Background

Originally designed with breathing and wading apparatus to support the Wehrmacht’s amphibious invasion of Great Britain during Operation Sea Lion, the Panzer III Tauchpanzer never had the opportunity to wade ashore on the British Isles following the Luftwaffe’s defeat in the Battle of Britain. Despite the denial of the opportunity to tread on British soil, Tauchpanzer III’s saw duty on the Eastern Front against the Red Army.

The Kit

Based on earlier Dragon Panzer III releases, the introduction of the Tauchpanzer Ausf. H brings a somewhat obscure Panzer III variant to the modeler’s workbench. Molded in light gray styrene, the Tauchpanzer III kit is a mix of Panzer III, Panzer IV, and unique Tauchpanzer III sprues, with three frets of photoetch and two decal sheets.

America's first manned space program was best summed up by Deputy Administrator, Hugh L. Dryden in the foreword to the book, Project Mercury: A Chronology (NASA SP-4001) where he wrote “ Project Mercury is now history In its short span of four years, eight months, and one week as the Nation's first manned space flight program, Mercury earned a unique place in the annals of science and technology. The culmination of decades of investigation and application of aerodynamics, rocket propulsion, celestial mechanics, aerospace medicine, and electronics, Project Mercury took man beyond the atmosphere into space orbit and confirmed the potential for man's mobility in his universe. It remains for Projects Gemini and Apollo to demonstrate that potential.” There are many fine books on Project Mercury, you can use your computer's search function to find them or go to your local library.

A perfect addition to your diorama is this Aires Aerobonus US Army Load set. Aires Aerobonus provides you with two resin pieces, perfect for a load in the back of a 1/48 scale 2-1/2 ton truck or a 1/48 cargo aircraft. The first piece consists of 12 sacks strapped to a wooden skid with the second piece consisting of four crates strapped to a wooden skid. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely.

Aires Aerobonus has molded the parts in light grey resin with no discernable bubbles. There are no mold seams to sand off and the resin plug is easily removed from the bottom with a razor saw or Dremel.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. I painted the sacks and the crates with Vallejo acrylic paints.

Highly recommended.