dyeager535

My Feedback: (1)

Not really.

It's a thin sheet aluminum (stamping I assume) "tub", with plastic hull sides and front/rear plates attached. I'm sure under "normal" use the thickness of the AL is unimportant, however when I received mine the box had taken some light damage, and it had tweaked the side of the hull a bit. I bent it back straight with my fingers, it's that "soft".

The sides, bottom, front and back are all one piece of AL.

bubbajoexx

I previously posted pics of stugs with escape hatches there where 50 or so made using the older recovered panzer III tanks as the german army recycled almost all of the armour recovered on the battle field



Even though the escape hatches are molded on it still looks cool. I noticed they also have a set of corrected access hatches for the front drive brakes/transmission in metal. A much needed detail fix for the J-M Panzer III. Some Stugs were based on the Panzer III M hull with and without the escape hatches on the sides so a Stug could have them just not to common.
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YHR

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Yes, so having the hatch on the side with a stug is not the end of the world

dayjavuu78

I received the same email from Mato regarding the all newmetal hull and the new metal parts available. If you go to the website from the email it shows they now offer a multitude of new metal parts for the Pz III / StuG.

I contacted Mato directly regarding these parts and they advised that they can be purchased from Matomart, however the new hull, etc are not found on the website.

Anyone know a source for at least the new hull? I'm ready to purchase the Asiatam but would much rather have the all metal Mato.

-M

YHR

Mato will be your best bet. They may not have them in just yet though.

MAUS45

I didn't think to ask, but did they fix the location of the return roller supports? They should be a little higher on the hull sides and not in a straight line in relation to each other. The rear two return rollers should be higher then the one closest to the drive sprocket like this...

See gigantohawk's rebuild. That is where I got the photo to compare how the return rollers should be moved.

MAUS45

Hi Ausf, Got any more photos on your progress with your Stug?

ausf

I've got progress, just no photos yet.

The upper has the brass Schurzen frame and waffle zim, it's primed for now and I did raise the rear 4 rollers. Even though they are behind the schurzen, now that I was aware of it (thanks), my eye was drawn to it too much to let it go. It was an easy enough alteration.

I ran it at the NEAD battleday yesterday, but my IR emitted was on the blink (I was installing it about 10 minutes before I left). I just ordered a tensioner for the tracks, I discovered it is very much needed since this was the first time it was off the bench. The right side of the HL is slightly shorter than the left, requiring an extra link to even them out. I already added 1 link per side to the stock tracks for realistic sag, so the 2nd extra link made it too loose. It drives straight, but on some heavy grass patches it skipped the idler twice.

Benedini TBS is in and works great. I'll need an amp for it. While it sounds pretty loud on the bench, once out in the wild with all the Tamiyas cranked up, it was easily drowned out. I'm working out the smoker and finalizing all the components before I go any further with the upper hull so I know what I need to cover in terms of screws and connectors. With mounting the speaker and switches, I've already drilled through a bunch of zim work.

I'll try to grab some photos today.

MAUS45

Look forward to seeing it. I am in the process of reworking a Stug as well. I have reworked the return rollers and added the track tensioner's as well. I have had so little time to work on it because of my real job. Hope to work on it some more soon!!!

Harvey S

Great topic and such a good choice for lavishing time and effort on, the Stug. Cannot wait to see your waffle Zim and brassrail. Pictures! We want pictures!

Panther G

Great now i can actually start working on my PzIII. I am definately going to look further into this hull.

thecommander

Your Stug did well at the NEAD battleday in Waldwick. NJ this past Sunday. The Zim was cool and I really liked your Schurzen. The Stug tracks did well even without tensioners. I will remind you that it is next to impossible to get a nice looking authentic sag in the tracks and maintain proper tension in IR tank battle. The adjustability of tensioners will allow you both. Sag for realistic appearance in photos and on display and then tighten them up for a battlefield run. We had a great time with you and the boys and look forward to your coming again soon.

philipat

I have the Asiatam hull and have been using it in my PzIII build.  I like it.

One cheap upgrade you could do would be to add bearings to the drive shafts.  Get some roller blade bearings (some have gotten them from Wal-Mart) and put them inside the transmission covers.  You can take those off and secure them inside the transmission covers using milliput.  It waterproofs that point and adds support to the drive shafts, which should help to keep them running true.

Oh, the Asiatam hull does not have the side escape hatches on it...if that is still a concern.