History Brief

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG.III) Germany’s most widely produced AFV of WWII, with 10,619 eventually manufactured. Based on the chassis of the Panzer III, it was cheaper and faster to build since it did not have a rotating turret.

The Ausf.E, was armed with the short-barreled, low velocity 75mm StuK37 L/24 gun as preceding marks, and 284 vehicles were produced from September 1941 through to March 1942. This variant’s major improvement over its predecessor was a new armored pannier on the right side of the superstructure to accommodate radio equipment. Increased space inside allowed an extra six 75mm rounds for a total of 50 to be carried. An MG34 was stowed internally, and smaller hinges for the inspection hatches were another distinguishing feature of the Ausf.E.

This upgrade provides a 1//32 scale improved Oxygen (O2) tanks for the HK B-17. It comes in two different options, with four each (eight total) O2 Tanks. Four tanks have mounts and brackets, and four are just O2 tanks with no brackets or mounts.

When held next to the kit O2 tanks, the size difference is very noticeable. The HK tanks are all too small; the Detail2Resin tanks are correct. Remove the tanks from their pour stubs, then primer with gray or white , (I used Tamiya White) and then paint gloss yellow(again, I used Tamiya Camel Yellow) . Weather a bit, then paint the mount straps silver or steel; the mount itself was usually interior green.

As this is a basic seat with all parts molded in place, the overall work goes very quickly, with no parts or additions required. The detail really stands out once all the drybrush work has been accomplished. Much easier than making your own mount and straps out of foil In my opinion!

Dive-bombing. Torpedo-bombing. Night fighting. The Junkers Ju 88 could do it all - and then some. Over the hot, dusty battlefields of North Africa, the A-5 tropical relied on extensive air filters to keep out sand and dirt. Rommel's Afrikakorps relied on the Ju 88 for support strikes against Allied armor and positions. The broad-winged Ju 88 could carry 3-4,000 lbs. of bombs to targets at moderate range. Used effectively as part of Rommel's combined arms strategy, the Ju 88 helped Germany reverse Italian losses in North Africa and nearly carry the continent.

Germany’s Jagdtiger was the behemoth of the Second World War and was the largest AFV to ever reach series production. The production version of this tank destroyer sported the 12.8cm PaK 44 L/55. According to Dragon’s website and their description of this model, Krupp engineers proposed to make this tank destroyer more lethal by fitting an even longer 12.8cm PaK 80 L/66. This design was never fielded, however. In essence, this model is a “paper panzer” version of the formidable Jagdtiger…and with this monster of a gun, even more fictionally formidable.

Dragon’s Jagdtiger has, of course, been around for a number of years in several forms. This latest is the basic Henschel version with the upgraded, prototype L66 gun. In addition to the gun Dragon has included more photoetch goodies, clear periscope parts, metal tow cables, and Magic Track individual track links.

Revell put together a pretty wild kit with this Beretta. It’s almost straight out of the TV show “Street Outlaws”.

Engine

We have a supercharged small block with nitrous. Real life would be putting out massive amounts of horsepower. Instructions were a little fuzzy on the distributor angle. Straight up won’t allow the body to sit correctly, so it must be angled. Provides a pretty nice Lenco transmission.

Interior

There’s not too much to the interior. Very nice bucket seats are provided, a full roll cage, ton of gauges, fire extinguishers, nitrous bottle, and shifters.

Body

Body is a simple affair and has the Chevy bowtie molded in on the engine bay. After shooting the body with HOK black followed by a quick clear coat, I wasn’t able to get the decals to set as well as I thought they should. I even used decal solvents to try get them to lay down.