Dragon's ancient StuG IV late.

Hi everybody

This is my begining mandatory time stamp of the kit I will be building. It may be suprising what with all the new beautiful StuG kits on the market these days. But I am a bit of a romantic, and just love the classics. But I also really like nice super detailing here and there. So with that in mind I am going to be using the (by now) very old first rendetion of Dragons idea of the StuG IV late from the Gunze Sangyo molds that Dragon used when they first started, and called them "Imperial Series" kits. This will be one of those old beauties (they WERE considered masterpeces when first released ) that will be somewhat brought up to current standards with the inclusions of lots of replacement bits from the "not for use" pieces of current Dragon releases.



The kit. Older than many modellers today actually.



The date stamp.



All of the kit, and an idea of the kind of stuff that will be "updating" it.


This one is going to be right up my alley. As I just love all the slicing and razor sawing and rebuilding/replacing parts and pieces etc. I think the biggest slice and dice for me will be to replace the fenders with a newer set from one of the many much more current Pz IV kits I have.


Gary

Should be interesting to compare stug IVs Sounds like a challenge to bring it up to date! Have fun with it

Old school modelling! Love the idea of taking an ancient kit and working on it. Oh this is exactly what I'm doing too

Excellent , I am sure you are going to do an awesome Stug over there in the Naughty Corner Gary

Jenny

Hi Gary, with your knowledge of all things modelling I'm sure you will be up to this challenge!!

Well thanks everyone. I got my rock. I got my sharp stick. All I need now is for Jenny to bring me back my glue, and I will be ready to go .



Gary

The Hi-Tech approach I see Gary...

Simon

Nice

Looking forward to watching this

I've got a PDF file somewhere that has a lot of info on the mid-late variant of the StuG IV.

Let me know if you'd like it, and I can email it to you

Andrew

Thanks Andrew. That sounds like something I may be interested in. I would mostly be wanting to look at any interior photos or schematics/line drawings you may have for a very late StuG. But I'm not really sure if the interior layout changed that much as the end of the war approached like the exterior did.

Gary

Hi everybody

Not much to show right now as I have only just begun. And there usually just isn't that much to look at at this point in one of my builds. But here it is anyways .


First was to start with the hull. I drilled a hole in the areas where I will be attatching pieces, and sanded off all of those raised areas intended to show where the things are supposed to be, except for where the bump stops are going to be. I also reworked the rear idler attatchment flange thingy by removing some of the reinforcement ribs, and cutting down on the lower profile a little bit like they did with the very late Pz IV hulls.







And of course all those wheels. These were all extras from other much more current Pz IV kits I have done, and much nicer than what is in the old kit I am using for a base.




And the drive sprocket, which is the old one from the kit, as I didn't have that style of drive sprocket from any of the newer kits. And the idler wheel which is a new piece replacement with the little brass rings on the inside.






And the replacement return rollers.




Also when I was looking at Jennys build log I saw that Voyager set she is using and thought how really nice it was. Then it suddenly occured to me that I also had that exact same detail set . And seeing as I no longer have any of the Dragon StuG III's to use it on, I decided I will use it on this. After all, the StuG IV had the same upper casemate as the StuG III. It was only the lower hull that was diffrent, and the extension for the driver. So it will all work to really polish this up quite a bit.






OK. There it is. Like I said, it's not much yet; but it is started now. And like a tiny snow ball you start rolling at the top of the hill, it is just going to get bigger and bigger, and better and better as time goes on.


Gary

Good start, Gary! Did the braided copper for the tow cables come with the Voyager set?

Mark

Hiya Mark:

Yes the tow cable comes with the kit. Along with a couple things that are not in this pic. Namely a really nice set of screens for both the rear overhang and the two intake vents. Also a few sets of photo etch nuts and bolts and various thickness wires. It is reallly a very nice set that will make any StuG a super nice little kit. If you have the money, I would definately suggest this set. And if you pair it with a set of photo etch fenders you could really have a beauty when you are done.

Gary

Going well Gary Pyrogoatherdinglumberjack , the cupola looks a million times better in brass too so get that done

Jenny

Fire me a PM Gary with your email addy, and I'll flick you that PDF file

Nice progress so far

Andrew

Awesome job so far!!

All those wheels - you must be tyred of them. But all round, you've done a wheely great job.

Yep, wheeeeels, the main reason why I've never tackled any of the IV series

Mark

hmgroth wrote:Yep, wheeeeels, the main reason why I've never tackled any of the IV series

Mark

Yeah, it is a bit of work with all them round things. But I guess you get that with a fair number of the German vehicles. Pz IV's Panthers, and Tigers.

Gary

Hi everybody. Haven't been feeling well for a couple of days. But fortunately I did get some work done on the ancient little beast before what ever it was that hit me did what it did to me. Anyways, so far it has all been lower hull stuff.Where things usually start out on most AFV kits.

This is what Dragon gave us about 20 years ago when they first appeared on the plastic model scene.

The base of the upper hull and fenders


The underside with those ho-hum armored intake louvers.


