I found a picture of this assault gun in Squadron Signal Armour Walkaround. It shows early production StugIIIG just after the battle, all crew members are out smiling to the camera. The reason of their good mood is pretty obvious: enemy antitank round destroyed Schürtzen on the right hand side of the vehicle, but just missed crew compartment. Lucky to be alive? I think so...


Additional side protection armour, skirts or Schürtzen, is made out from beer can. Before I start to work with this material, I put it over flame for few seconds to eliminate inner tension.


Detail parts, tracks

Eduard photo etched parts are designed especially for this kit and you get some excellent parts (mesh, clamps, exhaust dust deflectors) and some "head scratching" parts (MG protection shield, engine deck storage cage). But the choice is yours and I didn't have any serious complications during building process.

Tracks are one-piece-rubber items from Tamiya box. They looks great under thick layer of mud and dust and by my opinion it would be wasting of money to get some aftermarket ones in this case.


Engine cover storage

I tried to recreate all this equipment and crew personal paraphernalia, which can be seen on photographs of real vehicles in combat zones: different crates, boxes, jerry cans and bucket, the last one is seen hanging from almost every "panzer", all covered with some sort of tarpulin as a protection against dirt and weather.

Details like these give a more of personal touch to your models and give them the feel of real thing. But, it is always better to check your references first...





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