Just wanted to tell everyone hello first of all. I joined the site a few weeks ago and have been soaking up a lot of very useful information that I will be putting to very good use. Now about myself, I am 37 years old, live in the midwest state of Indiana, USA, two kids and a very loving wife that lets me do a lot of tinkering while she keeps everything together. I am kinda shy on line at first until I feel comfortable with the surroundings (and I must say this is a very comfortable site), and feel that I can "fit" in. I have dabbled in plastic models ever since I can remember. I never have had a lot of help learning the "tricks-of-the-trade" but I have often been told my older stuff looked pretty good. Well, like most older gents, I got married and started a family and have been out of the hobby for some years now. Even when I was 12 years old my interests has always been WWII military along with some aviation WWII to present era stuff. I think I owned or have seen every war film, documentary or mini series known to man. I am just fascinated with it all, especially WWII German armor. After viewing this site, it has really made me want to get serious and find out how good I can get at this hobby.

Now that I have babbled on about myself here is my first of many questions to come. I was wondering who has built the Tauch Panzer III from Dragon? If so, I am wondering what they thought of the kit? When I first opened it up I was overall impressed with the detail, but as I have gotten into building it I'm starting to get a little disappointed and wondering if it is the model itself, or I just happened to get a more challenging version, or it's just me! My problem is with the suspension. While I understand that this is an overly tricky area for most models, I have been working on "basic cleaning up of flashing and sanding" the track wheels for almost a week now, and I still have many hours to go until I get it to the point where I normally would be satisfied, not the serious stage that I am looking for. So what I guess I am asking is this the way this model is going to be until finished. This is the first model by Dragon I have ever tried to build so any help would be appreciated.

Oh and thanks if you stayed with this mini novel.

Ox

First off - welcome :-)

This is THE best site on the net as far as helpfull folks goes!

As far as your suspension issues - yes, I have built this kit, and yes there is a ton of cleanup involved. I think that with the exception of the newer Tamiya kits, you will find that you will spend a LOT of time fixing mold seams and such. I typically spend a good week getting the suspension of a Dragon kit to where I want it. You will find that round parts take a lot longer to clean up than flat ones do. (There are many round parts in the suspension) Once you get past that - your build time will seem far more productive.

I take it you havn't gotten to the tracks yet? Wait until you take a close look at the inner surfaces of these. Each on has an ejector pin mark that needs to either be filled with putty or sanded off. THAT is fun, let me tell you! Don't worry about it if these won't bother you however - just build to have fun and don't let it become tedious - that is the fastest way to lose interest.

Hope that helps - and if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask them!
Jeff

Seeing that the Tauch PZ III H is an old kit and is still awiating the retool that DML is doing to their kits. On the older kits from DML use there is a lot of clean as stated before. I did do alot of clean-up on mine but thats cause its hard to see if they are out of round. Same on the DML stugs. For the most part they are beautiful little kits and come out nice. HTH STUG

Thanks Jeff, I have built several other armor kits mainly the Tamiya and Acadamy and I have never been this frustrated with the amount of time I am spending on the just the wheels, some flashing is always expected but from what I have heard and read about DML I guess I was expecting a little more.

Ox - by the way love the wood work on your Stug III-A

Usually, I break up the tedious stuff by working on different parts of the vehicle as I work on the suspension bits a few at a time. Even then, I know I have been working on them too long when the urge to glue something, anything together becomes the overiding force of my life.
capnjock

Hi Ox.
My name is TankCarl,and I'm a plastiholic.I have built the Tauch panzer.It is a very nice kit.Doing a DML or Dragon kit after being away for a while can be daunting,but don't despair.I look at track work as a Zen moment in the construction of a kit.



Any questions? just post em...
Hope to ease you back in to this fine hobby.

I have a solution to all your suspension problems......I don't build kits with that many road wheels!
Seriously though, those Pz III's and IV's are always rough because they have Sooo many tiny little wheels. At least the wheels on a tiger are big! I've heard about those older Dragon kits being a bit trying, but their newer releases are very good.

Tanks for the advice....Nice looking Tauch hope I can get mine looking as nice. Yeah I have to keep the Zen approach when I get to the track links!! Grifter thats a thought to keep in mind on my next armor project , but you got to admit all the wheels do look impressive when it is done right.......

Hi....welcome to the site! It is surely the best and friendliest site on the web!
Enjoy yourself among friends.