The fenders with the treadplate finish.


This was state of the art stuff back when it first came out


But as we all know there is a new standard of "state of the art". And so I cut the fenders off and will use a set of the new Dragon Pz IV fenders that were leftover from another kit.


And then I cleaned out the what I considerd very basic set of armored intake louvers for a set of something a little bit newer.


And then there was this. The rear of the hull. Again state of the art stuff way back when I was still just a young man. But time has passed us both by, and it is time for some things to be replaced with something newer.


And this is what I came up with. A new upper plate (which will be the middle plate when it is all put together), and a compleley new lower plate with a couple of pieces of sheet styrene, a new set of rivits, and some fittings from the leftover bin from all those wonderful "not for use" pieces that Dragon usually showers us all with when we build one of their new kits.


And here it is starting to come together. All new wheels and idler. And new little round what ever they are thingys on the suspension mounts. And the new rear plate with a replacement set of exhausts.


And a flash washed out photo (two pokes with the sharp stick for the photographer) of that rear plate.


And now the lower works are mostly done, and it is time to go on to the bits that will really be seen. All that upper hull stuff with all the bright shiney glittery brass, and maybe some internal stuff too.


Gary

Excellent work Gary , I really like the marshmallow cookers on the back !

Jenny

Perfect start Gary.
I have one too, but in 1/72 ( My Stug IV is in progress to - it is long time project - complete interior, engine,many scratchbuild parts)
Go Gary,Go!

That's some nice scratchbuilding and kit-bashing you're doing there Gary. It's really quite astounding how the engineering and details on kits has improved over the years. Just looking at the track tensioners on the old rear plate sends a shudder down my spine

Thanks for all the comments guys and gals .

OHhhh. Do you have any marshmallows? We needs some, cause the other ones were. . . um. . . . lost somewhere .

And I am going to do also a semi interior on my StuG too Pavel , but no engine .

And yes it is amazing to me Andy the things that used to be considerd really good stuff, but today we are so spoiled by the great stuff we are getting we tend to forget what it was like just a few short years ago.


Gary

OK. It's been a couple of weeks I thinks, so it is time for a bit of an update on where I am as far as building this old war horse. I been through what I hope is the majority of the major choppin and whackin kind of major surgery on the thing. And now it is all about replacing. . . . Well. . . . . Everything I think as far as all the little bits and bobs that get stuck all over the thing. So now heres what I have managed to get done.

A really crummy photo of the new floor and firewall that I have started.





Don't you just love that wonderful auto focus on the little cheapie cameras


The beginings of the gun. I am going to change those recoil cylinders on top so that the big one is longer than the small one And move the breach itself forward a little.





Also replaced the fighting compartment vent and the radio antenna mounts, along with the radiator filler box cover thingy.


A new headlight mount and headlight. New wire cutters. And scratched fire extinguisher with the Voyager photo ethc stuffs all over it.


On the other side a new axe, new starter crank with new handle, along with some bits of this and that to make the mounts for them.


And a new jack with some Tamiya and some brass stuff to almost finish it (I still need to make a crank handle for it) with a real test of patience in the Voyager photo etch jack holder thingy bracket.


And this is the beast that will help remind you of every foul word you have ever used, or heard. Each bracket has 3 working hinges on it. It is enough fiddly frustration to keep you angry for a week I think .



And here it sits with it's brand new alumimanamumimum barrel and a new Dragon muzzle brake. Along with a totally textured sau kaupf mantlet and all the bits and bobs that I have managed to put on and not knock off again .


Ohhh. Yeah. I almost forgot to mention the all brass commanders cupola, that was almost as much fun to put together as the jack bracket .



And that brings me to the maybe sort of next thing to actually have to think about. That is, do I want to put any figures in the thing. Or just have any figures on the outside ? And if I do want figgies, which ones do I want?

This one I think would be in the drivers spot, but personally I don't like him that much simply because of his size. He is a Verlinden figure, and thus VERY big.


Or this guy. He also would only be a driver as there is not enough of him to put him in any other hatch I think.


Arrrggh. Stoopid tourists. Always wanderin in front of people takin pictures


Or him as either a commander, or a driver. He fits real good in the drivers spot though so I like him for that possibility.


And this one would fit real good as either the commander or the loader.


And this guy also fits real good as the commander or loader. Or also back in the turret of the King Tiger I have that is almost half finished .



So what do any of you think? With figures in the vehicle. Figures outside the vehicle. Or no figures, just hatches open?


Gary

Lots of bling there, fabulous! One sweet looking stug, love the brackets on that jack.

I don't usually do figures so I can't say what you should do, but I think the last one looks the most natural IMO.

Cheers
JT

I like figures on or in any AFV as I think the figures give it that in use look. Even a figure or figures near the AFV are good because it gives a sense of the size of the AFV. Whether to put the figures in, on or near the AFV depends on what kind of scene you wish t o create. In the vehicle figures are great for hiding any lack of interior detailtoo.

I like how your model is looking.

Cheers