Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 [Assembly Done - Partly glued, partly dry-fitted; Photos before painting]

 So one journey ends and another is about to begin in my current armored fighting vehicle (AFV) project. Assembly of the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 is more or less complete while the painting of it is about to begin. Not straight away, mind you. As part of my hobby process, especially for AFVs, I will usually set the assembled vehicle aside for awhile and go on to complete some non-AFV projects before painting it. Reason I do this is due to the time consuming process of each and every AFV project gives rise to a possibility of hobby burnout. Breaking up the AFV project into smaller chunks reduces the probability of the dreaded malaise setting in.

Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembled: partly glued, partly dry-fitted

 At this stage of its build, the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B is partly dry-fitted and partly glued together. For now, there are still some parts that have been left out entirely from the assembled whole namely the tracks and open hatches. This was unavoidable because there was no effective way for me to dry-fit the tracks and open hatches onto the vehicle. For them to look like how they should at the completed stage I would've had to glue them onto the vehicle. Of course I can't do that yet, mainly because I intend to paint both the tracks and open hatches separately before gluing them onto the vehicle.

Not everything could be attached to the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B at this final stage of the assembly ...

... as the open hatches and tracks could not be effectively dry-fitted prior to the painting process ...

... so they were just left by themselves, unattached to the vehicle in anyway.  

 Among other dry-fitted parts that will eventually be removed from the assembled whole so that they can be painted separately are the commander figurine, wheels, main gun, upper/lower hull, toolbox, tow cables, and fighting compartment. Unlike the open hatches and tracks however, the aforementioned parts could be effectively dry-fitted onto the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B.

Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembled (closeup view, front)

Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembled (closeup view, top)

Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembled (closeup view, back)

 Going forward, my plan is to first paint the interior of both the lower hull and fighting compartment as well as the main gun, before moving on to other exterior parts. For the exterior, I'll most likely try out the Color Modulation Zenithal Light technique. In addition to that, I also plan to add hue variation via either oil or enamel paint filters. But I'm getting ahead of myself as usual. That's still some way off in the future. Best I focus on immediate steps of how to paint the interior in the coming weeks.  

Wheels were only dry-fitted and not glued onto the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B ...

... fitting of the wheels were loose, falling off easily; hopefully the fit will tighten after painting.

 Before I temporarily end my AFV project updates, I wish to thank you for having taken the time to check out the many posts on the assembly process. My apologies if it had seemed to drag on forever. As alluded to in the first paragraph, I will likely upload some already painted Gunpla projects before resuming the long drawn process of an AFV build i.e. painting and detailing them. I've actually completed the Gunpla projects earlier but hadn't had the time to uplaod them to my blog yet. This I'll do in the coming weeks before continuing onto the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B project. So until we meet again, as always, be safe, be useful, be well and be happy!

 

Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 [WIP - Assembling the Jack & Toolbox + Attaching final Upper Hull parts]

 With these steps you see here, the assembly of the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 is now essentially complete. These simple steps should've been lumped together with my previous post. However complications with the commander figurine meant the final two steps had to be uploaded as their own blog post even though minimal work was involved in these steps.

Final pieces of the Upper Hull parts have been attached to the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B

Steps 18 and 19 of the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembly process

 Admittedly it's nice to wind down the assembly process with straightforward steps. After struggling with the commander figurine, I was in no mood to fiddle with anymore tricky parts. That being said, I think I assembled the tiny 1/35 scale Jack (see below) in a slightly wrong orientation. It shouldn't be noticeable to more casual observers ... I hope. Almost all of the parts involved were molded plastic except for the final photo-etched metal piece, namely the right air intake grille.

Closeup view of the Jack (left) and Toolbox (right), which were assembled in Step 18

Last of the parts yet to be attached onto the Upper Hull; largest of them are the tow cables on the left

Said parts will be attached on right side of the Upper Hull, except tow cables which go on the back

 As with the previous step, the Upper Hull was first detached from both the Lower Hull and Fighting Compartment. This made assembly much easier because the process became a simple task of gluing or dry-fitting parts onto a flat surface. It's a big help considering extremely tiny parts were involved.

Upper Hull was detached from the rest of the vehicle to facilitate the assembly process, in fact ...

... to make things much easier, the Fighting Compartment was also detached from the Upper Hull ...

... before all the relevant parts were either glued on or dry-fitted onto the Upper Hull.

 All the parts in these final steps were glued on except for the tow cables (see above) at the rear of the Sturmgeschütz. The tow cables were only dry-fitted onto the back of the vehicle. Later on, they will be removed and painted separately before being glued back onto the Sturmgeschütz.

