Panzer III

I have been making some further efforts at reducing my lead pile, or in this case plastic pile. The victim was a Rubicon 28mm kit of the German Panzer III. I say victim, as kits are not my favourite projects, I am at best all thumbs.

The Panzer III was intended as the primary battle tank of the German forces. However, when it initially met the Russian KV-1 and T-34 tanks it proved to be inferior in both armour and gun power. To meet the growing need to counter these tanks, the Panzer III was up-gunned with a longer, more powerful 50-millimetre (1.97 in) gun and received more armour but still was at disadvantage compared with the Soviet tank designs.

Despite my reservations about kits, this was very straightforward, with all the essential bits like tracks being one casting. Very clear instructions and all parts numbered - no need to try and guess how it goes together from a photo! A vast improvement on the Warlord/Italeri model that was nothing short of a nightmare and simply not robust enough for a tabletop model. Rubicon also give you a generous decal sheet.

I purchased mine from Scott's Models in Glasgow. Support your local model shop, or they are unlikely to be around when you need that pot of paint.