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I finally got enough parts in to start work on my StuG III Ausf C/D (haven't decided which yet). A lot of this build follows PainlessWolf's 1941 StuG III Ausf B Build. I went with mostly Taigen parts since I have the most experience on that platform. I used the Taigen Panzer III Metal lower hull because it does not have the Panzer III escape hatches making it ideal for this build. I also am using Taigen's V3 electronics, V2 Smoke Unit, metal drive wheels and road wheels, and IR system. I got some Low/Low 5:1 gearboxes from Forgebear that fit this chassis perfectly and give this Stug and nice realistic speed IMO. Today I got all of the lower assembled, so electrics are in, motors work, wheels on, tracks on, and some modifications to the lower hull have started. I want to 3d Print some covers for the gearboxes, and I will need to design a new rear exhaust grille for the early StuGs but, I need to wait for my resin kit to show up first so I can get accurate measurements. So here are the pictures for today!


Tons of parts!

Changed rear tensioner screw to the more realistic bolt from Mato

Electronics installed, this was a mistake as it had to get removed to install 4 of the return rollers

Filled down the wrong style front tow bars and gave them the proper curvature

Majority of the lower hull complete

Tracks on, so far I have decided to leave the spare tracks on the front, as I have seen some Ausf C/D with them and it covers the Taigen latch system screws, which would be a pain to try and redo in a hidden fashion

Side View, have the StuG style plates on the drive wheels, but not quite enough weight so the front and back wheels don't touch the ground, I suspect eventually this will fix itself, if not I will probably attach lead wheel weights somewhere in the lower hull

Rear without the exhaust since I have to redo that to make it correct and paint it separately. Notice correct bolt style tensioners and the most important tank bucket

Exhaust modified to be mostly correct, Just snapped the shield off leaving the studs holding it in, then sanded it smooth, then drilled the bolt holes roughly in the right spot, might be a tad too high.

Exhaust all painted up, and just me holding it in place, won't glue it until the hull is painted. Left this exhaust somewhat new, as I want the tank build to be almost factory new and just let natural grime and dirt weather it as I use it.

That's everything for a bit waiting for my Resin kit from Asiatam and the Tauchpanzer III Hull before I can do more on this, so stay tuned.

If anyone finds some StuG III Ausf C or D 1/16 decals (Not DAK) let me know, I can only find Ausf F. If I can't find any I'll just have to bash a few sheets together. Might not be the most accurate but would probably be fine as some generic unit

Usually, this chassis needs to have all its individual torsion bars adjusted so that the tank is at the proper height, all road wheels flat on the ground with some sagging on the return rollers.

lmcq11 wrote:Usually, this chassis needs to have all its individual torsion bars adjusted so that the tank is at the proper height, all road wheels flat on the ground with some sagging on the return rollers.

I saw that in your StuG Ausf G build thread, I may have too but just overnight all the wheels are now sitting on the ground, hopefully, it will weigh itself down, if not ill have to adjust them like you. Any chance you have any tips or detailed photos from your Ausf D build? and what did you do about tool placement? I know Painless cut all his off and used brass plates to cover it, but his plates sit up a little. I was thinking to use the brass plates but file the plastic down so the plate sits flush.

The main issue is the height of this chassis when sold. Mine was quite a few mm to high above ground and it showed so much. It could not remain as is. No compressing effort worked and the weight above to be added is not much. These bars are strong. Check against reference graph and take measurements to determine how many mm the bottom of the hull should be above ground and check with your chassis. It is a big tricky job to remove each torsion bars and using two sets of pliers, turn and force both end in opposite direction to give the bar a permanent twist in the direction that will lower the hull and then do the same for each. Re-install and check height and see if they are all aligned. Remove the ones again that are not aligned with the others and rework until each are good, tank is flat at proper height. It was a 3 to 4 hour job for me. In any cases, you will learn a lot about torsion bars in the process…

After looking at the reference material it looks like a StuG III Ausf C/D was 6ft 4in from the ground to the top, using the photo below I estimated the ground clearance including the tracks on the real one to be about 1ft 5inchs could be 4inchs. Converting that to 1/16 scale gives me 1 1/16 inches for 1ft 5in or 1in for 1ft 4in. holding up a tailor's tape measure I found the new chassis falls into that height pretty well right now, not off enough to mess with the torsion bars. However, my Panzer III (painted) seems to sit higher up, might need to adjust that one.

I also got some 3d Printed motor covers made and installed for the Taigen 5:1 gearboxes. Made them to keep the grease from going everywhere, not really for noise reduction.


Reference image with measurements, each color segment is a foot

height of my tank from surface to the bottom of the hull, would say my tape is off by about a 16th of an inch, so it reads about right imo

Panzer III hull sits up higher as apparent if you look at the spare track holder

Motor covers printed and cleaned up, accidentally made a Zimmerit pattern with it

Motors covers installed

Starting to work on the build again after receiving my resin kit, my kit came with 4 of the same part for the front early style tow hooks, so I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get the metal 1/16 tow shackles that Painless used on his build, I can’t seem to find them, worst case I’ll have to design something in solidworks.

Which shackles do you need? The straight ones are available from rc tank suppliers. The curved ones you can get from rc crawler suppliers.

Enjoying seeing a StuG build.

What is circled in red is what I need, reached out to DioramaFreak they no longer make the metal ones that Painless used in his build. I am now wondering if a Heng Long supplier can order me just the shackles for the TauchPanzer III H.

Oh yes, those. Maybe send a message to Forgebear to see what might be on the back shelves?