Price around £10.50 GBP (Jul 2013)
Review by Geoff Coughlin
Our thanks to Revell for supplying our review sample. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit www.revell.eu or email ukbranch@revell.de
Something to get you in the mood!
Brief intro to the type
Originally designed to serve as infantry support vehicles, Sturmgeschütz IIIs became some of the most potent anti-armour weapons of World War II. Their combination of low hull profile, high-velocity gun and decent armour made them the perfect ambush vehicles. Germany could also build these vehicles quickly and cheaply, so they became the vehicle of choice for replacing losses. This kit features many fine details like segmented tracks, attachment points for armour skirts, engine covers and decals for two versions: Sturmabteilung 2, III Abteilung and Sturmartillerie Brigade 191.
Initial assessment
You’ll find many reviews of these fine Revell kits all to 1:72 scale here in your SMN and all are worth a look if armour is your thing. I’m unclear if this is a new kit, I can’t find any clues on the beige sprue – it matters not, this is an impressive little kit!
Moulding quality is to a high standard with very fine levels of detail across the board. The attached images should speak for themselves and you can decide what you think, especially as armour is probably your area. So I offer a basic insight into this Revell kit that’s widely available and this will be good news to all of you that are interested in armour modelling in this scale.
The package
Three sprues moulded in beige plastic form the basis of the model as well as a clear sprue for these small parts. A set of instructions, and small decal sheet make up the package.
Sprue trees
You can see that the hull top is very clean and crisp, as is just about everything else. The detail is cleanly and accurately moulded onto the surface and will look excellent when spray painted and given a subtle wash and maybe filters (see your Techniques Bank for how to apply these weathering techniques) in keeping with the small scale. The moulded detail throughout is good and although I can’t give an opinion on accuracy, what you get certainly looks consistent with some of the images I have seen on You Tube and elsewhere.
The tools supplied are moulded separately from the chassis and this should please everyone and definition is sharp and crisp in this scale and this will aid accurate painting.
Other highlights include
The detail on the hull top, wheels and suspension gear are highlights. There are some small sink marks in some parts like the lower hull sides but these are unlikely to show when your model is painted. The small details look fine for the scale and I can just see that they will look good after a wash and dry-brush.
It’s nice to see a one-piece barrel.
There’s no flash or excess plastic on any of the parts, so this will help build time greatly.
Decals
There’s a small sheet with the respective number plates and unit badges for the options contained in the kit. I notice that the quality looks good overall.
Versions are:
- Sturmabteilung 42, III Abteilung, Panzer Regiment HG, Italien, (Rimini) 1944
- Sturmartillerie Brigade 191, 1 Batterie, Ostfront, Mai 1944
Instructions
These follow the usual Revell format with Revel colour references, parts and sprue layout diagrams followed by a 21-Stage build and finishing sequence. The sequence looks to be logical to me but of course you will want to leave off all the small, delicate parts like the aerial until near the end of the build to avoid damage.
To sum up
Well, I really like this little kit, it is well detailed and when you open the box the parts say ‘build me!’
Recommended
SMN Quick summary SMN Star Rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | **** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | **** |