28mm, 1/56 StuG Variants reviewed

In today's finale article of StuG week I will be looking at The Die Waffenkammer StuG I, in the camoflage with the foliage, and  Warlords StuG III D which is in grey primer (For now...!)

The StuG III D Was produced between May and September 1941and carried the short barreled 75mm gun, origionally intended to support infantry attacks but suppressing enemy positions and bunkers.
 As more StuGs were committed to Operation Barbarossa and the fighting in Russia the StuG proved itself to be a very effective tank destroyer, and this lead to it's evolution into the Ausf G as seen in the other kits I have reviewed earlier in the week.

Warlord released this kit last year and it's very simple, the hull and tracks are resin, whilst the hatches, gun, headlights and gun cleaning rods are metal. Apologies for not actually getting this one painted for the review, however I'll probably do a step buy step guide to how I airbrush a Panzer Grey model.

I really do love this model, there's something cool about the short barreled StuG, but this kit is very nice and cleanly cast, with very crisp and delicate detail, it just feels right. No instructions or decals are included, but it's simple enough not to require instructions.

Also reviewed here is the StuG IV from Die Waffenkammer. I've had this one done for a while, but wanted to include it for the sake of completness. The StuG IV was built to supplement production of the StuG III following heavy allied bombing on the Alkett factory outside of Berlin in late 1943, and the StuG IV was simple old or refurbished Panzer IV hulls with a StuG superstructure attached. They were issued from early 1944 up until the end of the war. Notabley the 17th SS Panzergrenadier division used StuG IV's in place of panzers during the battle of Normandy.

The comments used to describe Die Waffenkammers StuG III all apply to the IV as well, and I believe it even comes with a similar quantity of stowage. Again, it's a fantastic little model, and a fairly unique way to add flavour to a late war force.

There are other kits of the Ausf D and StuG IV on the market, however I've not been able to get my hands on them, I believe Army Group North do kits of both vehicles though, and I did do another StuG IV for a mate, but it was molded an orange resin, and was very crude. I'm not sure who produced it so I've not reviewed it here.

I hope you have found my series of StuG reviews interesting and useful, and if there are any other vehicles you would like me to provide a similar themed review series on let me know either in the comments section or though the Volley Fire Painting Services Facebook page.


Warlords StuG III D can be purchased here at Warlords website.

Die Waffenkammer kits can be purchesed either through the website here Or through one of their regional distributors such as Campaign Games and Logisitcs in Australia, and Great Escape Games in the UK.

I'd like to extend my thanks to Warlord Games and Rubicon Models for providing the plastic StuGs that were reviewed earlier on, keep up the great work guys!

28mm 1/56 StuG III Ausf G kit round up and comparison.

Day 4 of StuG week and here is the round up of all 4 kits reviewed. I'm not sure if Warlords resin kit is going to remain available, however I have included it in the comparisons as I'm sure many people will be familiar with this model. 



In the attached photos the vehicles are as follows, the plain sand vehicle is Blitzkriegs, the sand and green vehicle numbered 221 is Warlords new plastic. The sand with heavy over spray of brown, large number 13 and heave covering of foliage is Warlords old kit. The sand green and brown vehicle numbered 222 is Rubicons and finally the vehicle with the heavy brown over spray and missing Schurzen panels is Die Waffenkammers.

First of all I have prepared a brief table to compare what I feel to be the salient points of the various kits listed to allow you to see at a glance what appeals to you most in a model. 

I'll let the pictures do alot of the work here as the models can speak for their own quality, all are very good though, and you won't be disappointed with any of them. 

  From this we can see the plastic kits are much more time consuming to build, however they are easier to convert and add battle damage too if that's your thing, and personally I prefer working with plastic as well, it reminds me of building the old Airfix and Matchbox kids from the newsagent as a kid!

In terms of price all the models are around the same, Die Waffenkammer though wins out through sheer amount of stowage and extra parts. Warlord however are offering their kit in a boxed set of 3 with some figures from their forthcoming panzer grenadier set for £50, and if your looking to get several vehicles it's very hard to beat this offer. 

In terms of detail, for me Warlords new plastic kit is the best of the bunch, with Die Waffenkammers a close second. It was hard to pic between them however Warlord crispness and finesse won it for me. 

Rubicon and Blitzkriegs models are both very sturdy, and Rubicons has a lot of flexibility in that you can interchange weapons and Schruzen without gluing the parts in place. Warlord does allow the swapping of weapons as well however. Also impressive are the amount of variants possible with Rubicons kit, although these do need to be fixed in place.

