened covers. However, the instructions are showing the armored plates closed. It's not obvious how to position them open, there are no stoppers and it's up to the builder to position them correctly.
A good and clear picture from the back cover of Achtung Panzer provides a good clue of their position when fully open.
Installing them independently by following the instruction has risks of misplacing them completely, too high or too low, and not equal, which will likely not look good.
It's better to glue the cupola base on the turret, and then slide the armored covers all the way down to the bottom rim. That position seems to match the one in the above Achtung Panzer picture.
Same for the top of the cupola, sliding covers are positioned up against the rim. This way, they will fit and all of them will be aligned and strait. It just looks better that way.
The periscopes are very nice, but they should be installed only after painting, done with a mask over the clear visor area, before adding the plastic overlay and position them inside the cupola.
continuing on following post
The bin has accurate mounts on the turret rear, it's really good that we finally have a Panzer III with a nice turret bin mounted properly. I bet there will be a black market for these bins.
The ventilator has fan blades, sadly they do not show from the outside but cool from the inside, coming with the grill part to cover them.
The Panzer III cupola has positionable armored periscope covers with nice periscopes and mounts inside. I want to see them so i will have opened covers. However, the instructions are showing the armored plates closed. It's not obvious how to position them open, there are no stoppers and it's up to the builder to position them correctly.
A good and clear picture from the back cover of Achtung Panzer provides a good clue of their position when fully open.
Installing them independently by following the instruction has risks of misplacing them completely, too high or too low, and not equal, which will likely not look good.
It's better to glue the cupola base on the turret, and then slide the armored covers all the way down to the bottom rim. That position seems to match the one in the above Achtung Panzer picture.
Same for the top of the cupola, sliding covers are positioned up against the rim. This way, they will fit and all of them will be aligned and strait. It just looks better that way.
The periscopes are very nice, but they should be installed only after painting, done with a mask over the clear visor area, before adding the plastic overlay and position them inside the cupola.
continuing on following post