In Box Review of DML 1/35th Scale
German Stug. III Ausf. F, Sd.Kfz. 142/1
39-45 Series Kit no. 6033
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 1994
Out of production. I paid $31.50 for this kit years ago at a local shop that went out of business.
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 1994
Out of production. I paid $31.50 for this kit years ago at a local shop that went out of business.
HISTORY:
The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most-produced fully tracked armored fighting vehicle during World War II, and second-most produced German armored combat vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. It was built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the turret with an armored, fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful gun.
Initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later Jagdpanzer vehicles, was employed as a tank destroyer.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Assault gun
Place of origin: Nazi Germany
In service: 1940–1945 (German service), Syrian StuG IIIs were in use until the Six-Day War (1967), possibly later,
Wars: World War II, Six-Day War
Designer: Alkett
Manufacturer: Alkett, MIAG
Unit cos: 82,500 Reichsmark
No. built: 1,086 StuG III, 1,299 StuH 42[1]
Mass: 23.9 tons (52,690 lobs)
Length: 6.85 m (22 ft. 6 in)
Width: 2.95 m (9 ft. 8 in)
Height: 2.16 m (7 ft. 1 in)
Crew: 4 (driver, commander, gunner, loader)
Armor: 16–80 mm (.62–3.15 in)
Main armament: 1 × 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 with 54 rounds[2]
Secondary armament: 1 × 7.92 mm MG34 or MG42 machine gun with 600 rounds, 1 × coaxial 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun firing from hole in gun mantle (from 1944 on) with 600 rounds
Engine: Maybach HL120 TRM V-12 gasoline engine driving six-speed transmission of 300 PS (296 hp. 221 kW)
Power/weight: 12 PS (9.2 kW) / ton
Suspension: torsion bar
Operational range: 155 km (96 mi) (.9 mpg‑US (1.1 mpg‑imp; 260 L/100 km) at 22 mph (35 km/h), 71 US gal (59 imp gal; 270 l) fuel)
Maximum speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)
The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most-produced fully tracked armored fighting vehicle during World War II, and second-most produced German armored combat vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. It was built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the turret with an armored, fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful gun.
Initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later Jagdpanzer vehicles, was employed as a tank destroyer.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Assault gun
Place of origin: Nazi Germany
In service: 1940–1945 (German service), Syrian StuG IIIs were in use until the Six-Day War (1967), possibly later,
Wars: World War II, Six-Day War
Designer: Alkett
Manufacturer: Alkett, MIAG
Unit cos: 82,500 Reichsmark
No. built: 1,086 StuG III, 1,299 StuH 42[1]
Mass: 23.9 tons (52,690 lobs)
Length: 6.85 m (22 ft. 6 in)
Width: 2.95 m (9 ft. 8 in)
Height: 2.16 m (7 ft. 1 in)
Crew: 4 (driver, commander, gunner, loader)
Armor: 16–80 mm (.62–3.15 in)
Main armament: 1 × 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 with 54 rounds[2]
Secondary armament: 1 × 7.92 mm MG34 or MG42 machine gun with 600 rounds, 1 × coaxial 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun firing from hole in gun mantle (from 1944 on) with 600 rounds
Engine: Maybach HL120 TRM V-12 gasoline engine driving six-speed transmission of 300 PS (296 hp. 221 kW)
Power/weight: 12 PS (9.2 kW) / ton
Suspension: torsion bar
Operational range: 155 km (96 mi) (.9 mpg‑US (1.1 mpg‑imp; 260 L/100 km) at 22 mph (35 km/h), 71 US gal (59 imp gal; 270 l) fuel)
Maximum speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)
THE KIT:
DML Dragon is an old prolific model company based in Hong Kong, China. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a shrink-wrapped, blousy, tray and lid type box. It is 3” too long and 1” too wide, creating a letter “L” void around the parts.
The cover art shows a color illustration of a Stug. III Ausf. F in a grassy field passing a pile of rocks on one side and a knocked out tank on the other side. Very little can be seen of the knocked out tank. Just a small area of the side of its hull that shows a white Russian slogan on it. I don’t know the type of tank.
Behind the Stug. III is a forest and a German infantryman on foot. There are 3 more infantrymen riding on the back of the tank. One man has his right arm raised beckoning other men along. All four men wear field grey uniforms and steel helmets.
The tank is overall sandy-yellow, with a German cross and black hull no. 204 outlined in white on its sides.
One corner of the box art says: Unassembled model kit. This kit contains 457 parts. It is for modelers ages 10 and over. Kit contains model of one armored vehicle.
One side panel has six 1-paragraph histories of the tank in Japanese, French, English, Italian, German and Chinese. Each language is marked with a color illustration of the flag of the country that speaks the language.
These are followed by DML Dragon’s street address and FAX number in Hong Kong, China. Copyright 1995 and kit was made in Hong Kong.
DML Dragon is an old prolific model company based in Hong Kong, China. They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a shrink-wrapped, blousy, tray and lid type box. It is 3” too long and 1” too wide, creating a letter “L” void around the parts.
