The Panzer III Digital Library - Mid-War Panzer 200521

[Tracks]

No worries, the hatches are swappable, so that you can plug in any pair of hatches to your liking!

As always Rubicon Models, your team is good at offering the modeller/gamer choices.
That being said, it seems that the Panzer III Ausf N (75mm/L24) used more than one type of front hull maintenance hatch. The most common of these seem to have been the flat with hinges.

The Panzer III Ausf N shown below was photographed in Italy, 1944.

[ripley]

As well as different style front hatches , the N could have the hull side escape doors ( if built on  J hull ) or none  , the regular under hull over hang or exposed wadding exhaust  ,  and a turret with side vision ports , or again none . It was the gun that made it a N . Nice to see we really going to have all the options when this kit comes out .

[ultravanillasmurf]

Excellent.

[jamesvalentine]

I am desperate for this.
I'm one of the seemingly few who loved the original.
And now I'm going to be gushing over this one!

[ripley]

We didn't love the original because , as a scale model , it had things wrong with it that were not easy to fix , and it  looked  "off" next to other companies Panzer IIIs . As a one off model  to display on my shelf I had no problem with it , to use it with other Panzer IIIs  ( Warlord plastic / resin for example  )in a game  , it just stood out like a sore thumb . Here's a picture of a Sherman kit I bought back in the late 60s , it was a fun build , but in no way did it depict  any real version of the Sherman . With all the better detailed kits available , why would I buy this today ?

As a 1st release kit , Rubicon did pretty good with the Panzer III , but they realized they had to improve their kits to capture a larger share of the market . With the release of their latest kits , the 88 , the T-26 , the 222 series armored cars , and the forth coming  re tooled Panzer III I think they are top of the heap in plastic 1/56 kits , and IMO they also beat out a lot of the 1/56 resin guys as well .

[Pinky]

We didn't love the original because , as a scale model , it had things wrong with it that were not easy to fix , and it  looked  "off" next to other companies Panzer IIIs .

Agreed - it's actually a pretty bad model.  Aside from the errors, the detail is poor.  As I understand it, the original Rubicon Panzer III pre-dates their in-house design capability.  They were stuck with something sub-standard (it's noticably inferior to Rubicon's first kit, the Panzer IV, which still looks pretty good, IMO).  Having invested that much, they had to release it to recoup the costs.     

[Rubicon Models]

No more Monday morning blues as we unboxed our first Panzer III testshot from the factory!

A total of SIX plastic sprues for our new Panzer III project, yielding EIGHT variants, Ausf E to Ausf N. Each variant might include different guns, up armour, and upgrades, including command (Panzerbefehlswagen) and flamethrower (Flammpanzer) versions. The total possible built counts now stand at TWENTY-ONE !!

Since this is our first testshot, there are still lots of details missing, but those that were done are just amazing... can't wait for the second testshot.






























Enjoy!

[Pinky]

Fantastic to see this project nearing completion.  I think this is the one I've really been looking forward to.  I can see some very interesting components on those sprues, including quite a lot of stowage.  Features like the smoke dischargers also seem greatly improved since earlier kits.

I assume it's one of the missing details you're referring to, but the trackguards are missing the dreaded non-slip pattern...

[Lovstrom]

I am really looking forward to this. Early panzers are fun.

Sven

[jamesvalentine]

I actually did love the original. So 

But this is think I'll love more and my Romanians will appreciate having at least 3...to go with the 3 panzer IV I hope to get in June.

[H0ffmn]

Wow. That is really nice. It's nice to see that the hull is Lego comparable too

[ultravanillasmurf]

That looks great.

[EarlyWarGamer]

Loving this project! So looking forward to getting some proper Early War Pz IIIs on the table!

[Tracks]

This can almost be considered a Rubicon Models deluxe plastic model kit!
Fantastic! Well worth the wait.
I predict that this will be a popular kit for many gamers and some modellers. With so much going on with this kit, hopefully this kit will please many people. I really like the fact that this kit gives you a wide range of choices including early, mid, and late war versions.

[Shahbahraz]

Oh, that looks just fantastic.  Very much looking forward to this one. Can I hope the 'future version' hull-top will allow early Pz III StuG?