StuG III Ausf G - Project Reboot 170801!

[Rubicon Models]

As promised, here is our Boxing Day present to you all...  StuG III Ausf G - Early / Mid / Late Production (product code 280017).

Features include:
- Choice of Early / Mid / Late production
- Option to assemble vehicle as a StuH 42 with 105mm Howitzer
- Choice of the original trapezoid-shape mantlet or the Topfblende pot mantlet (often called Saukopf "Pig's head") gun mantlet with or without coaxial mount
- Detachable Schürzen (side armour)
- Optional rear stowage rack
- Optional spare road wheels
- Optional periscope
- 3 sprues / 54 parts

The 3 versions of the StuG III Ausf G:




Option to do a StuH 42 with 105mm Howitzer Gun:


More photos of the StuG III Ausf G:



Some close up views:




Size comparison with various vehicles:







Comments and constructive feedback welcome!

[Garga]

This is really a fantastic addition to your range... Thank you!

[Pinky]

Looks really good - it's great that you've tackled the StuG.  The only omission that's noticeable is the non-slip pattern on the mudguards.  I think you mentioned before that this was quite tricky to mould (although you did it on your Panzer IV).  The air intakes are also a bit bland - they should have a mesh pattern, or at least some slots.  The wheels look right - assuming they have large and small holes and no protruding bolts.  Good on you for re-doing these, rather than sticking with the Panzer II's.

I do have a query about the exhausts.  My sources show that the Ausf G had two fairly flat, angular mufflers, with quite stubby exhaust pipes.  The exhaust pipes were angled, rather than curved.  The deflector shield seems to have fitted over the top of this, so that the exhaust pipes angled around it.  Can we see a better photo of the exhausts on your kit?   

[Laffe]

Looks good, but I echo Pinky's comment about the non-slip pattern.

[Cha1nzz]

iv picked up a few of your kits now and as a veteran modeler i must say i am very happy with what i have had from Rubicon thus far....i look forward to to this as it's basically the tank i am missing from my Germans....so the only question that really needed to be asked is when do plan to get this out to masses ?

[Rubicon Models]

Looks good, but I echo Pinky's comment about the non-slip pattern.

Laffe & Pinky: Decided not going to do the non-slip pattern on the StuG.  Not because we cannot, but take too much work and risk to do the pattern during the last mould making phase.  One wrong step will deface the mould and had to redo it all over again!

[Rubicon Models]

The air intakes are also a bit bland - they should have a mesh pattern, or at least some slots.  The wheels look right - assuming they have large and small holes and no protruding bolts.  Good on you for re-doing these, rather than sticking with the Panzer II's.

There are mesh pattern on the air intakes, the contrast of the photo is too high so that you can't see them.  Will take some extra photos later...

The tracks and road wheels had been completely redone.  The update work had pushed back two of our ongoing projects... costing us dearly! 
But we are happy with the end results.  Think is worth the extra time!

[Rubicon Models]

My sources show that the Ausf G had two fairly flat, angular mufflers, with quite stubby exhaust pipes.  The exhaust pipes were angled, rather than curved.  The deflector shield seems to have fitted over the top of this, so that the exhaust pipes angled around it.  Can we see a better photo of the exhausts on your kit?

Here are the parts that make up the exhaust section, plus the air intake grille (There are more details on the plastic counterpart than on this resin prototype):

[Laffe]

Looks good, but I echo Pinky's comment about the non-slip pattern.

Laffe & Pinky: Decided not going to do the non-slip pattern on the StuG.  Not because we cannot, but take too much work and risk to do the pattern during the last mould making phase.  One wrong step will deface the mould and had to redo it all over again!

Ok, fair enough.

[Pinky]

Agreed - fair enough on the non-slip pattern. 

I can see the mesh on the air intakes now - it looks very good.

So my only concern is the exhausts, which don't match any of my references.  Maybe yours are based on a different pattern?  I'll put up a photo later to show you what I mean.

[ripley]

Well done Rubicon .  I think the exhaust look great , there are a couple of pictures of this type in the Squadron/Signal Stug III Walk Around book . Either a Panzer Division field modification , or more likely a Stug build on a tank chassis , instead of a dedicated chassis from the Stug production line . If the exhausts pipes  don't look quite right , you could cut them off  and invert them so they stick out a little more , will have to see how they look when I get the kit in hand . And I can agree with you omitting the fender non skid . Its a lot different than the Panzer IV ,being little dots or buttons , as opposed to the IVs cross hatch pattern . Probably wouldn't show very well in this scale anyway .

[Rubicon Models]

So my only concern is the exhausts, which don't match any of my references.  Maybe yours are based on a different pattern?  I'll put up a photo later to show you what I mean.

We understand your concern.  Here are the reference drawings we are using.  We also used the Squadron/Signal Publication (StuG in Action, Armor #14) as reference material, both photos and line drawings, as well.

[elias.tibbs]

It's looking very nice. Another lot of yours to add to my collection when it's released.

As far as exhausts and stuff go, from memory the stug had many different exhausts patterns and unless you were planning to do multiple kits to get them you're not going to be 100% accurate.

Personally I'm more than happy for this kind of compromise in order to make the kits multi-use and to keep the costs down. That said, I use your kits for gaming and to make and paint, not as a historical display piece.

[Rubicon Models]

Spinfire:  While our original intention was to create this product line for gaming purposes.  But as more vehicles are being released, we tended to pay a lot more attention to the historical aspect of our product offerings.  Being multi-variant, it is extremely difficult to be "exact" for each variant, some compromises had to be made in order to keep the part counts low and easy-to-assemble for wargamers' sake!

We are not going to do a "just looks-like a..." vehicle, there had to be a high degree of accuracy to what we are modeling after!  Being that said, we have seen a lot of resin models on the market right now which has all sort of errors and miscast on them; and yet, most people just accept it and are not complaining about those!  While our quality is a lot better, our retail price is similar and sometimes even lower; yet we have lots of "nuts and bolts counter" customers whined about minor issues on our kits.  Their concerns are our motivation to excel!  Producing great plastic kits for wargaming use is our ultimate goal!

[Pinky]

We understand your concern.  Here are the reference drawings we are using.  We also used the Squadron/Signal Publication (StuG in Action, Armor #14) as reference material, both photos and line drawings, as well.

Thanks - it's reassuring that you've done your research on these smaller details!  I don't think the shape of the mufflers or exhausts is quite right, but it's no big deal.  The other issue is the thickness of the 'L' shaped piece on each end of the curved shield (in reality this was sheet metal, and only seems to appear on a few vehicles), and that's probably necessitated by the moulding.  I can't wait for this kit to be released - I'm planning on buying at least 3.