This is how the fully-fitted Upper Hull looks with the Fighting Compartment back on

 My next upload of the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 project will be photos of the vehicle dry-fitted as best I can to showcase it in its entirety before being painted. Of course there will be some hatches I've yet to glue onto the vehicle because I'm planning to paint them separately. But on the whole, you'll see a fairly representative image of a fully assembled Sturmgeschütz prior to it being painted. Until then, stay safe, stay busy, be well and be happy.

Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 [WIP - Assembly of Upper Hull Section Part 02 and Commander Figurine]

 Attachment of more parts onto the Upper Hull of the Tamiya 1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 as well as assembly of the vehicle's commander figurine are the focal point's of this post. While there wasn't really much to do in relation to the Upper Hull itself in this particular step of the assembly process, things took longer than expected because of problems I faced in putting together the commander figurine. What was supposed to be a post showcasing Steps 17 through to 19, ended up being just a write-up of just this one step. So please bear with me on this.

Sturmgeschütz commander assembled plus more parts for the Upper Hull

Steps 17 of the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembly process

 While the parts used in this step are mainly plastic ones, there was one PE metal part used i.e. the vehicle's left air intake grille. The other grille, for the right side of the hull, will be attached in a later step. These grilles are the largest PE parts provided in this kit, and also the easiest to work with. Apart from its large size, the grilles are also easier to handle because there is no need whatsoever to manipulate the PE parts e.g. bending. All that was needed was to cut the parts from its sprue/runner and glue them onto the hull. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

More metal and plastic parts for the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 ...

... all of which will be attached to the left side of its Upper Hull.

 To date I've always had trouble assembling 1/35 scale tank crew figurines whether they are from Tamiya or other third party kits. It was no different for the commander figurine (see below) included in this kit. Because the commander's arms doesn't have a male/female type joint connection to his torso, both arms have some flexibility in their final position in relation to the torso. This can be a positive as it allows for a slight customization of the figurine's stance through the open hatch. But for me it was a nightmare as I struggled to glue his arms in just the right position so that both hands could rest flatly on the Fighting Compartment. In the end, I don't think I managed it, at least not completely flat.

1/35 scale commander figurine (and his headphones) for the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B

 To make the assembly process easier, I had detached the Upper Hull, which at this point is only dry-fitted onto the Lower Hull. This made gluing on the metal/plastic parts less of a hassle. In Step 17, all the parts were glued together one way or another except for one i.e. the commander's headphones. Even after painting it, I intend to leave it hanging loosely around the figurine's neck as opposed to gluing them onto the figurine in a set position (see above).  

Because the Upper Hull was only dry-fitted to the Lower Hull, the former was easily ...

... detached first in order to facilitate the gluing or attachment process as directed in Step 17.

 Only after Part 2 of 3 of the Upper Hull Assembly was complete did I start to reattach, or dry-fit rather, the Upper Hull onto the Lower Hull. Following this, I dry-fitted the Fighting Compartment back onto the Upper Hull. Note that I didn't bother putting the main gun back in. This is because at this stage, my only aim was to see if the commander figurine could stand straight out of the open hatch with his hands resting flatly on the Fighting Compartment. Going forward, I intend to paint the interior, gun, figurine, and compartment separately so there's no point in gluing them together for now.  

Upper Hull with two thirds of its assembly done; shown here with interior exposed (sans gun); ...

... the Fighting Compartment was then dry-fitted to determine whether the Commander figurine's arms ...

... had been glued on correctly, based on the position of his hands on the hull when standing out of the hatch. 

 So this leaves me with just two more steps to go before assembly of the vehicle can be deemed as fully complete, more or less. Soon after, I hope to snap some shots of the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 in its entirety - a combination of glued and dry-fitted parts - before proceeding to paint the vehicle. Most of the difficult steps are behind me so I don't foresee any issues in the final steps. I'll be back soon with the last two steps, but until then do take care. Be well and happy!  

Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 [WIP - Assembly & Dry-Fitting of the Fighting Compartment]

 Work on the Upper Hull was set aside for the moment as focus shifted to assembling and dry-fitting of the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 Fighting Compartment. This step of the assembly process is interesting in that it allows the scale modeler to easily customize the build by varying the number of open hatches on top of the compartment. So for hobbyists who aren't willing to physically alter the kit or put in extra work to customize their build, then this should be right up their alley.

