StuG III Ausf. G Miag March ´43 production

[Markus Lack]

Hey fellas,
since I couldn´t progress with my "Brummbär", I started this build.
Actually I had already built one of these a while ago, but since I had some kind of painting disaster, I sold the first one and started again.
The DML kit is very, very nice and can easily built from the box. But since I wanted to depict a March ´43 production vehicle (pics of the build will find a place on the website of my good friend Wolfgang Zimmermann: www.stug.ch and he needed a March production) I had to change one thing on the base kit. Easy enough, it´s just the rear light. The kit gives you the Notek-light and all that is left is to change it to a later one. Next thing to watch out for is the position for the smoke discharger. DML gives you three options, but only one is correct.
I used "StuG III - Backbone of the infantry" part I and II as the only reference and I can´t recommend them enough.

Besides the base kit, I used some goodies (which aren´t really needed):
Tracks - Friul,
StuG III Ausf.G Detail - Modelkasten,
Towing cables (modified to fit the MK-holders) - Eureka XXL
Butterfly wing nuts (didn´t like the MK ones too much) - Bronco,
Waffen-SS Panzercrew set - Alpine,
Headlight and smoke dischargers - Tasca,
Tool Clamps - ABER (enables me to remove most of the tools for painting),
Mantlet and Barrel - Armorscale

Anyway, here are the first pics:























Since these pics were taken, I progressed a bit with the build, but I didn´t take any new pics yet. I hope I will be able to take some more recent ones later today or tomorrow.

[Jamie Tainton]

Right on Markus- this is looking really good so far-your skills are getting better and better with each build. Look forward to more updates!

[Dario Risso]

A beautifull model, Markus

Waiting for updates

Darío

[Markus Lack]

Cheers fellas, glad you like it!
Alright, I was able to progress a bit with the build over the last couple of days.
First I applied a wash using MIGs Dark Wash (simple because I bought it a while ago to try it out. I like it.),then I applied some Chips using Vallejo German Dark Camo Brown using a sponge, followed by some filters using some Humbrol and Testors Enamels (mostly Earthtones, I´m not the biggest fan of white or bright filters as I feel they aren´t quite realistic).
For the running gear I used MIGs Pigments, which I mixed together in four different colors (I think they are a bit on the yellowish side right from the jar) and applied them dry. So far I´m pleased, but it´s still a long way to go...

[Jamie Tainton]

Nice progress- those ammo boxes look pretty decent as well!

[Markus Lack]

Cheers James! It means a lot!

[Markus Lack]

A little progress...
To be honest, I was a bit stuck with this one since I wanted to add some more dust to it but was a bit unsure how. Usually I use mainly Enamels for it which works nicely. Problem is that they can be a bit tricky to manipulate once they are dry, so I was looking for an easier way. While I really like Pigments, they can be a bit tricky as well and I don´t have too much practice with them. Since I´m a fan of Nick Cortese´s work, I asked him if he might have an idea. He gave me the advice to use some Oils. I was a bit unsure about that (I had the same idea as well) since they can dry pretty glossy, something I wanted to avoid since an overspray with some Flat Cote would ruin a lot of the effects I achieved until now. An Article from Pat Johnston, over on Track48, gave me the solution. He put his oils on some corrugated cardboard, which sucks most of the Linseed Oils out of the colors (they are the reason for the glossy effects it seems).
So did I. I used a whole palette to mix some dusty and dirty tones and slowly work my way to add some dust on the surface of the StuG and I got to say it works nicely, much better than expected.
Here´s where I am right now plus a pic of the colors I used (sorry, only in some crappy, german handwriting I´m afraid LOL).





And two pics in full resolution:

[Jamie Tainton]

Cool post and nice trick about the removal of excess oil. Thanks for the update.

[Markus Lack]

Glad you like the progress and the tipp James!
Alright, some update.
Everything that was still missing (sans the stuff I´m not yet sure about like the boxes and some missing wingnuts) was fixed in place and some more dust was applied. I think I´m leaving it alone now and move on to the figures since I´m pretty much pleased with it...