Superdetailed Dragon/Tamiya 1/35 Panzer III Ausf. J/L and its COMPLETE methamorphosis!

[Manu Della Valle]

Hi all,
this is  a WIP I started back in the Spring of 2001 and that I put aside for the past ten years or so.It’s the old,venerable Tamiya Panzer III L…the “must have”,state-of-the-art Panzer III when it first hit the vendors’ shelves,which has been recently superseded somehow by the new-tool, gorgeous series of Panzer IIIs by Dragon.
It can still tell its own with a little TLC and a few details added…I’m currently building a (sorta) OOB Dragon “Smart” E/F and I will start building on this oldie again,alongside its Chinese sibling.
I’ve added weld beads with sliced white styrene softened with Tamiya thin (green cap) glue and swapped the kit’s sprockets for the more detailed ones by Model Kasten.Grandt Line ex-head bolts have been added where needed and a little texture given to the side air intakes.The turret's hatches are the beautiful,tricky,multi-part ones found on the Aber PE detailing set for this kit...one of the hatches can be opened and closed on its own hinges!
Cheers
Manu

Edited July 3, 2016 by Manu Della Valle

[Manu Della Valle]

The last picture should stir a little more interest in what would have otherwise been another WIP of this venerable kit frozen in time!As I've said in my first post I started this WIP more than one decade ago when little was available to detail this kit.I purchased the Verlinden interior set only to discover that it was ok but needed a lot of added details...good for a see-thru but not good enough if all the hatches were to be left open.The engine set was superior but I think I'll use the more detailed one by CMK.Aires made a very nice transmission set but the Verlinden parts will look the part (pun not intended!) convincingly enough with a few added details.
In the year of 2001 I contacted Mr. Fletcher at Bovington asking if the Museum's photographer could take custom pictures of the interior of their "L" which was still "as captured" in Tunisia at that time.Those pictures weren't cheap but they were and still are a God-send to anybody wishing to detail the interior of the Tamiya or the DML Js and Ls.
I've just "resurrected" this WIP and I think I'll put to good use a few Dragon parts copied in resin and tweaked a bit to be used on the Tamiya kit.Please consider that no work on this kit so far has been made after 2002!
Cheers
Manu

[Manu Della Valle]

The rear bulkhead!
It's 100% scratchbuilt going by the photos of Bovington's L.
With the new techniques and available materials I think it can be improved  even further.

[Manu Della Valle]

The turret

[Manu Della Valle]

Here's the steering unit.I consist of 16 brass parts soldered together.The earlier marks had two levers linked to two separate steering units on each side of the seat,while on later marks (Ausf J/L/M) the levers were connected by a bar ....at least that's what I can see by the pictures I've got! 
Oh well...if I've assembled them the wrong way the worst that could happen would be reversing into the infantry following the tank and  yours truly sent to the Russian Front...mmmhhhh...better check the Ersatzteilliste once again !
 

[Manu Della Valle]

A few more turret details;
The Aber PE hyposcopes of the commander's cupola.They're a major PITA to bend and shape correctly but with a small piece of acetate tinted with Alclad Transparent green inside they'll look great!

 

The cupola's hatches

[Manu Della Valle]

The KwK50 breech

[Manu Della Valle]

Some fodder for the MG34s...these pouches will be hung all around the fighting compartment and lower turret

The gun's ammo and barrels....one of the first from New Connection (they hail back to 2001),yet still one of their best!

[Guest Fred Karno's Army]

Absolutely fantastic I honestly cannot believe the level of detail and skill you have in making this !

[Manu Della Valle]

Thank you @Fred Karno's Army...if you'll follow this thread you'll be in for a total metamorphosis! You could call it love rather than skill because skilled modellers are a different bunch M8! 

Cheers

Manu

Edited July 4, 2016 by Manu Della Valle

[DAK D]

I can't wait to see this kit when it's finished

D

[Manu Della Valle]

Thank you Dermot!

Hope you'll enjoy the rest of the WIP!

Cheers

Manu 

[DAK D]

Hi @Manu Della Valle

Yes most definitely!

D

[Manu Della Valle]

I reworked the kit's road wheels to make them look worn,battered and "eaten" by the sharp rocks caught on the tracks.each and every one of the 24 road wheels has been individually reworked and used as a master.I was using pure,straight-from-the-bottle Axson resins at that time and the details don't show too well because of the amber color of the resin.Now I prime the masters with matt paint and cast the copies in gray or greenish resin and the detail is definitely clearer!
 