Warlord and Die Waffenkammers kits both come with crew figures, with Die Waffenkammer's having more men than hatches! 

Individual reviews of each kit can be found at the links below
Blitzkrieg
Die Waffenkammer
Warlord
Rubicon 

I think overall my favourite is Warlords new plastic kit just for it's sheer finesse, however Die Waffenkammers kit is superb, however the plastic is my preferred medium to work with. Rubicons is an excellent model as well, and great if you want a lot of flexibility out of a kit, whilst Blitzkriegs is marvelously elegant and simple, so there is no real out right winner, but hopefully I'll be able to help you in picking a kit that appeals to you.  

As ever more of my work can be seen here at Volley Fire Painting Services. If you'd like to contact me either leave a message on the blog or through Volley Fire, and if there are any other series of kits you'd like me to treat in a similar to StuG week let me know!

Die Waffenkammer/JTFM Enterprises StuG III Ausf G review

More StuG goodness now! This time with the JTFM/Die Waffenkammer StuG III.

The StuG III was actually quite a diminutive vehicle, even by the standards of the day being only just over 7 feet tall and 9 wide, and 22 feet long including the gun. The vehicle still managed to weigh 23 tonnes, and had a maximum armour thickness of 80mm's. StuG's carried a crew of 5 and 54 rounds of ammunition for it's 75mm main armament. 








The StuG had a top speed of around 25mph and used about 1 gallon of fuel per mile traveled. The last recorded combat use of a StuG III was in 1967 in the Six Day War when it was used by Syrian forces. Bulgaria also had some dug into it's borders as static emplacements until relatively recently.

JTFM Enterprises, or as is more correctly know Die Waffenkammer produce a fairly large range of exquisite resin vehicles in 1/56 scale. Much like the Blitzkrieg Miniatures StuH 42 I reviewed here the Die Waffenkammer model comes in only a few main parts, notabley the tracks, hull, Schurzen rails, Scurzen plates, choice of machine gun, and main gun, as well as figures and a bag of stowage. 

It's worth mentioning the sheer amount of options this kit comes with. Firstly you have the choice of building either a StuH42 or Ausf G with anti tank gun, then if you pick the anti tank gun you have a choice between the standard box mantlet, or later Saukopfblend rounded one. Also included are the earlier style plate gun shield for the MG34, and the later remote controlled weapon mount. Finally, the kit is the only one to come with separate Scurzen rails and Schurzen plates, allowing you to easily model missing plates of Schurzen. 

In terms of accessories, the kit is very generously appointed, all the stowage on this one including the stowage rack around the engine deck were included, and the model comes with all the stowage shown both on this model and the Blitzkrieg one. So much in fact I even had some spare. The model also comes with 3 crew figures to give you even more options and spares.

Detail wise the kit is fantastic, and builds a spectacular representation of this vehicle. When assembling the vehicle with Schurzen though you may wish to reinforce the plates as they are quite delicate. It's not possible to have swappable guns straight from the box, however if you wished to magnetize the model you could do so.

To paint the Die Waffenkammer StuG I again used the same techniques listed in the Warlord Stug Review here.
It is even more important than ever to use a decent primer on Die Waffenkammer models however, and details of this are included on the models instruction sheet.
Foliage was seafoam, added as described in the Blitzkrieg StuH review.

The Die Waffenkammer website can be found here, however there can be quite a long wait between placing an order and receiving the models as Jeff has always got a vast amount of orders. It's worth being patient though as you'll get a very nice model at the end. Alternatively, if you can't wait check out the list of distributers on the page and it will list the stockists local to your country.

In conclusion, a beautiful kit, with no real flaws. As ever more of my work can be seen at Volley Fire Painting Services 

Tomorrow I will be reviewing Rubicons new plastic StuG, and on Sunday I will be writing a comparative piece of all 4 StuGs mentioned, and also including Warlords older Resin model too.  

Links to the other reviews can be found below:-

Blitzkrieg

Rubicon
Warlord

Panzer IV kit comparison

As promised, here is the comparison of 28mm, 1/56 scale Panzer IV models. I've tried to keep the review limited to Ausf F and H variants as the differences are too great in the earlier models to make them relevent to the review process here.

