The NCO has Muster 44 Trousers so the Kharkov parka is incorrect anyway.

4. Gun sights should be turned, thats true, but the stuff on the deck is ok, see for example pictures here :

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/Sturmgeschutz-III.php

Hello,James!
My opinion is as follows:
1. The machine is produced since august 1944, so Ukraine 1943 should be dropped. Rather, the second option. I personally would have changed the L / 48 cannon and would have repainted it in a variant used in eastern Prussia in late autumn 1944.
2. Rust transform it into adhering mud. Can by paint, can through pigments, oil paints ... The options are depending on how you picture it.

I would just leave it as it is
Life is too short to get hung up on getting everything perfect on something that has already been finished.
Start another project.

The gun could be traversed 10 degrees left and right (20 degrees total arc). Not sure about the sight but I think that the sight is angled way too much. Since the figures and the gun seem to be focused in the same direction it would look strange if the gun was aligned with the sight (which it can not be due to the limited traverse). The other option is to align the sight with the gun (and elevate the gun to horizontal or above).
Having it depressed like that could be realistic if the tank was on a reverse slope so that the gun is horizontal, aimed at a target, while the tank itself is in an uphill position.

Alternatively: Don't let a lot of self proclaimed experts get too close

I have lifted the barrel above the horizon, now the sight.

See the photo below, does the position of the rail mean the gun is supposed to be positioned as approx. 5 degree to the right?

Oh and never get hung up on a certain piece of uniform "not " being at a certain place. For every guy photographed there are hundreds who weren't. And there's always that replacement from who knows where with the old ball uniform. There were guys wearing captured US coats. If you got it wear it. I've seen some equipment issues for divisions in Normandy and the polyglot of gear issued was mind boggling.

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Oh and never get hung up on a certain piece of uniform "not " being at a certain place. For every guy photographed there are hundreds who weren't. And there's always that replacement from who knows where with the old ball uniform. There were guys wearing captured US coats. If you got it wear it. I've seen some equipment issues for divisions in Normandy and the polyglot of gear issued was mind boggling.

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Im not sure that this is the way that our hobby should go. Take for example a dio called Luftwaffe 1945 with a Me-109E in it. Well there were some left overs for sure, but being accurate is what I as a modeler try to achieve. And a winter 1942/43 Parka in 1944/45 in most parts just isnt accurate. Simple NCOs didnt have the luxury of preserving these items during 2 war summer seasons. And if we say everything goes - then what is the point of making research ? For example I saw a picture of discarded M1891 or M1895 Pickelhaube amongst discarded Wehrmacht helmets in Berlin 45, so somebody was using it there and then. So should we portrait german soldiers with Pickelhaubes during WW2 ?

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I have lifted the barrel above the horizon, now the sight.

See the photo below, does the position of the rail mean the gun is supposed to be positioned as approx. 5 degree to the right?

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Absolutely not! The gun sight only used a fraction of that half moon shaped thing you circled. The major part of that rail was to fit in the cover plates surrounding the sight which covered the opening for the fun sight. Otherwise the gunner would have had to move through the entire fighting compartment, including climbing over the gun breech, when using extreme traverse.
The sight has the exact same traverse as the gun, as the two were coupled together. You should simply slide the gun sight construction in its rails until its optical piece points in the same direction as the gun...
I hope that helps!

Edit: typos

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Oh and never get hung up on a certain piece of uniform "not " being at a certain place. For every guy photographed there are hundreds who weren't. And there's always that replacement from who knows where with the old ball uniform. There were guys wearing captured US coats. If you got it wear it. I've seen some equipment issues for divisions in Normandy and the polyglot of gear issued was mind boggling.

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Im not sure that this is the way that our hobby should go. Take for example a dio called Luftwaffe 1945 with a Me-109E in it. Well there were some left overs for sure, but being accurate is what I as a modeler try to achieve. And a winter 1942/43 Parka in 1944/45 in most parts just isnt accurate. Simple NCOs didnt have the luxury of preserving these items during 2 war summer seasons. And if we say everything goes - then what is the point of making research ? For example I saw a picture of discarded M1891 or M1895 Pickelhaube amongst discarded Wehrmacht helmets in Berlin 45, so somebody was using it there and then. So should we portrait german soldiers with Pickelhaubes during WW2 ?

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The NCO has Muster 44 Trousers so the Kharkov parka is incorrect anyway.

4. Gun sights should be turned, thats true, but the stuff on the deck is ok, see for example pictures here :

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/Sturmgeschutz-III.php

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The Pzkpfw IV had intakes on the engine deck that shouldn't be covered. The Pzkpfw III had the intakes on the sides of the engine deck.

The big thing for me is what looks like broken elevation. Not a good idea to have a tube drooping like that if you want to use it. Could get fouled way to easy especially in mud because mud splatters. Ypu keep the tube clear and clean. That means elevated with a cover.

First I have to say that this is a very fine work and the mentioned issues are just very small and easily adjustable.

1. It did not snow all around Ardennes on December 16th 1944. There were parts of the battlefield without snow.

2. The rust can be changed to light mud easily

3. The Kharkov parka can be repainted into the Telo Mimetico Italian camo parka used in VERY LIMITED numbers by W-SS.

https://fjm44.com/product/waffen-ss-camouflage-parka-in-telo-camouflage-material/

The NCO has Muster 44 Trousers so the Kharkov parka is incorrect anyway.

4. Gun sights should be turned, thats true, but the stuff on the deck is ok, see for example pictures here :

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/Sturmgeschutz-III.php

No expert here but a similar question was asked about Kharkov parkas in the BOB on an Italian modeling site and this was one of the answers .