1/35 scale Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B work-in-progress: Fighting Compartment and Open Hatches

Fighting Compartment dry-fitted onto Upper Hull (closeup isometric view, from left side at the front)

Fighting Compartment dry-fitted onto Upper Hull (closeup isometric view, from right side at the back)

 With my choice being a compromise between maximizing interior visibility and making the color modulating process easier by having uninterrupted surfaces to paint on, I went with the standard configuration (see Step 15 below). Technically this meant one-and-a-half hatches are fully open, while the rest remained closed. As you can see in the photos above and below, this ensures some visibility into the interior while still retaining large surface areas for the color modulation process.

Steps 15 and 16 of the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 assembly process

 If my analysis of the Fighting Compartment is accurate, then painting it in conjunction with the interior is going to be difficult. At best it will involve lots of tricky masking of the compartment's interior from its exterior and vice versa. Even the Fighting Compartment by itself has two different color schemes i.e. Panzer Grey on the outward facing armor panels versus Off-White for the interior.

 Although the roof of the compartment interior will be hidden from view, you can just about make out sections of the side and back interior walls through the open hatches. Of course if I'm able to dry-fit (not glue) the compartment onto the hull, and still have the Sturmgeschütz looking seamless, then I can always remove the compartment for an unobstructed view of the interior anytime I want.

Hatches to be painted separately before being glued back onto the Fighting Compartment

From this angle you can just make out the periscope sticking out from a open hatch at the rear while ...

... the side view offers greater visibility of the periscope as well as the submachine gun at the back wall.

Apart from affording a good view into the interior, the opening from which the periscope is protruding ...

... will also allow the commander figure (not shown here) to position part of himself outside the vehicle

 One key reason why I chose the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.B Sd.Kfz.142 as an AFV project to work on was due to the gently sloping armor plates found on the vehicle's low profiled Fighting Compartment. My main goal was to try out a color modulation technique called zenithal lighting on AFVs. After some research I found the Sturmgeschütz to be an ideal candidate. Its large square armor plates with gently sloping angles made the vehicle ideal for noobs like me to practice color modulation. To put it simply, the Sturmgeschütz had a basic cuboid-like shape that makes it easier for beginners to the technique to spot where the highlights and shadows should be. I'll have a hard enough time with the technique itself so having any guesswork taken out of the highlights/shadows positioning makes the task easier.

While I chose to glue on the top hatch at the Fighting Compartment's rear right section ...

... you could just as easily glue the hatches in an open position to increase visibility into the interior ...

... however I chose to glue them onto the compartment in the closed position as you see here ...

... mainly because I wanted to make my job of painting the exterior armor plates that little bit easier.

 Granted it would've been way easier to apply the color modulation technique if all hatches were closed up, but doing so would've kept the interior completely hidden from view. In other words, there wouldn't be any point to painting the interior. So having some hatches open would allow us a chance to peek into the vehicle's interior. As I alluded to earlier, an alternative way of allowing the interior to be visible is to not glue the Fighting Compartment onto the Upper Hull. Instead, I could just dry-fit the compartment onto the hull without gluing it. Whether this is feasible remains to be seen. Only after everything has been painted will I be able to assess the tightness of such a dry-fitting.

Sturmgeschütz Fighting Compartment upturned to show its roof; note a pair of what looks like submachine guns that were glued onto the back of the interior during assembly

Upturned view of the Sturmgeschütz Fighting Compartment now shows the front facing side; note the large hole/gap through which the 75mm short-barreled main gun will protrude

 For a while I considered not painting the Fighting Compartment's interior, especially the roof section (see above). But in the end science won out. Confused? Let me explain. While nearly all of the roof's interior will be hidden from view, painting it white would allow it to better reflect any light that happens to fall on it. For example, light that enters through the open hatches should hit and reflect off of the interior's side/back walls. In turn, some of this reflected light should bounce off a white roof back onto the rest of the interior. A black or unpainted roof would be less able to reflect light that falls onto it. Well, that's my thinking anyway. Does that make sense, or is it just wishful thinking on my part?

Fighting Compartment dry-fitted onto Upper Hull (zoomed out isometric view, from left side of the front)

Fighting Compartment dry-fitted onto Upper Hull (zoomed out isometric view, from right side of the back)

 With the Fighting Compartment now put together aside from a few yet-to-be-attached hatches, there is only one other thing left to do, and that is assembly of the rest of the vehicle's Upper Hull as well as a figurine of the Commander. So the countdown to finally painting the Sturmgeschütz is set to begin soon after an absence of AFV projects since the last one I completed almost four years ago! But I'm getting ahead of myself. I have to finish the assembly first, with the final steps to be uploaded in the coming weeks. For now, I bid you au revoir. Until we meet again, be well and be happy.