I know the early Stug IIIs ... Ausf A,B,C,D .... were built off Panzer III Ausf F, G, H hulls. All of the Panzers had the emergency hatches in the hull sides. The Stugs do not appear to have them. Error by Dragon? Not cut in the firsy place? Covered over on the production line?

Something like 8 of the Ausf. A were built on Pz.III hulls with the side hatches and armoured air vents on the glacis. All others were built on dedicated stug hulls.

I’ve had a look at real photos of early stugs and I can’t see any escape hatches, so that would suggest that they weren’t present.

I would speculate that as the crew in the Stug would be sitting lower down, their seating positions would block the area where the Panzer III hatch would be.

Cheers,

Nigel

Hi,

As per Osprey booklet on these early stugs:
A through E were built on panzer III ausf F hulls with the exception of the last 6 A's that were built on panzer ausf. G hulls with the side escape hatches.

Cheers,
Pascal