Rubicon Models
Rubicon Models => Work In Progress => Topic started by: Rubicon Models on October 25, 2014, 12:53:37 pm
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A New Project has started... What is it?
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag377/RubiconModels/On%20the%20Drawing%20Board/StuGIIIBackRack_zps9ac2f8dd.jpg)
;)
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StuG III / StuH 42 combi-kit :) :) :)
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Stowage rack for a Stug :). Could you fix the narrow rubber rims on the spare road wheels if possible please . Not having one of your Panzer IIIs yet , I don't know how much the narrow rubber in contact with the tracks is going to matter , I can always cover them in mud /snow, but the spares on the fenders just stick out like sore thumbs IMO . Now true some might not care , like those with the Bolt Action Stugs with their single spare tire ::) , but if your going to sell to modelers as well as gamers it might be better to fix this problem if you can . And I'ld like to say thank you for all the effort your putting into the kits you've produced so far , as well as those on the drawing board . Keep up the good work
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Ripley, all the road wheels (with the rubber rim) plus the spare ones had been revised... we learn from our past actions!
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That's great news although I would still get a couple if you didn't , its a problem I can fix . Don't feel bad about having to redesign and retool from time to time . Dragon brings out a new and improved Panzer whatever at least every six months ,and still screws things up , just check and see how many versions of your chosen favorite German tank they have . Not to mention twenty years worth of still not getting the T-34 driver's hatch placed right .
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Here is a picture of the updated road wheels with the rubber rim...
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag377/RubiconModels/On%20the%20Drawing%20Board/RubberWheelsv1_zps73fbb792.jpg)
We have compared this with some museum pictures, should be about right. Comments?
;)
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Maybe its the CAD drawing but it still looks off to me . Checking through the books I have it looks like your relief holes in the wheel should be moved inwards toward the wheel hub , not close to the outer rim as you show them . And the rubber on the tires of the Panzer III is almost twice as thick as the rubber on the Panzer IV wheels . Sorry don't have any reference books with rim / tire diameter .Don't know if this helps you any . Thanks for letting us give you some feed back , it's nice to find a company interested in it's customers opinions and wish lists :)
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CAD drawings are sometimes awkward to read. Will discuss with our guys a little bit more on the wheels. Customer feedback are important... we do listen (if time permits)! ;)
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Spend some more time on revising the Panzer III sprocket and road wheels, still a work in progress...
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag377/RubiconModels/On%20the%20Drawing%20Board/RevisedWheels02_zps59374d86.jpg)
C&C welcome!
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Still not convinced on the thickness of the rubber tire part , but the rim is just about spot on . :)
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Still not convinced on the thickness of the rubber tire part , but the rim is just about spot on . :)
Ripley, we had double checked on the thickness of the rubber rim. There is only one "experimental" version that has the thick rubber rim. Furthermore, the road wheel itself has an extruded steel rim that is leveled with the rubber, thus creating an impaired visual effect of a thicker rim.
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It should also be condsiderd that this isent a 1:35 Skale Model Kit with 300+ Parts, its a 1:56 Toy!
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I'm not saying I'm a tank expert or anything , but after 45 years of looking at pictures and building various scale Panzer IIIs , the shape and size of the wheels on the P III just jumped right out at me as " wrong ". Mostly the spares because they were very visible on top of the fenders . Now I know this kit is mostly for 1/56 scale war gamers and some of them seem to be ok with chunky resin wheel sets and wide one piece sets of plastic road wheels , heck some don't even know or care that the BA Stug has single spare tires . As a modeler this kind of stuff matters to me , yes I can fix it if I have too , but if Rubicon wants input I'll give them some . And Rubicon has tweaked the CAD drawings which looks pretty good , but at the end of the day they'll decide if they want to go with the new version or just reuse the old wheels . Either way , they should sell a ton .
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We cannot call this new project a signature project, but this is going to be based on our experience gained from our past 7 kits, and put them to the test! We have decided to use all new moulds, nothing will be reused. This is why we have decided to do some rework on the sprocket and road wheels - to make them more accurate to the original vehicle!
Listening to feedback from outside our studio is important; otherwise we will be like doing our own thing inside a tree hole, and then hope all our customers will accept our design even if there are obvious errors on it! We are not perfect, and you can only have so many reference material on hand. And we do learn from our mistakes!
Anyway, here is a DML 1/35 Panzer III road wheel:
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag377/RubiconModels/On%20the%20Drawing%20Board/DML-StugIII-G-01_zps30264bdd.jpg)
We have also looked at other manufacturers' 1/35 and 1/72 kits, and compare them with our blueprints and plans... together with historical photos! Think we are quite close to what we wanted to achieve as a wargaming piece.
