Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. B Review by Steve Palffy (Tamiya 1/48)

Tamiya's all-new 1/48 scale
Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. B

S u m m a r y
Catalogue Number:	Kit No. MM32507 - Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. B
Scale:	1/35
Contents and Media:	Grey high-pressure injection moulded plastic; one die-cast, pre-primed part for main hull; markings for three StuGs.
Price:	1,600 yen
Review Type:	FirstLook
Advantages:	Great fit and easy build; crisp detail; cast lower hull adds add strength to assembly; excellent link and length tracks
Disadvantages:	No interior detail; no figures.
Recommendation:	Highly Recommended

Reviewed and Built by Steve Palffy

with images & additional text by Brett Green

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. B will be available online from Squadron.com

FirstLook

Tamiya's 1/48 scale Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. B continues the trend set by the recently reviewed Tiger I and Sherman kits, including excellent detail, superb fit, link and length plastic tracks, and separate hatches to permit the installation of crew figures.

The suspension is once again very well done, with the link and length tracks including an authentic "sag" along the top run.

Some of the tools are moulded to the hull, but they are very well done. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to tell which tools are separate and which are integrally moulded.

In common with the other 1/48 scale Tamiya armour releases, the lower hull and hull sides are supplied as a single, solid metal casting. This certainly lends weight to the overall model, but with the fixed suspension and the link and length tracks, the model would look exactly the same weight with or without the cast hull. I cannot really think of any great advantage to using metal for this assembly unless it has reduced tooling or production costs considerably.

Construction

Once again, construction was incredibly fast and almost completely trouble free. I say "almost" because the hatches on top of the superstructure did need a little fiddling to get them to fit properly.

The entire build was a pleasure, as it had been with the other 1/48 scale vehicles in Tamiya's newest series.

Conclusion

Without wanting to sound repetitive, Tamiya's 1/48 scale StuG III B is a beautiful kit that is easy to build yet matches the detail in many 1/35 scale kits.

The whole series so far reminds me of a Tamiya's simpler 1970's / 1980's releases combined with the higher quality moulding of the 21st century.

I look forward to more releases in the Panzer III / StuG III family.

Highly Recommended.