[Manu Della Valle]

I've been asked me if I was willing to "share my drawings".
Original drawings and photos are few and far between even using Google.I had Bovington's photographer to take some for me inside the Museum's Ausf. L,which has been left undisturbed since its capture in Tunisia,apart for some instructions chalked on the main components to help the British tankers and keep the thing working.
I don't know if I'm allowed to post them here giving due credits to Bovy,if I can I'll be more than happy to post them.
The second volume of Panzer Tracts (3-3) on the PzKpfw III J-N has a complete walkaround of the interior of the Ausf L taken from the original handbook that is unvaluable when it comes to installing many of the "loose" equipment that have been long gone from the interior of Bovington's "Third"!
Then it's a matter of "modeler see modeler do"!
Cheers

[Manu Della Valle]

Times have changed and a lot of new kits have hit the shelves since this Tamiya kit was first offered to the public,and amongst them there are the all-new Panzer IIIs from Dragon.
I’ve casually opened a box in which I’ve found another Pz III project,i.e. a “H” made by kit-bashing a Tamiya Stug III Ausf B,an old Dragon Ausf H and a Tamiya Ausf L with a lot of scratchbuilding added to it.I’ve donned my thinking cup and I’ve come up to what can seen in the pictures.
At first I wanted to fit the scratchbuilt upper fighting compartment of the “H project” on Lothar’s lower hull,mating the former to the engine deck of one of Dragon’s best.At this point I’ve said to myself…”why not going all the way and use as many parts as possible from one of the new Dragon kits?”.
What made me take this route has been one of the more noticeable faults of the “old” Tamiya Panzer/Stug III,i.e. the side air intakes on the engine deck,which have a wrong interior design to them, followed by the front armour with the cast-in driver’s armored visor and the rear idlers,which lack the peculiar “grooves” inside the rims.
The Dragon “Rommel kiste” ,which is worlds better than the Tamiya offering,will be put to good use as well as many other details.
I’ll retain all the rest,even if I’m not sure whether I’ll use the Dragon cupola or my old one.On this one hand I’ve got plenty of PE frets and sourcing two commander’s hatches won’t be an issue,on the other the new Dragon cupola allows for each visor to be put at the position you want it to.
The lower hull will probably remain the Tamiya one but we'll see.I’ll add weld beads and a few other details to the suspension arms and the fenders’ mounting brackets.either from an old Eduard set or scratchbuilt ones!
Mating the Dragon upper hull to the Tamiya tub hasn’t been a bowl of cherries,especially considering that the engine deck touched the Maybach’s filters.I’ve had to recur to a little surgery on the engine mounting points and finally I’ve managed to make end meets..literally!
 

[Manu Della Valle]

I've been toying with the idea of transferring the whole module of the fighting compartment into the Dragon hull,which is better detailed.This way the only Tamiya part that I'd keep would be the turret,since I've been working hard on it and the Dragon one is only marginally better.It's not an easy task by any means,since the locating tabs of the Dragon fenders would "intrude" into the fighting compartment and not using them would leave a gap between the upper part of the FC and the tub,buit I'd have used PE fenders anyway,so no big deal filling a gap or three with strips of 0.20"thou. stryrene strip.
The Verliden engine module would stand a tad too proud and interfere with the engine deck,therefore I'll use a CMK engine set..it was originally intended for the Tamiya kit but after a few trials I've discovered that it will fit the Dragon hull just as nicely,no need to waste money buying the new CMK set for the Dragon kits.
In the meantime I've added the bin for stowing 5 rds. of 50mm ammunition under the commander's seat (still to be detailed with the padded seat,clasps and the stand for the commander for when he felt like by peering out of the cupola..risking a bullet in the noggin!) and the stowage for the MP 40.It's unbelievable to see how many pieces of equipment were stored inside this tank,and I'm going to go to town,especially with the new Gen2 weapons and equipment by Dragon!
I couldn't have gone so far without the precious infos,drawing and pictures by Tom Jentz, who we have heard sadly is so ill!
Cheers

[Manu Della Valle]