BTW, we have put special attention to the spare wheels design too!
C&C are always welcome!
;)
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Are you guys sure you want to use the Name of one of the biggest Automotive Suppliers in the World on the Model? Even if the L is an U at the end? Sounds like screaming for trouble to me.
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Are you guys sure you want to use the Name of one of the biggest Automotive Suppliers in the World on the Model? Even if the L is an U at the end? Sounds like screaming for trouble to me.
Hahaha... that was not ours! We are just posting it for reference purposes. ;)
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Spend more time reworking on the Panzer III sprocket and road wheels:
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag377/RubiconModels/On%20the%20Drawing%20Board/PanzerIIILeftTrack2_zpsc2ca3a32.jpg)
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag377/RubiconModels/On%20the%20Drawing%20Board/PanzerIIIRightTrack1_zps84d68d1e.jpg)
This would be the final version of all mid to late war Panzer III sprocket and road wheel set. There are now details even on the inside road wheels...
C&C welcome!
;)
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Send me the 3D Files so i can make a Testprint at Work ;)
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There are now details even on the inside road wheels...
Allways useful when it's lying upside down in a ditch ;)
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Looks muuuuch better than the first version. Will the improved road wheels be included in an eventual revision of the Panzer III?
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Looks muuuuch better than the first version. Will the improved road wheels be included in an eventual revision of the Panzer III?
Probably not, replacing the road wheel set would meant replacing a complete mould; quite costly for a new start-up. May be at a later date!
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Is there any chance of including the earlier gun mantel without the spaced armor ? Also , how about making the spaced armor on the upper hull optional as well?
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Is there any chance of including the earlier gun mantel without the spaced armor ? Also , how about making the spaced armor on the upper hull optional as well?
There are no plans to implement changes on the Panzer III at this moment. We will do minor tweaking on some area of the moulds for visual improvement, but no plans to make major changes. There are just too many up coming projects that need our attention... a lot of people are crying out for Brits!
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I'd just like to say how good it is to see this effort being made to get things right. Unfortunately the MkIII wheels did stand out as an issue to me too, but these look significantly better (I might well kit-bash to get this running gear on to the MkIII).
Between this thread and the Sdkfz251 post I'm really impressed by Rubicon's reaction to feedback.
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I was looking forward to the Panzer III when I saw the vehicles you were releasing, but it's a rather disappointing kit. The roadwheels just look wrong, and there are a lot of other inaccuracies (like the mantlet). It's a shame you can't rectify these problems, as most of your other kits are very good. I guess I'll have to wait for you to release a StuG III, then do some kitbashing.
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I was looking forward to the Panzer III when I saw the vehicles you were releasing, but it's a rather disappointing kit. The roadwheels just look wrong, and there are a lot of other inaccuracies (like the mantlet). It's a shame you can't rectify these problems, as most of your other kits are very good. I guess I'll have to wait for you to release a StuG III, then do some kitbashing.
Both the Panzer III and IV are our very first projects. At that point, we are inexperienced and lack a systematic approach; however our Panzer III is still a great kit in terms of value for money! All our six initial releases (plus the Tiger I) are done within a year's time frame, and you should noticed our improvement over project and quality control.
We do pay attention to all customer comments and feedback. If we can react, we will react. This is also one of the reasons why we had this particular post and make efforts to look into the issues.
We will try to fine-tune some of the features on the Panzer III on our next production batch, but not all can be revised. Over time, we will rework the whole project somewhere along our releases... but not right now! Cost control is very important for us at this stage of our operation.
;)
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It might not make business sense, but if you produce this newer running gear for the Stug series, then perhaps you can make the individual sprues for the running gear available? I understand that would depend on a lot of factors (other Stug parts on that sprue, the part even fitting the earlier MkIII hull etc.) but just a thought :)
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That looks so good. If it's a Stug III I'd like all of them please! It's my favourite German Vehicle! Are there plans to do an earlier version of the Panzer III chassis? I can imagine it being a major rework of the design to do so though.
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That looks so good. If it's a Stug III I'd like all of them please! It's my favourite German Vehicle! Are there plans to do an earlier version of the Panzer III chassis? I can imagine it being a major rework of the design to do so though.
The Panzer III early and mid-war version are different in many area; if we were to do one, it will be a totally new project. Not much can be rework without creating more chance to error!
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Any news on the Stug? :)
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Any news on the Stug? :)
What news do you want to hear? ;D
Still working on it... will post something a few weeks from now!
;)
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I wanted to hear that the artwork is done, paperboxes are ordered, mould is done and the model ships this week :)
But that you are still working on it will do it also :o