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Building DML’s SiG 33B

Upper Hull Construction

The kit utilizes the same casemate style structure as in the StuG III B kit with the same upper hull plate used here. The gun cradle is a complex assembly designed to allow the gun to elevate in its mount however a sneak peak ahead to the final step in construction reveals that the gun travel lock, part C18, can only be installed in the upright position, negating the feature of an elevated gun. Nevertheless, I left it position-able on the theory that it would allow for better access for painting later on. The kit gun is a 2-piece affair including the breech, which was glued together and allowed to dry before removing the barrel portion with sprue cutters in order to fit the JR replacement barrel using CA gel. The final assembly fit perfectly in the cradle without any problems. The added weight of the barrel did put more strain on the support arms and in hindsight it should’ve been fixed in position at this point but wasn’t, creating a slight inconvenience later on as a result. Test fits of the upper hull to the lower produced a nice tight dry fit without any gaps unlike other kits in the series where rubber bands have been required to get a good join.

Once the hull had been unified, the remaining features were added. First up were the side intake boxes, each of which needed to be sanded down slightly to get a good fit against the hull side before their grilles were installed with CA gel. Each of the side fenders were assembled and installed along with their various stowed items via the mount brackets and matching holes in the hull sides. At this stage the fenders droop slightly outward but get corrected once the casemate superstructure is fitted and used to bring the fenders up into their proper position. I discovered at this point that the right side cutout for the brake light was not molded in the right position, so rather than try to correct it and mangle the fender in the process it was simply filled in with putty and sanded down. It was also necessary at this point to fill in two large molded in rectangular holes on the rear deck with putty and sand them down since they are for a smoke candle rack that wasn’t present on this particular vehicle.

The upper hull construction finishes up with the installation of the MG34 brass barrel into the ball mount of the casemate along with the rear hatches and gun sight periscope guard, driver’s hood, and antenna mount before the whole casemate is secured to the hull. The fit of the casemate is generally good, with only a little finger pressure necessary to get the fenders to match up all around and assume the proper shape. Once in place, the elevation splinter shield is fitted to the front over the main gun housing and the travel lock installed. It was at this point that it became apparent that leaving the gun movable wasn’t going to work as intended and it was secured to the travel lock which in turn was glued down to the hull.

I installed a spare tool box on the front right fender based on reference photos of certain vehicles having this feature and also left the rear right spare wheel holder empty to add a bit of character. I also installed a cut-down Tiger I bracket from my spares bin to serve as the spare links holder on the front hull plate and then assembled the Model Kasten links, 93 links per side plus 11 for the spare run. The MKs come as individual links with separate hollow guide horns and two pins per track and while a lengthy process, well worth it in the end in my opinion for the result they provide vs. drilling out the horns on the kit indys.