Panzer III Ausf K command tank
PzGrenDiv Großdeutschland

 

The "Work Horse" in the German Army

The Mark III was in the first war years the "workhorse" of the German armour branch. Thus it was also until far into the war with many modifications in the use. Later it was successfully used after some changes in the most diverse kinds of tasks: observation tank, recovery vehicle, ammunition vehicle and also as armored command vehicles, as it represents the version Ausf K.
 

Assembly

Gunze created the version K from a basic Mark III kit adding further parts for this very version. That has the advantage that approximately half of the parts count for the spare parts crate. On the other hand one must nevertheless make some delicate changes at the hull, which are sometimes hard to do, like repairing the structure of the left fender after repositioning the front lights mount. However, as my tank was built for a customer, I didn´t want to spend a fortune for a photo etched set of fenders to repair this damage properly.

For experienced Mark III amateur handicraftsmen the preparing of the assembly of the tracks and running gear causes no more problems. One should make a wider circle cut into the upper hull, where the turret is located, as the command version is equipped with the larger Mark IV turret instead of the Mark III type turret. This I had not considered before gluing the hull, therefore this "operation" represented a somewhat delicate affair...

Also some details represented at the hull, as the projectile deflector bulge in front of the turret or the engravings for the driver and radio operator emergency exit hatches must be cut away and the surface polished afterwards.
Some improvements of the kit are necessary especially with the bulky star antenna and the signal cup, but I only re-made the antenna, by soldering small aluminum stripes onto a tiny ring, which was super glued around the mast.

 

Texturing the armour

To bring some "life" into the smooth surface of the superstructure, I decided to use the plastic glue method:
Tamiyas extra thin plastic glue (green bottle) was applied by means of a very broad soft brush (normally used by my wife for applying thick layers of rouge...). After some seconds of patience, I dabbed the brush onto the slightly sticky surface of the tank. As soon as it causes glue-threads, one should end this dabbing procedure and switch to other spots or apply some more glue. (More possibilities for this effect can be seen at the tip of Werner Kampfhofer at my Homepage.)
 

Painting

As usual I sprayed a base coat of light gray to detect gaps or mistakes of surface preparing. Al hit a corner, edges and recesses were then shaded with black and dark brown colour. Then acrylic "Panzergray" from Tamiya was sprayed in not covering way to let the shades peep through this colour.

Several "Filters" bring additional shades and break the uniform appearance of the armour plates. "Washing-mix" with "Raw Umber" oil- and black Humbrol enamel paint improve the depth effect. Black and gray water from Vallejo colour, diluted at a ratio of 1:1 with water, were used to represent small scarves and scratches caused either by combat or crew members. Here one should use a very small, long and soft brush. The help of "Stencillit" stencils made all markings easy.

To further improve a weary appearance of the tank I made some small oil colour spots of different brand: Prussia Blue, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, White, Cadmium Yellow and Ochre all over the tank, especially at the lower hull and running gear. Then I took a round medium brush to distribute and blend the colour spots with the surrounding areas, using turpentine thinner. At vertical armour one should use only downward streaks to simulate effects of rain on the tank. Many thanks for the explaining of these techniques to Mr. Bernhard Lustig, who showed it to me at the model exhibition 2002 in Ried/I. (Upper Austria).

With this model I first tried the use of the excellent colour pigments of the "Kremer" company. An assortment of 9 big plastic bottles were available at a model railroad shop and includes for instance these brands: three types of rust from light to dark, moss green, black, light sand, earth...

These pigments can be applied by means of either a dry brush or with thinner as well maybe added with a spec of dull cote. The more pigments, the stronger are the dirt effects. One can even try to mix them with Elmers white glue to enhance these effects.

Afterwards everything at the upper parts of the tank is sealed with one or two layers of "Future" floor wax. Refer also to this tip by W. Bradac: Working with decals The lower parts of the Mark III are covered with dull cote.
 

Result

For a comparable low amount of money one gets a unusual German Wehrmacht vehicle, which is some alternation to hundreds of "Panthers". With little additional work, one gets a neat model even without using PE parts straight from the box. Furthermore the spare parts box is growing at a high ratio as well. The only major drawback are the tracks, but one should also let live the "Friulmodell" company (but I didn´t use it either...)!