Panzer III Ausf F (# 6632)

[Laurent Moitrot]

Hi guys.
I know I shouldn't have done that but as soon as my Ausf E was almost finished I had to open this box and work on it.
The new DML kit #6632.



Compared to the old kit I just finished this one seems from another world.
Each one of the details I painstakingly scratch built is here.
So what ?Modeller's heaven ?
Not exactly ... this excellent kit depicts a 1941 Ausf F with large wheels.
This means you'll be unable to build a Fall Gelb era tank unless you get a set of narrow wheels.
Also, among the three decorarions offered at least two of them do (as seen on pics) have a mix of narrow and large wheels so my fellows nitpickers won't be satisfied at all.

My private intelligence service tells me DML is about to offer an Ausf E which will be exactly the same kit but with narrow wheels.

Just in case some of you are not aware of this narrwo vs large wheels issue here's a pic showing both on a panzer :



Now about the build.
Since I made up my mind upon building a Panzer as seen during the "campagne de France" I'll have to back date a bit but nothing to worry about as my scrap box is full of redondant Pz III parts ...

I started with the turret.
Nothing to say about its roof. The instructions tell us to get rid of some screws which are destined to be on a 50 mm gun mounted tank.



I was living happily building my turret when what appeared as a major problem stopped me.
It seemed impossible to put parts S17 and Y together.




What was I to do ?
I then decided to cry out on Tom Cockle's shoulder and here's his answer :

"Laurent,

I examined my boxed kit tonight and I'm happy to report that my turret displays the same characteristics as yours does but that it is easy to fix because it is due to a slightly misshapen upper shell. If you squeeze the back corners together, the back will move out to the correct shape for the base. You can probably just hold it with a piece of tape until the glue dries. It is odd because I have a couple of test shots that do not exhibit the problem."

So no more crying ... but I find it weird. The upper shell is not to my eyes "slightly" mishappened ... I had a hard time forcing the upper shell into proper place so please be careful with that my friends.

See you later.

[Dario Risso]

Dude...I can't believe that happens in a XXI Century's, "Smart Kit"

I hope you can fix it

Darío

[Dan Reed]

I'll be watching to see how the turret drama goes! It seems like a funny thing to happen to a new Dragon kit.
Dan

[Laurent Moitrot]

As a matter of fact I thought it weird that the turret upper shell didn't match the Panzer Tracts drawings ... once you force it around S17 it does.
And yes, this is not up to "smart kits" standards ... I guess these things do happen ...

[Laurent Moitrot]

Hi guys.
No pics today but I've been working on this kit and it is really good. It has all the required parts to make early or late versions of the E and F Panzers ... all except the narrow wheels which as I said will come with the next kit.
From a commercial point of view this sounds fair enough to me.

[Markus Lack]

I like this one a lot!
Are you in the need of some early wheels? I might have some laying around somewhere.

[Dan Reed]

Talked to a buddy who is building the kit-he said he had no problems getting the turret together. Mysteries, mysteries!
Dan

[Laurent Moitrot]

[Dan Reed]

E just annouced from Dragon!
Dan

[Laurent Moitrot]