Shown here are 221, and Ausf F2 from Rubicon Models, 222 and Ausf F2 from Warlord. Both of these are recently released plastic kits that allow the construction of F1, F2 and ausf H variants. I've also included Die Waffenkammers Ausf H as the varient is possible with the plastic kits.

All 3 kits are superb, and will give you a great Panzer IV. so I shall highlight their differences as each has it's own merits depending on what you want from a model.

Die Waffenkammers is by far the quickest model to assemble, and although it has very few parts is the only kit to come with a full set of Schurzen rails for the hull.



The kit also comes with a vast amount of spares, a commander figure and commendably thin Schurzen plates. The model is also very well cast and can be put together inside of 10 minutes.

Rubicon's Panzer was one of the first releases from this new company, and provides the options to build the Ausf F1 with short barrel gun, an F2/G and an Ausf H with Schurzen.

The kit has in my opinion the best set of suspension of the 3models,and some beautiful detail on the hull and turret. No figures or stowage are included, though those are easy to source.

 Assembly time is around 20-30 minutes or so. Noteworthy is that Rubicons panzer has the sturdiest Schurzen, although the detail is a little simplified and the plates are quite thick due to the limitations of the moulding process. They are also able to be clipped on and off the model as desired.

Warlords Panzer IV covers the same versions as Rubicons, and has some very nicely detailed Schuzen, although it's a tad more complex than that of the Rubicon kit. Detail again is very good, although the 1 piece hull and wheels results in a slight loss of detail due to the limitations of the moulding technology used. All the parts fit well. Contruction took around 20-30 minutes, and also contains a beautiful commander figure, and some odds and ends like spare Jerrycans and wheels.

To summarize, Die Waffenkammer produce a superb Ausf H, which will give you a very nice model with minimal construction. Rubicon's kit will give you a very nice model, especially if you do an Ausf F or G. Warlords kit will give you a great and inexpensive Ausf H, but will also produce very nice Ausf F and G variants as well.

 As always, more of my work can be seen at Volley Fire Painting.

Warlord Games range can be viewed on their website here http://www.warlordgames.com/, the Die Waffenkammer range can be seen here http://www.diewaffenkammer.com/ and last but not least Rubicons can be viewed here http://www.rubiconmodels.com/

Die Waffenkammer Armour review

With Christmas rapidly approaching I thought I'd do something totally festive and write about 2 bitter opponents from the Eastern Front, so here is my take on Die Waffenkammer (JTFM Enterprises) T34/76 UZTM turret kit, and also the Panzer IV Ausf H. First up, the T34.

Die Waffenkammer's T34 is a masterpiece of simplicity, comprising of a hull, seperate track units, a one piece turret and a big bag of stowage, as well as a nice commander figure. Next to no clean up was required, apart from a good wash in some washing up liquid to ensure that all the mold release agent is removed from the resin. I also used a grey automotive primer on the tank as this is far harder wearing than a standard acrylic primer. Both these steps are very important due to the nature of the resin used, although this extends to all resin (And metal) models as well.

After leaving the primer to dry for about 24 hours I attacked it with my airbrush, spraying the tank with through a range of green paints, starting with Vallejo 897 Brown Violet and finishing at 857 Golden Olive. Paint was misted on to give a sense of fading and wear to the green. Once this had dried I used artists oils as a wash into the recesses, and any excess paint was removed with a cotton bud. Mud was applied in a similar fashion to the wash, using Games Workshop Agrellan Earth left to pool in the recesses to give the impression of dried dust. a quick bit of googling provided a turret slogan which I painted on with Vallejo Silver Grey, and that was the T34 done!

Die Waffenkammers Panzer IV Ausf H Is just as good as the T34, being a very simple model to build with very crisp detail. I particularly like the Schurzen rail allowing you to have the side skirts separate from the model. This is actually the second one of these kits I have built, and I wanted to base this one on a vehicle from 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich after seeing a colourised photo in a forum. Paint was applied using the same techniques as the T 34, with the Dunkelgelb mixed using Vallejo Middlestone with increasing quantities of white mixed in. Yellow Olive Green camoflage patters were then sprayed on and the whole tank was dusted up with a watery coat of Vallejo Iraqi sand once all the inks and oils had dried.

Both these kits are superb, and fit perfectly with Warlord and Rubicon kits. I will be doing a size comparison once I have built a Rubicon T34 and some more Warlord Panzer IV's. Die Waffenkammer models can be bought either direct from Die Waffenkammers website, or ordered from Great Escape Games for those of you in the UK.