Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J
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Stock Number and Description | Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series Kit No. 6394; Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. J 2-in-1 Smart Kit |
Scale: | 1/35 |
Media and Contents: | 747 parts (486 in grey styrene, 216 "Magic Track" links, 26 etched brass, 19 clear styrene) |
Price: | price about US $45 |
Review Type: | First Look |
Advantages: | May be built as either an early (KwK L/42) or late (KwK L/60) Pzkw. III Ausf. J; many options to match specific tanks at set points in the production run; "Smart Kit" minimizes the amount of etched brass required |
Disadvantages: | Kit does not come with DS tracks, which will disappoint a few modelers |
Recommendation: | Highly Recommended for WWII German fans |
Dragon's 1/35 scale Sd.Kfz. 234/4 is available online from
Mission Models
FirstLook
If you ask noted German armor researcher Tom Jentz which German tank
he prefers, he answers immediately with the Panzer III series. The
true "workhorse" of the German army, it served in all theaters and
in many different forms, always rising to meet the needs pressed
upon it and showing a tremendous amount of "stretch" in the chassis.
It was only at the very end of the war that it was no longer capable
of performing as a counter-armor vehicle and could not effectively
deal with late war US and Soviet tanks.
First entering production in 1937 under the aegis of the term
"Platoon Leader's Vehicle" the Pzkw. III had progressed through five
different version before the war started in September 1939, with the
Ausf. E being the latest variant. Armed with a 37mm gun and two
machine guns, the Pzkw. III was easily able to cope with Polish
armor and resistance. Joined by the Ausf. F it then moved into
France in June 1940, but even at this stage of the war only about
600 Pzkw. III had been built. Production did not begin to increase
until the Ausf. G model in April 1940, which also added the
short-barreled 5 cm KwK L/42 gun to increase firepower.
While the Germans were learning in the desert that the Pzkw. III was
a good and reliable tank they also found it did not have sufficient
armor protection, and thus began adding applique armor to the tanks
with the Ausf. H in October 1940. More than 950 Pzkw. III tanks were
in service when the Germans began their invasion of Russian in June
1941, but once again they received very rude shocks to find out that
the Soviet 45mm gun could penetrate their tanks, making even
obsolete tanks like the T-26 and BT series dangerous opponents: they
also found out very quickly that the new and very deadly T-34 and
the monstrous KV tanks were invulnerable to their short-barreled 5
cm gun but could easily dispatch the Pzkw. III tanks with their
powerful 76mm weapons.
The result was the creation of the Pzkw. III Ausf. J. The first
1,569 were built with the short KwK L/42 gun found on their
predecessor, but at Hitler's personal directive (and pleas from the
front) the tank was later upgraded with the KwK L/60 gun; 1,067 were
produced new. While it boosted their armor penetration capabilities
against British tanks in the desert, it was still not a wholly
effective weapon against the increasing numbers of T-34 and KV
tanks. (A later AP40 shell with tungsten core solved that problem,
but it took a while to get it into production. This gun was
ballistically identical to the PaK 38 5 cm antitank gun.) The J was
also uparmored to 50mm frontal armor protection and also later
received spaced armor arrays to provide additional frontal
protection. Note that surviving early model Pzkw. III tanks from the
Ausf. E onward were also rebuilt with either the KwK L/42 or L/60
guns as available.
The Pzkw. III Ausf. J has often been selected as a favorite for
modelers due to its well-balanced shape and the wide number of
options that the tank could use over the course of a career. That
was one of the reasons behind the choice Tamiya made in 1971 to
produce the similar Pzkw. III Ausf. L/M as one of their first new
generation 1/35 scale armor kits. When DML picked up the line of
Gunze Sangyo kits some 15 years ago, they also used them to create
an entire line of late-model Pzkw. III kits under their "Imperial"
series (9xxx kits.)
Now they have released a brand-new kit of the flexible little Pzkw.
III Ausf. J version, based in large part on their excellent StuG III
"Smart Kit" molds. The kit shares five sprues and the "Magic Track"
links with the StuG kit and also borrows a few sprues from the Pzkw.
IV Ausf. F "Smart Kit" as well (mostly the cupola and clear ones.)
The rest – some 196 plastic parts and 26 etched brass ones – are new
to this kit.
The hull pan is similar to that from the StuG but has the side
hatches and other detail changes. It retains the full torsion bar
suspension from the other kit and the detailed suspension components
and muffler assembly. As with the StuG all hatches are separate with
some interior details and can be positioned as the modeler chooses.
All engine deck ventilators are spaced and mounted on separate
frames to get the correct appearance and "lift" needed to give an
accurate representation of the original.
The kit provides a number of options to include the complete spaced
armor array as well as the choice between the L/42 and the L/60
guns, with four different possible combinations; both barrels are
"slide molded" with hollow bores and, as with the original, share
the same breech and fittings internally. Options also include
blackout or clear headlight lenses and the "kugel" mount for the bow
machine gun. All viewports and viewers may be positioned open or
closed as well.
The kit includes the rudiments of an interior, but unlike many
Russian or Ukrainian kits the details they provide are highly
accurate as far as they go. This should please the "after market
boys" as there is more than enough room for a nice resin interior
here and enough ports and hatches to see it.
Some modelers are now learning to love the new DML DS plastic
tracks, but this kit was not a beneficiary of that technology so the
modeler will have to use the excellent if tedious "Magic Track"
links. As the old curse goes, be careful of what you wish for as you
may get it! Also the kit only comes with a modicum of etched brass -
mostly grilles, brackets and the track guides for the idler wheels.
I am sure that "boutique" upgrade kits are on the way for those who
believe one can never add enough brass!
The kit provides eight different finishing options: 5/Pz.Regt. 24,
24th Panzer Division, Stalingrad 1942 (gray with L/60); 1/3rd Panzer
Grenadier Division, Stalingrad 1942 (whitewash with L/60 and spaced
array); 2/Pz.Regt. 18, 18th Panzer Division, Russia 1942 (Panzerbraun
with L/42 and spaced array); 23rd Panzer Division, Eastern Front
1942 (gray with L/42); 5/SS Pz. Regt. 1, 1st SS Panzer Division LAH,
Kharkov 1943 (whitewash with L/42); 3/Pz. Regt. 7, 10th Panzer
Division, Tunisia 1943 (Panzerbraun with L/60 and spaced array);
1/SS Pz. Regt. 5, 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking", Russian 1943
(gray with L/60); and 3/Pz. Regt. 8, 15th Panzer Division, Tobruk
1942 (Panzerbraun with L/60 and spaced array.) All markings are
targeted and from Cartograf.
This is another excellent choice and nearly completes the basic
family of German WWII tanks newly molded and offered by DML (only
the Pzkw. II is missing), and based on other kits, it is likely more
new-mold Pzkw. III and Pzkw. IV kits will be coming as well.
Highly Recommended.
A 91 Pzkw III J hull details and
turret mounting
A 61x2 StuG III Wheels and torsion bars (7 mini-sprues connected)
B 14 Pzkw III J upper hull and fenders
B 46 StuG III Road wheel arms and lower hull details
C 41 Pzkw III J applique armor and details
D 35 Pzkw III J gun and barrels
D 31 StuG III basic upper hull details
E 15 Pzkw III J turret and mantelet details
F 15 Pzkw IV F - turret cupola
G 52 Pzkw IV F - turret and hull details
G 15 StuG III OVM and light components
H 1 Lower hull pan
J 8 Machine guns and muzzles
L 144 Magic Track - Left
15 Pzkw IV F Clear styrene
P 4 Clear styrene
R 144 Magic Track - Right
MA 26 Etched brass
Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.