The cover art shows a color illustration of a Stug. III Ausf. F in a grassy field passing a pile of rocks on one side and a knocked out tank on the other side. Very little can be seen of the knocked out tank. Just a small area of the side of its hull that shows a white Russian slogan on it. I don’t know the type of tank.
Behind the Stug. III is a forest and a German infantryman on foot. There are 3 more infantrymen riding on the back of the tank. One man has his right arm raised beckoning other men along. All four men wear field grey uniforms and steel helmets.
The tank is overall sandy-yellow, with a German cross and black hull no. 204 outlined in white on its sides.
One corner of the box art says: Unassembled model kit. This kit contains 457 parts. It is for modelers ages 10 and over. Kit contains model of one armored vehicle.
One side panel has six 1-paragraph histories of the tank in Japanese, French, English, Italian, German and Chinese. Each language is marked with a color illustration of the flag of the country that speaks the language.
These are followed by DML Dragon’s street address and FAX number in Hong Kong, China. Copyright 1995 and kit was made in Hong Kong.
The other side panel shows 3 color walk-around type photos of the model made up in overall sandy-yellow. It has a black rectangle outlined in yellow with a yellow-charging bull on it and the German cross on the sides of its hull. These are followed by a repeat of DML Dragon’s address and FAX no, the copyright date and Made in Hong Kong.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
This kit contains 6 pale-grey parts trees, 3 jet-black trees, 2 steel PE frets and the decal sheet in 6 clear sealed cello bags.
There are 2 instruction sheets.
The main instructions consist of a single-sheet, that accordion-folds out into 8 pages in 14” x 8” page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white copy of the cover art, over the history of the Stug. III Ausf. F in 6 languages, including English.
Page 2 begins with ATTENTIONS about the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations and a suggested paint color listing of Gunze Sangyo brand hobby paints. In the 6 languages.
The bottom of page 2 through to page 7 gives a grand total of 19 assembly steps.
Page 8 is the parts-trees illustrations. Some parts are shown shaded-out. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the model. At the bottom of the page is decal application instructions in the 6 languages, copyright 1994 and PRINTED IN HONG KONG.
The second set of instructions is a single-sheet printed on just one side. It is the same page size as the main instructions.
It is a painting and marking-guide, that shows two 5-view profiles of schemes.
The one at the top is overall sandy-yellow. It has a rectangle outlined in yellow with a yellow rampaging bull on it, and the German cross on its sides.
It was with Stug. Abt. 191, Eastern Front 1942.
This is the one that is in the walk around photos on the side panel.
The one at the bottom is also overall sandy-yellow, with a black hull no, 203 outlined in white and the German cross on its sides. Because the hull no. is different, this is NOT the cover art scheme.
It was driven by Owm. Kochanowkis Geschutz, Zugfuher 2.Zug. 2 Batterie, Stug. Abt. 201, October 1942.
Trees are alphabetized.
Light-grey letter A tree holds: the top of the hull tub, fenders, tools, muffler, jack etc. (46 parts)
This kit contains 6 pale-grey parts trees, 3 jet-black trees, 2 steel PE frets and the decal sheet in 6 clear sealed cello bags.
There are 2 instruction sheets.
The main instructions consist of a single-sheet, that accordion-folds out into 8 pages in 14” x 8” page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white copy of the cover art, over the history of the Stug. III Ausf. F in 6 languages, including English.
Page 2 begins with ATTENTIONS about the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations and a suggested paint color listing of Gunze Sangyo brand hobby paints. In the 6 languages.
The bottom of page 2 through to page 7 gives a grand total of 19 assembly steps.
Page 8 is the parts-trees illustrations. Some parts are shown shaded-out. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the model. At the bottom of the page is decal application instructions in the 6 languages, copyright 1994 and PRINTED IN HONG KONG.
The second set of instructions is a single-sheet printed on just one side. It is the same page size as the main instructions.
It is a painting and marking-guide, that shows two 5-view profiles of schemes.
The one at the top is overall sandy-yellow. It has a rectangle outlined in yellow with a yellow rampaging bull on it, and the German cross on its sides.
It was with Stug. Abt. 191, Eastern Front 1942.
This is the one that is in the walk around photos on the side panel.
The one at the bottom is also overall sandy-yellow, with a black hull no, 203 outlined in white and the German cross on its sides. Because the hull no. is different, this is NOT the cover art scheme.
It was driven by Owm. Kochanowkis Geschutz, Zugfuher 2.Zug. 2 Batterie, Stug. Abt. 201, October 1942.
Trees are alphabetized.
Light-grey letter A tree holds: the top of the hull tub, fenders, tools, muffler, jack etc. (46 parts)
There are 2 identical light-grey letter B trees. They hold: road wheels, drive sprockets, return rollers, bogies, idler wheels etc. (57 parts each)
Light –grey letter C tree holds: the roof and rear wall, mantle parts etc. (30 parts)
Light-grey letter D is the hull tub (1 part)
Light-grey letter E tree holds: the main gun barrel, fenders, tools etc. (24 parts)
Lettering jumps to the 3 identical jet-black letter G trees. They hold the individual track links (80 parts ea.)
There are 2 steel PE frets.
The decal sheet completes the kit's contents.
There are no crew figures or clear parts. The detail is excellent.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.