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Early model StuG III
Eclaireur:
I assumed somebody would have asked for this before, but having scrolled back I don't see it. Isn't it rather an obvious gap in the range? Nobody else does one in plastic, and it's great for a whole variety of early to mid-war scenarios, right up to D and E variants in Stalingrad. I don't know enough about the development of the basic hull but couldn't it be done as a conversion pack to the existing StuG ?
EC
EarlyWarGamer:
I would love to have an appropriate/accurate Stug III for early war gaming, but I doubt that will ever happen, from any model-making company.
Stug III A = 36 built. Saw service for the first time in France 1940.
Stug III B = 300 built. The tracks are wider, the drive sprocket and idler wheel are different, and the return rollers were repositioned. MAYBE a complete track replacement kit could be offered up to turn an A into a B. But that would mean first their needs to be a Stug III A offered up. And with only 36 built (and many people far more interested in mid and late-war models) I don't see an Ausf A ever being offered up. But they could do an Ausf B kit.
Stug III C = 50 built. Superstructure changes. Which means that the Ausf B kit would not work for the C. MAYBE they could offer a new upper hull replacement kit for the Ausf B kit. But there must first be an Ausf B kit.
Stug III D = 150 built. Externally identical to the Ausf C. So Whatever replacement superstructure kit that was offered up for the Ausf C to turn an Ausf B kit to the next version, would also work on the Ausf D. Or ... they could offer up a new kit that covered the 200 Ausf C/D versions.
Stug III E = 284 built. More superstructure changes. A replacement superstructure kit could be offered up to turn an Ausf B kit into an E, or the same replacement kit could turn an Ausf C/D into an E. But first we would need either an Ausf B or an Ausf C/D kit.
Stug III F = 366 built + Stug III F8 = 250 built. Superstructure changes, and the addition of two different long-barreled guns. There are probably too many parts that would be different to allow for an upgrade kit to one of the earlier kits to turn it into an F or F8. This would probably need to be a separate kit.
Which leads us to the offered kit of the Stug III G. 7,810 of these were built, and another 1,299 of the StuH 42. Which represents 86% of all Stug IIIs built during the war.
Again, if they offered up a kit of ANY of the Ausf A through Ausf E models, I would love it. But unfortunately, I don't see how a single kit could be used to produce all five of those versions. And once you produce a kit to only cover one (or two in the case of the C/D) very few were produced, and I suspect that makes their usefulness as a model kit very limited. And given the numbers built, of all the earlier versions a kit could be made for, the F/F8 is the most likely, and that doesn't help at all for early war accuracy.
Eclaireur:
oh man EWG - I thought you'd give me some supporting fire here :D it's not really about numbers of the real vehicle produced is it? I mean look at the number of King Tiger or even Jagdtigers made, but the number of models out there... Or the Puma armoured car perhaps?
Maybe the best answer is a resin one? At the moment I can only see a 3D printed one out there ...
EC
ripley:
It would be nice to have an early version or two but I really doubt we'll see any in plastic , maybe one day in resin from Trechwerx or Der WaffenKammer . The problem is that they , like the early Pzr III and IVs look so much alike with only a cosmetic change to the hull sides or extra armour plate . While some of us can spot a C or D version from a grainy black and white photo , to your average guy there's no difference and they'll make do with whats easily available . Maybe if 28mm had a larger fan base , say like 1/35 scale , we would get variants . Tamiya brought out a B ( ?) to compliment their other early war tanks , as well Bronco released a D (?) with the rear fender air filters , a type of which 6 were sent to North Africa , again expanding their desert war line . Maybe if more companies got into making 28mm plastic kits , we might get some of our missing favorites. There are more companies making plastic figures ( just saw a plastic Cowboy sprue and WW1/2 French ) so maybe one day , they'll branch out into tanks and trucks , not that I'm going to build all the kits I have now , but I can always add to the stash just in case
EarlyWarGamer:
I absolutely support your wish for an early war Stug III. Absolutely. I am simply voicing my belief that it's not going to happen, because a single kit cannot cover the wide range of changes that took place between Ausf A and Ausf E. But I would love to be wrong about that.
I was actually trying to list off a summary of why a single kit will not work to cover the Ausf A through Ausf E models. Too many changes to have a single box cover the lot. (And really, no big reason to make an Ausf F/F8 because those are long-barrelled versions, and we already have that with the Ausf G).
While I would prefer the Ausf A (because it served in France 1940), an Ausf B would also make me happy. They made 300 of them in 1940-1941, and this was the version that saw service in many theaters, including the Eastern Front. And like many others, I would have no issues dropping an Ausf B onto the table for France 1940 action, and calling it an Ausf A.
The important thing would be that we have a short barrelled Stug III to field.
I agree that production numbers don't always translate into what drives making a model kit. I can't imagine why anyone would ever want a Maus ... but those kits are out there, and if they sold even 2 then they have sold more than were ever produced in real life. But people enjoy "what if" scenarios, and I cannot blame them for that.
Anyway, to reiterate, we do NEED an early war Stug III because the one we have on offer has a long-barrelled weapon. And all those early war versions had a short barred gun. So for that reason alone, we NEED one.
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