Stug III G/StuH 42

by Wojtek Duda - mcwojtekk(at)aol.com

Manufacturer:ESCI Kit #8005, Aurora/ESCI Kit #6213, Revell Kit #H2304, Esci/Ertl Kit #8328

The lower hull is the same as the ESCI Pzkw. III, that means only the outer wheels are detailed (but they are superb), the sprocket is inaccurate and the return rollers have no grove for the track-teeth. The suspension parts are a bit soft and there are some ejector pin marks on the hull sides. But if you add skirts, most of this will be no longer visible.

The upper hull is quite nice - unfortunately some of the tools are molded on, and detail is a bit soft. Especially the smoke grenade launchers are very crude. Also, there are ejector pin marks on the barrels (!), the bolted on armour on the glacis where the drivers visor is and on the upper hull back. The barrel opening in the mantlet is off-center, and will have to be filled and redrilled. The skirts and their mounts are overthick, but are still quite nice - they can be sanded down to more scale appearance. Also, they can be easily scratchbuilt, I think.

The tracks from the newer releases are hard-plastic link-and-length, and are very good - the detail on the inner side is missing, and the teeth are symbolic, but on the vehicle they look great.

Although this preview is very critical, I consider the ESCI Stug a good kit. It gives you the possibility to build the Stug III G (early version with bolted mantlet) or the Stuh 42 (with 10,5 cm howitzer as support artillery), and with a bit of work it can be built into a very appealing model. I will likely replace one of my lower hulls with one from the Revell Pz. III, as I want to build one of my Stugs without side-skirts.