Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. F8

Manufacturer:Michael-Gohres-Modellbau (MGM), Germany (Kit #80/13)

The above scan makes thiskit look a little worse than it is. Although it's not thegreatest kit I have seen, it will be a good start for aconversion. The kit consists of only the piece pictured above,which is meant to be used with the ESCI Stug III Ausf. G, butperhaps it can also be used with a Panzer III from either ESCI orRevell.

As seen in the scan, thereis a small amount of flash around the edges of the hull andfenders, but nothing that can't be easily removed. The newfighting compartment is very well done, and matches drawings ofthis vehicle very well. My main complaint is the fenders. Thefenders on the ESCI kit were poorly detailed, with molded-ontools, and these deficiencies have been inherited by thisconversion. There is an additional flaw on the fenders where theforward part of the Ausf. G fighting compartment was removed forthis conversion. There is no tread pattern on those portions ofthe fenders, which may not really matter, since it will be bestto remove the fenders anyway.

Although this is a prettygood kit as-is, my plan is to remove the fighting compartment,and use only that part on the Revell Panzer III (along with othermodifications). Alternatively, PART has released photoetchedPanzer III fenders, which would also work very well.