Ok..the decision has been taken and there's no turning back or,as Julius Caesar put it when he crossed the Rubicone River with his legions.."The dice have tumbled"..mmmhh.."the dice are shaken"...no..."money makes the dice go round"...nope..."the deuce is casting"...too x-factorish...ok.....I'd have taken my Latin more seriously!
Whatever...I've bitten the bullet, chucked something terrible into my Dremel and turned it into a DDD (detail destroying device)...ground off the beautifully detailed torsion units inside the Dragon lower hull and decided that the latter was the new home of my Panzer III interior!
The "old" (not THAT old...after all it hails back to 1997!) Tamiya model is still a great kit and I'm going to save the lower and upper hulls I've been working on for another project,but the Dragon is more gratifying in that just about any hatch can be left open and being blessed by a wealth of cast-in details second to none will save me a lot of time that I'd have spent further detailing the Tamiya kit.I'll keep the Tamiya turret though...and a few sets of already soldered fenders.which fit the new Dragon kit(s) to a tee!
Now that the locating point for the torsion bars have turned to a nice pile of styrene dust as the next step I'll have to find a way to glue the suspension arms nice and even.While I'm at it I'll try to achieve the typical nose-heavy stance of a war-weary "Third"...and I must have a set of turned brass Aber front shock absorber somewhere that would fill the bill!
 

[Manu Della Valle]

The work on the Dragon hull goes on and I've managed to fit the suspension arms even after having shaved off the torsion units inside the hull which thing,with hindsight,won't be needed to achieve a good result,in fact the swing arms locate securely to a pin on the rearward external "slide/guide" and inside the heads of the torsion bars.Care must be taken in order to have all the twelve roadwheels touching the ground evenly but it's a ten minutes job....let's make twenty-three!
The horizontal glacis plate must be shortened a few millimiters in order to avoid it interfering with the instrument panel and the radio receiver.
Now I'll have to sand off the locating ribs for the kit's fenders on the sides of the lower hull and glue two flanges made of 0.10 thou. styrene strips with Grandt Line hex-head bolts....unsurpassed little friends as far as quality,crispness of detail and price are concerned...a tenner will give you a life-time supply of Grand Line bolts and only a 50 or so Bronco ones...you pays yer money you takes yer choice!

[Manu Della Valle]

And now,for something completely different....the masters I've made of some internal electrical components common to many WW2 German tanks to be cast in resin...I'll use quite a few inside this tank!
 

[Manu Della Valle]

Here's a picture of the scratchbuilt/converted/"pilfered" parts ready for the silicone.This way of mold making is not recommended if one would like to cast these parts in great numbers,for a maximum of four or five of them,depending on their dimensions,can be successfully cast without making a mess with the resin.It's good to save on silicone though!

[Manu Della Valle]

Just a little update.
I've fitted the turret's motor and the tubular supports for the gunner's seat and the foot rest /MG pedals for the commander.These parts come straight from the Verlinden set which is like the proverbial curate's egg...even if,truth be told,it's not bad at all for a "thru the hatches" view of the interior and will lend itself to further detailing.At first I wanted to cut off the transmission and use the more detailed one by Aires but it would be not worth the effort...the Verlinden transmission/clutch/tracks brakes assy will look great once painted and weathered.
The hardest part has been lowering the upper hull by 0.25" as per Jentz and Doyle's drawings and thickening the Tamiya turret ring in order to make the tubular sections align with each other (i drilled holes and inserted brass pins to make the frame "adjustable"!) and the turret motor align with the corresponding part on the transmission tunnel....and make the whole damned thing rotate with the turret without snapping off.The motor will be detailed further while the part it will rest onto (which is but a mere resin cube in the Verlinden set) will be scratchbuilt since on the real vehicle it's a metal frame and not a solid lump,even if it can't be seen once the turret is in its place...we'll see,after all I need something solid for the motor to rest onto and these "desert" tanks were issued with two 20lts jerrycans for drinking and distilled water inside the fighting compartment and more often than not ready rounds for the gun were stacked wherever the gunner could put them....
While I was at it I've opened the pistol ports on the rear turret wall...it's been a nerve-wrecking moment,since opening these oblong holes with a few drill bits and a cylindrical cutting burr freehand and hoping in a neat result is always  a looooooong shot...but I think that after a lot of swearing,sweating and other words that were anything but child-friendly I succeeded! 
The handle is an Aber etched part thickened with resin to give it a three-dimensional shape.
 

[Manu Della Valle]

I've added the gunner's adjustable seat and backrest and filled in the locating holes for the towing cables on the engine deck.
The gunner's seat and backrest are modified resin copies of the same parts from the CMK detailing set for the Tamiya Panzer IV.Many small components of the Pz III and Pz IV were "standardized"...GREAT...the more standard parts the less scratchbuilding...even if adapting them to make them fit is a major PITA sometimes!

[Davejb]

Excellent, a lot of precise work there, I still say you should enter these models into a competition, or another tack could be to write a series of advanced construction leaflets for modellers, explaining how parts can be made into more detailed pieces to enhance any models

[Bil4338]

Fukkin unbelievable Manu! Your eyesight must be really beggared up with all that close work, which is bordering on genius my friend!