StuG III Ausf G - Project Reboot 170801!

[pmbk]

People tend to complain even when handed flawless product on a gold plate, so I wouldn't worry that much Rubicon

StuGs are beautiful, it is THE kit I was waiting for! Best Christmas Ever! Thank you so much, can't wait when these beauties hit the shops!

pmbk out!

[Anfernee]

People tend to complain even when handed flawless product on a gold plate, so I wouldn't worry that much Rubicon

Truth.

Great looking kit Rubicon, can't wait to grab one.

[Laffe]

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!

Actually I prefer plastic because I think most of the resin kits out there are horrible... and I do understand that you have to make a kit which is not too complex since you are not doing the volumes like Dragon (for example) are. And yes, even Dragon kits have accuracy issues.

[Preda]

When will it ship to the Retailers?

[Suetonius Paullinus]

Just discovered this!
At long last :-)
Just what I've been waiting for, at least three of them.
Can't wait for their release.

Until then I'll be working on my remaining Pz III and IVs..

Cheers

SP

[Pinky]

It's not 'complaining' to suggest ways of improving a kit before it's released - personally, I'd like to see Rubicon's kits free of any major inaccuracies by the time they're released.  They've improved their accuracy with every kit they've released.  That is, after all, the reason that they ask for feedback on this site. 

This is the Tamiya StuG III exhaust, minus the curved shield.  It matches the photos I have of the real vehicle.  If there was another pattern, then I haven't been able to find it.

[Laffe]

It's not 'complaining' to suggest ways of improving a kit before it's released - personally, I'd like to see Rubicon's kits free of any major inaccuracies by the time they're released.  They've improved their accuracy with every kit they've released.  That is, after all, the reason that they ask for feedback on this site. 

I agree -- otherwise they might do what PSC did for example. They managed to copy the error from Airfix M3 halftrack kit onto their own design. Not that they copied the Airfix kit, but Airfix had used an M14 with folding sides as prototype for their M3 kit, and PSC also sculpted folding sides on their M3 kit. Had they asked the community beforehand that would have been ovoided. I'm glad Rubicon is giving us old grognards a chance give input.

[Rubicon Models]

This is the Tamiya StuG III exhaust, minus the curved shield.  It matches the photos I have of the real vehicle.  If there was another pattern, then I haven't been able to find it.

This are a StuG III Ausf G in storage, showing the exhaust features:

When we design our exhaust piece, we had to take into consideration about the angle when the sprue and the mould separated; there will be an undercut area on the exhaust pipe if we were to make the exhaust looks like the real one based on our current design.  To make it looks like exactly like the real one, we will need to split the exhaust and the top panel into two parts, much like what Tamiya did.

It is a sacrifice on part counts versus accuracy on minor details.  This inaccuracy can be simply rectified by filing down the angle of the pipe into a curvature and make it shorter by the modeler.  Our target customers are basically wargamers, followed by modelers.  We assume modelers will do conversions and modifications anyway, so priority is set to wargamers!

[Rubicon Models]

I'm glad Rubicon is giving us old grognards a chance give input.

Grognards... I love the word!   

[Pinky]

When we design our exhaust piece, we had to take into consideration about the angle when the sprue and the mould separated; there will be an undercut area on the exhaust pipe if we were to make the exhaust looks like the real one based on our current design.  To make it looks like exactly like the real one, we will need to split the exhaust and the top panel into two parts, much like what Tamiya did.

I think I understand.  If it's a moulding issue, then so be it.  I remember the Esci 1/72 scale StuG I had dealt with this by moulding the exhaust pipes without an undercut, but that might not look good in 1/56 scale.

It is a sacrifice on part counts versus accuracy on minor details.  This inaccuracy can be simply rectified by filing down the angle of the pipe into a curvature and make it shorter by the modeler.  Our target customers are basically wargamers, followed by modelers.  We assume modelers will do conversions and modifications anyway, so priority is set to wargamers!

I appreciate your philosophy - as long as you're aware of the point then it's fine.  I'm just trying to help you avoid any minor errors that might undermine what is promising to be a very popular kit!

[Laffe]

I'm glad Rubicon is giving us old grognards a chance give input.

Grognards... I love the word!   

Quite fitting too... http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grognard

[pmbk]

Rubicon,
I just noticed it and I have a question regarding the presented muzzle breaks.

the L\43 I have no problem with, but the L\48 looks kind of off. It should something like that

or that

While the one you have currently on presented test StuG, appears to be like a hybrid of both (I'm talking about a unnecessary "bulge" on the front section of it).

Also muzzle break on the 105mm howitzer seems to be also incorrect. It would be great for a field leFH 18 howitzer, but not for the vehicle mounted variant. It should be more like an oversized Tiger's muzzle break, like here

Not to mention late StuHs had no muzzle breaks at all, so that's another option.


Anyway, is it possbile for you to fix that?
I hope my post makes at least a bit sense. Current muzzle breaks are not a major flaw, but they are kinda annoying once you notice them being incorrect.

[Pinky]

On the L/48 muzzle brake, pmbk appears to be correct.  Also, it looks as though only a prototype Ausf G was fitted with the single chamber, 'globular' muzzle brake that's included in the kit.  This kind of muzzle brake was replaced during the Ausf F production (although it's possible the earlier muzzle brake was used due to shortages of parts). 

While the L/28 muzzle brake that pmbk mentions seems to have been standard, the 'squared off' version depicted in the kit was used - there's a photo of a late Ausf G with one of these in the Spielberger book on the StuG.  The text explains that muzzle brakes from the 105mm howitzer could be used.  It doesn't look as though they were fitted at the factory, but again it's possible - there are all sorts of variations due to production shortages.

[Rubicon Models]

We have an in-depth look at the muzzle brakes for both the StuG III and StuH 42 before we began our 3D drawings.
We are aware of the variations on the different types of muzzle brake available.  Here are the reference diagrams we used as part of our research material:




These are the technical drawings of the Muzzle Brakes we have on file for the 75mm gun:


Because of 3D prototyping cost, we have only printed 2 variants of the gun barrel to use as test sample; the kit should include 3 x 75mm  and 1 x 105mm gun variants.
The muzzle brake on the 105mm howitzer can be trimmed off to represent the gun without a muzzle brake as well.

[Pinky]

Interesting.  I think this thread demonstrates how much interest there is in the StuG!

I've found one photo of what seems to be a vehicle with the muzzle brake you describe as "late".  It's a very late StuG III with scalloped side shields, Saukopf mantlet and the remote control machine gun.  It looks as though late StuG IV's also had this muzzle brake.

I think I'll model my Sturmhaubitze without a muzzle brake - it looks rather cool...