Post-war aditions to Ps 531-33?

[Jan Peters]

Hello, my name is Jan Peters, I live in Arnhem, the Netherlands. After seeing the Finnish film 'Tali Ihantala 1944' I got very keen to build a Finnish Sturmgeschutz III. Now there is a groupbuild on the forum of the dutch armour association Twenot, and I decided to take this plan into action.
I am about to start modelling this sturmi:

I plan to use the zimmerited Stuh 42 (rebuild to stug III L/48 spec) kit from dragon, in combination with the Finnish Stug conversion from Atak model.
I 've got a few questions about this vehicle. First; the armoured cover over the drivers vision port. Some sources state this is a post-war adition, is that correct? Also, are there more post-war features visable on the pictures provided on your excellent website? Which Friulmodel tracks would be more suitable; ATL-05 or the later ATL-27 with chevrons? One final question: Is the green paint sheme correct, should it be green over dark yellow, or should I paint it in the 3 color sheme?
I would like to build the model as accurate as posible, to WW2 specifications.
Thanks in advance for your answers.
Jan

[AndreasLarka]

First; the armoured cover over the drivers vision port. Some sources state this is a post-war adition, is that correct?

Nope, it's a wartime addition.

Also, are there more post-war features visable on the pictures provided on your excellent website?

Ps.531-33 is in a very typical late-summer-1944 -configuration. No post-war stuff that I can see.

Which Friulmodel tracks would be more suitable; ATL-05 or the later ATL-27 with chevrons?

I haven't seen any wartime pics of -33, so I can't really say. We had both kinds.

One final question: Is the green paint sheme correct, should it be green over dark yellow, or should I paint it in the 3 color sheme?

It should be either in Dunkelgelb or (rather) in a thin overspray of dark green on top of the Dunkelgelb. Never the 3-colour scheme for these newer StuGs.

[Jan Peters]

Thanks very much for your answers Andreas. I now have all the information I need to start working on this one. I will show the final result here

As the pictures on the site work very inspiring I will make an early Sturmi as well, thanks for your great work, please keep it up!
Kind regards, Jan

[AndreasLarka]

Can you please post a link to the group-build in question, and also "in-progress" pictures of your work? Just to be sure that you get everything right (for example the return rollers etc.).

I am not saying this to appear as a besserwisser, but it really is easier to correct stuff during the building, instead of after the building of the model...

[Jan Peters]

Hi Andreas,
The groupbuild is about Sturmgeschutze in general: http://www.twenot-forums.nl/viewforum.php?f=11
Here is the link to my thread: http://www.twenot-forums.nl/viewtopic.php?t=18572
I'm the only one building a Finnish Sturmi. Any help is welcome, I like to get things right
Another few questions:
Does or did Ps 531-33 have a zimmerit covered engine deck? The base kit I'm using does, so I might have to change it for a Tamiya kit...
The Atak conversionset gives a late fighting compartment roof, as I can see from the pics on the site Ps 531-33 doesn't have Pilzen mounts, rundumfeuergerät or Nahverteidigungswaffe.... The rundumfeuer is plugged, but is the Nahverteidigungswaffe plugged from below, or was it mounted during the war?

So far I have most features right I think....
Late sprockets, without covers.
Steel returnrollers
Late tracks with chevrons
No rundumfeuergerät or Nahverteidigungswaffe(?)
Factory stowage rack on the rear.
No MG shield
Saukopf mantlet
Concrete re-inforcements at the front
Spare tracks on bow
Logs on the side
Bullet splashguard besides the mantlet(?)
The blue parts are in the Atak set.
If I missed anything, please let me know.
Any help is appreciated, and please feel free to join in on our forum, most people speak english so that shouldn't be a problem. (Just remember to use your full name when making an account, no nick names are allowed)
Kind regards, Jan Peters

[AndreasLarka]

Does or did Ps 531-33 have a zimmerit covered engine deck? The base kit I'm using does, so I might have to change it for a Tamiya kit...

I don't know. I haven't seen any wartime pics of this particluar vehicle. If I was you, I would use the Dragon kit and only change the Saukopf, the fender-supports and the rear interlocked armour.

The rundumfeuer is plugged, but is the Nahverteidigungswaffe plugged from below, or was it mounted during the war?

As far as I know no Finnish StuG had the Nahverteidigungswaffe. Alkett plugged from below and MIAG from the top.

So far I have most features right I think....

So do I think.

Any help is appreciated, and please feel free to join in on our forum, most people speak english so that shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, but even though Dutch is somewhat close to my own language - Swedish - I am having some problems with understanding what you guys are saying...

[Jan Peters]

Thanks Andreas,
Like I said, if you have any questions or remarks, you can always use English, as most of us do read and write English as well. I can't help you with Swedish though
I will use the DML kit, and will have a look at the fendersupports. The interlocks won't show I think, because of the zimmerit.
I will use the pics on your site as a guide, thanks again for this great source of information!
Because I have some leftover decals, and I want to do an early, camouflaged one as well, I'll probably will be bugging you in the near future again
Thanks for your help sofar, I'll keep you posted on the progress!
cheers, Jan

[Rainer]

Hello Jan!

My name is Rainer from Augsburg in Germany.
I see, we had the same idea - to build 531-33!
and I nearly used the same parts except the ground model.
- Dragon 6454 Stuh 42 with Zimmerit,
the Atak Stug III Finnish Conversion Kit and the Echelon decals
But: I don't know to place the shovel and the jack
by using the wooden armor on both sides of the upper hull
Have you any idea?
Do you know the Finnish StuG Conversion Kit from "Neograde"?

Regards
Rainer

[Jan Peters]

Hi Rainer,
I'm sorry for my late reply. To be honest I don't know where to put the shovel and jack either (Andreas?)
I've seen the neograde conversion, but I'm going for the Atak set. It will be changed in the near future, as it had some mistakes. Waldemar Okrzeja is very serious about the stuff he releases, and he has corrected the turret roof, and a full set of zimmerit will be added too. I switched to a Tamiya stug as a base model, as the set is intended for that kit.

[AndreasLarka]

To be honest I don't know where to put the shovel and jack either (Andreas?)

Just throw them on the back deck.

[Jan Peters]

Time to show some work I think
This is the build up model before paint:








And this is were I'm at right now













Hope you like it so far Jan