Dragon Models 6320 – StuG. III Ausf. G Early Production
Let me preface this by saying that I am an unabashed StuG fan, owning pretty much every kit there is of one, so if you only arrived here to find out if this kit is any good and don’t really care about the specifics of it all, or if you want to just cut to the chase and save yourself 15 minutes of reading then here is what you wanted to know – this is a beautiful kit, if you want a StuG. III Ausf. G get this one or any of it’s minor offspring such as the version with schurzen.
This kit comes in a tray and lid type box on six large, three medium, and two small sprues. All the sprues together with the hull tub are moulded in light grey. There is also one clear sprue, one photo-etched brass fret, one length of picture frame wire for making the cables, two bags of magic tracks and a sheet of decals. The instructions can be a little confusing and require a bit of attention be paid to make sure everything goes where it should.
The moulding, as we’ve come to expect from Dragon, is extremely good with nice clean parts and sharp detail. Much use is made of slide moulding to eliminate mould seams and give the greatest level of depth and detail. Cleanup is therefore pretty much limited to the location points with the sprues.
The lower hull is a slide-moulded one-piece tub which includes detail such as weld seams on the bottom and counter sunk holes on the sides. The suspension arms are linked to the separate internal torsion bar suspension arms and can be made to articulate very easily if you wish to have the running gear going over an uneven surface. The sprockets are beautifully detailed and the rear idlers include photo-etched rims.
The roadwheels are made of two halves each and both they and the return rollers feature the CONTINENTAU brand name on the sidewalls. This allows Dragon to get around the CONTINENTAL trademark and the modeller to remove the last upright on th “U” to turn it into the correct name if desired.
The tracks are Dragon’s Magic Tracks packed in a two bags, one for the right hand side, one for the left hand side. The tracks are specific to each side so don’t get them mixed up, although Dragon has thoughtfully moulded each side in a different colour, one being light grey, the other dark grey. They represent the 40cm-wide links with the hollow guide horns and plain cleat faces. Being “Magic Tracks”, they have no sprues and as such no attachment points so no cutting from the sprue, or clean-up of the sprue point is required, though each has two very light ejector pin marks on the inner face that will need removing.
The upper hull is also slide moulded and includes very nice detailing such as the bolt heads, weld beads and a separate splash plate. You also get separate armour plates and a movable driver’s vision port cover that comes with a clear part for the internal glass block. A tool box, gun cleaning rods and tools are all separate parts, the cleaning rods having delicate separate brackets while the tools have moulded on clamps that still look very good. The tow cables are made up using moulded eyes together with the included picture frame wire which results in very good looking cables.
A separate engine deck is provided which, like many other areas of this kit, is mounted in the same manner as the original so that whole engine deck assembly could be left off to display an engine if you want to add one ( as none is included with the kit ). The air intake vents on the sides of the engine deck look very good and include internal openings, photo etched screens and lifting hooks ( though the instructions show one of these being put on upside down ). All the engine deck hatches are all separate parts and include accurate coaming and separate air cooling cowlings.
The casemate again is a separate slide moulded part and attaches in the same way the original so can be left off in the same way as the original if you so wanted to. It includes very fine detail such as weld beads and panel detail, mounting strips, and bolt heads. Separate parts provide the side lift rings, spare track rack which includes separate wing-nuts, and the cover for the exhaust fan. Also included are the two tripple smoke grenade dischargers that have the option of having either loaded or empty tubes. The rear antenna mounts and bases are included but oddly no antenna ( see the note about the radio setup below ).
The roof plate is a also a separate part and includes very delicate recessed screw head details around its edges, as well as full details like the hinges and weld detail. You can even leave the roof off just as on the real one to display the interior. The loader’s gun shield and hatch covers are all separate parts and the loader gets an excellent slide-moulded Gen2 MG34 machine gun that includes a separate receiver cover. The commander’s cupola is made up of several small partsand includes clear periscope heads and a clear scissors telescope. The separate hatch lid is also made up of several parts that includes separate locking latches.
The gun barrel is a single slide moulded piece and comes with a beautifully made three piece muzzle brake that looks very, very good. This is one plastic gun barrel that won’t need replacing with an after market aluminium one. The breech is also very well detailed as is the mount for the gun, though no empty brass basket is included.
The mantlet is also slide-molded and depicts the early type welded/bolted version and is well detailed with the proper weld beads and bolts. The separate collar, where the gun barrel joins the mantlet, is beautifully done including counter-sunk screw heads.
The interior includes all the seats, a very nice tread pattern detail on the floor, and as mentioned a full and very detailed breech assembly and gun mount for the StuK 40 L/43. Cyber-Hobby also make two interior detail sets which add weapons, personal equipment and the empty brass basket to mention a few, though for most uses the interior as it is will be more than adequate. As mentioned above, no engine, drivers compartment or transmission is included.
A full radio setup is also included as part of the interior, with both a FU 16 ( UKw.E and 10 W.S.c ) on the right as well as a FU 8 ( 30 W.S.a and Mw.E.c ) on the left. The FU 8 was used for long distance communications with higher command so was only found in command vehicles and required the star antenna. So you you will need to either remove the FU 8 or add a star antenna.
The decals and painting guide provide options for five vehicles – 2.Stug.Abt., Pz.Div. “Das Reich”, Russia 1943 : Pz.Gren.Div. “Grossdeutschland”, Eastern Front 1943 : Unidentified Unit, Eastern Front 1944 : 3.Pz.Div. “Totenkopf”, Ukraine 1944 : 1288. SP Gun Rgt., Ukraine 1944. I assume that to comply with the requirements in some countries to have no mention of “SS” is the reason that Das Reich and Totenkopf aren’t identified as SS Divisions in the instructions.
This is a first rate kit that can be built straight from the box into a beautiful model. It probably isn’t for beginners due to the high number of parts, in particular the tracks but it is definitely the best StuG. III Ausf. G kit around, with the ability to remove complete parts in the same manner as the real one a real bonus.
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