Panzer III Ausf. E/F

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February 27, 2022
A group of early version Panzer III advanced to southern Greece along the railroad.
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February 27, 2022
Numbers of Pz. III’s travelled along the railroad. The very front one in picture was a Pz. III Ausf. G with 50mm L/42 barrel, while the rest two behind were Pz. III Ausf. E/F with 37mm L/46.5 barrel.

In April 1941, German troops advanced to Balkan and Greece. The British armies have destructed many bridges and motorways before they retreated, so most of German Pz. Divisions could only advance to frontlines via railroads.
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February 27, 2022
A close-up photo showed the Pz. III Ausf. E with tactical NO. 125 affiliated to 2 Pz. Div. in northern Greece. A white spade could be seen on side of turret and a white parallelogram was painted on the side vision port of driver.

The Pz. III type E and F are almost identical, sometimes it is very hard to distinguish them from reference photo. One of the differences are that Pz. III F has the radiators on lower front hull, while Pz. III E hasn’t; another difference is the old version periscope for Pz. III E was not employed by Pz. III F (however, we can still see some old version periscopes were installed on Pz. III F from reference).
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March 4, 2022
One of Panzer III Ausf. E's during the invasion of Greece in early 1941. Its tactical NO. was 435, but affiliation of this Pz. III E was unclearly; at least I did not find or figure out any divisional insignia painted on the tank.
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March 4, 2022
Eventually, I found this photo on Internet. It is the source of Dragon 9040's boxart.

This Panzer III Ausf. E was from 31 Rgt. of 5 Pz. Div.. It is very clearly to see its tactical NO., division insignia, and regiment emblem (Red Devil's head). The photo should be taken in Balkan campaign during 1941, because of the regiment emblem was first introduced and applied in early 1941. One point I was curious that all three crewmen still worn the uniforms of French campaign.
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February 27, 2022
The box art of Dragon 9040.

It shows a Pz. III E from 5 Pz. Div. in Greece. So far I have not find any photo of 5 Pz. Div. in Balkan or Greece.
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March 3, 2022
Start
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March 3, 2022
Presenting the lower hull.
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March 3, 2022
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March 3, 2022
The smoke candles were not molded in Dragon red box series.
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March 3, 2022
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March 3, 2022
Attaching the fenders and some upper structure.
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March 3, 2022
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March 3, 2022
Placing the turret onto superstructure.
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March 3, 2022
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March 3, 2022
It is the first time for me to brush and chip the German Grey.
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March 12, 2022
Almost finished.
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March 14, 2022
Modify some chips and place the tow cable.
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March 14, 2022
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March 14, 2022
Done ~~~
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October 1, 2023
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Comentários

17 27 February 2022, 06:43

Villiers de Vos
Very nice.

3 March 2022, 04:13

J D
Thx, Villiers.

3 March 2022, 05:10

Jv
Love the old pics an history
And also a very nice build

12 March 2022, 06:56

J D
Thanks for comment, Jv.

12 March 2022, 07:56

Gauge1TrainsDK
Nice build - did you encounter any fit issues or insensible assemblies? How about flash?

6 March 2023, 02:40

J D
Thanks for your feedback, Gauge1TrainsDK.

I did not find any fitting issue when I built up Dragon RedBox Series (i.e. 9040 & 9032), the assembly works were easy. However, one of the major drawbacks were the quality of plastic was really poor (the plastic was very thin and crispy due to the aging problem, in addition, they were not sharp enough), a lot of polishing & sanding works were required if you really want to build the model perfect.

I would suggest you to get a Dragon Smartkit 6631 if you want make the Pz. III Ausf. E. The Dragon 9040 is always the backup option unless you can find some aftermarket products for upgrade (PE parts and metal gun barrel).

6 March 2023, 08:48

Gauge1TrainsDK
Thanks - I appreciate the detailed response, which is what I also try to give if someone asks questions like that. Best regards!

7 March 2023, 01:31

J D
You are very welcome, Gauge1TrainsDK.

7 March 2023, 02:07

Album info

To increase my collections of Panzer III family.

Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. E

63 imagens

1:35

Concluído

1:35 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. L (Tamiya 35215)

Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. E

Wehrmacht Heer (German Army 1935-1945)
5 Pz.Div. 123
1941 World War 2»Balkan Campaign - Balkans
RAL7021 Dark grey

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