Bolt Action StuG III Ausf. G / StuH 42

Next up, the StuG III Ausf. G, a recently released kit from the cooperation of Warlord Games and Italeri.

The Sturmgeschütz III Ausführung G, SdKfz 142, is an assault gun based upon the Panzer III chassis. It saw action quite early in 1941 and was used as an tank destroyer, and continuously until the end of war. It was even in service in the Finnish army, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. After the war the soviet army donated captured StuG to Syria, who used them until the mid 1960s.

As an Italeri kit, this is an downscaled model kit, as such it is rather rare to see options or variants included. This one has two different guns (it can be build as StuH 42) and has optional side skirts.

The kit contains two sprues, with thin frames, two leaflets including instructions and a small decal sheet. The casting is crisp and the model has a lot of detail.

The build begins with the track sections, left and right, with simplified tracks for easier assembly.

After letting the glue settle, the lower hull is assembled. I added wheel weights to the chassis, 30g, which gives the kit a heavier grip and feel of a die cast kit.

In the first step the front part with the spare tracks is assembled, now the back of the tank, covering the exhaust is assembled.

We now move over to the upper part of the hull. The casemate-styled gun is movable and you can choose between the 7,5-cm-StuK 40 L/48 and the 105-mm-Artilleriegeschütz. The second one is shorter, but has a bit more punch to it.

The commanders cupola is intended to be open, but can be built closed as well. There are quite a few parts of detail to be build around the deck. Among others the MG shield.

In this step the upper and lower part of the tank are "married" and all that is left, are the optional side skirts. These can be added, are historical correct but rather nimble to build and as this is goint to be a gaming model not a showcase, i decided to leave them aside.

In these shots you can see the comparison between the earlier resin variant by Warlord Games and the new plastic kit, supplied by Italeri.

In the meantime i primed the kit with Vallejo black primer using an airbrush. The assembled StuG is a characteristic and fine build, with lots of detail, more than the old resin variant.

Conclusion
The price dropped by 3 pound to 20 GBP for the plastic kit, compared to the resin kits Warlord Games offers. Rubicon offers a bit more options and stowage for the same 20 pounds. Other resin kits are more expensive, beside Blitzkrieg Miniatures, who charge 18 Pound for theirs. Amount of detail and historical correctness is on top level with this kit, as model builders have higher claims compared to wargamers.

With this in mind, the StuG III kit is a solid choice, but may be to nimble for some gamers. So it is a matter of taste, which kit to choose.

Bolt Action is a brand of Warlord Games.