Model Military International – September 2019

FEATURE ARTICLE Tamiya 1:48 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. L • Kit No. 32524

38 Model Military International - September 2019

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Tamiya 1:48 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. L • Kit No. 32524

Kamil Feliks Sztarbala

creates the elements

for a scene from the Eastern Front.

PART ONE - ASSEMBLY, PAINTING AND FIGURES

KHARK0V RHAPS0DY

T

he Panzer III chassis is my

favourite amongst those

belonging to tanks from

the WWII era. I really like

its appearance, especially when

it is fitted with wider tracks, such

as the Ostketten or Winterketten.

Believe or not, I haven’t had the

chance to build any vehicle from

the Panzer III family thus far, as

being a professional modeller, I

often have to leave the subject

choice to others. However, when

I found a photo showing Germans

gathered around an abandoned

piano on a Kharkov street, I

knew this would become one of

my future projects. Although

the actual photo features a

Kübelwagen in the background,

I decided to use a Pz.Kpfw. III

instead and build the scene in

my favorite scale for AFVs and

dioramas, i.e. 1:48 scale. In fact, it

is very possible that this tank was

present at the place at the same

time, given that a Panzer crewman

is present on my reference photo,

but the armour simply stayed

outside the frame.

THE MODEL

Vehicles using the Panzer III

chassis were some of the first 1:48

AFV subjects released by Tamiya.

Unfortunately, this means that they

feature die-cast lower hulls, which,

according to the manufacturer,

“offers extra weight and enhanced

realism”. I’m not really sure that

this adds to the overall realism of

the kit, considering that the die-

cast lower hull is usually rather

poorly detailed and sometimes

does not fit the plastic parts too

well. At least, in the case of this kit,

no serious problems emerged in

this regard.

Aside from the basic kit, I chose to use

some aftermarket accessories, including

resin Winterketten tracks from OKB

Grigorov, Hauler’s photo-etched set and a

metal gun barrel from RB Model.