Having had the Big C hanging over my head for a while and now finally being told I am clear I decided that I would build something, I chose something that never existed in the form of Trumpeter’s E-100 Stug. I opted for this due to it allowing me to freely build the model without the fear of being told I had made a big mistake. So it is Wehrmacht 46 as an opener for me and here is the box artwork.


This model is supplied with vinyl tracks by Trumpeter, but they also make an after market set of workable plastic tracks and I opted for these due to the slight improvement they provide in detail and the better hang they provide when added to the model.







The underside of this model has some detail present but its anyone’s guess as to if this accurately represents the detail on the underside of the original E-100 hull that was captured by the British at the end of World War 2 and unfortunately scrapped after checks on it had been done.


The suspension appears to be a mix of twin springs and torsion bar suspension. I have no issues with this as the weight of the E-100 in any form would test any suspension, but I do have an issue with the torsion bar element as they are not offset and so would restrict the torsion bars to half lengths.


The width of the tanks side panels are too thin and so to remedy this Trumpeter has provided panels that are attached to the side elements of the vehicle, these will need some filling and sanding to get the look right. These additions to give the impression of a much thicker sides on the tank.


Trumpeter has provided photo etched intake covers for the engine deck, but they have not covered the underside and so I added some sheet styrene to the underside of openings. On the upper side I painted these a very dark blue as black tends to be overly dark.

Nice start Darren.

Big SOB, and what a waste could of built 2 or 3 Panzer IV's instead.
And be like like those Russians knocking out T-34's what at 60 a month.

Cheers

Jeff

Darren-- looking good! I LOVE vinyl tracks...saves hours of labor
Thanks
DJ

Congrats on the all clear Darren! A fitting build, a monster.

Like you said you can do what you want. That's why I build them. Someone can look at 8 Panthers in my collection with 8 different paint jobs and be wow those are cool. Can look at 8 different Sherman's with the same paint and be ehh!. For me it's more fun and relaxing the way a hobby should be.

Welcome back to glue sniffing... ehhh modelling. Good news too about the big C.

The plastic tracks from Trumpeter are a huge improvement over the kit ones. You could have added one more link pre side to add more sag to the upper run.

You could have done without blanking the engine grilles since the photoetch parts leave almost nothing to be noticed through the grilles.

Enjoy the beast, it is a very relaxing build.

I have built 1 (E-25 Ausf B) and am working on 1 (E-10 Ausf B) Paper Panzers. They are fun due to artistic freedom .... within reason. Here's the Killer Cokroach. After figuring it should fit ... I up graded the main gun the the KwK-43 , 88mm. Colors are late war ones. Look forward to seeing yours finished. By the by, what gun is in that beast?

Thank you all for the commits on this effort of mine.

Nikos: I have not as yet locked down the length of the tracks and so I can add or remove links as needed. I do feel the intakes need this as an in case and also if light enters the model anywhere it will be very clear I believe.

Tim: I do not know what gun this is supposed to be, but I believe it is a 170mm gun with no muzzle brake. Thank you for the images of the E25; I hope you don't mind but I made them full size in the post.

No problem, Darren. I'm easy to get along with. Ex wife might argue the point, but ..... 170mm! Holy S&*#! That is one hell of a door knocker!! I'da thunk they'd have used a shorter barrel. Don't need high velocity for bunker busting.

If I am honest I would consider this more of a Jagd E-100 than a Stug. For me a Stug is low and easy to ambush with, this thing you would see and hear in the next county.

It is time for the next instalment

I took a look at the barrel of this vehicle and with being split in two halves I was a little disappointed, but this was easily address via a coat of Mr Surfacer that was then sanded back with the flexible file holder; a tool released by Master Tools. The barrel mantlet was smooth and I wanted to give it a light cast texture and so I stippled the surface again with Mr Surfacer.

Looks like a big ol' thing, and fun too. And again, congrats on the clean bill of health, always good news.

Just a heads up, don't glue all the track hangers in their default locations, the spacing is wrong. I had to slice some of mine off and reattach them. Overall the spacing for each pair needs to be about 1-2mm shorter.

If I recall, the instructions also leave out the two rounded vent covers on the engine access hatch, as well as a handle for the cupola hatch, all of which can be found on the sprues.

Enjoy the build; this thing is a beast!

Thank you for the input guys and the best wishes. I will take your comments on board.

It's a real pity that they smelted the E-100. I mean that monstrosity was a real piece of history. Pounds of Portsmouth took possession of it (everything minus turret). I suppose they had no idea of its potential value when they destroyed it.

I will be following this one closely as I 'm planning to get me either this kit or Amusing Hobby's Jagdpanzer E-100. I've already built AH's E-100 so I'm not very keen to build their JgPz. Didn't like those little springs on suspension or the tracks. Trumpeter is cheaper and looks like it is also easier to build.

The rubber band tracks are quite nice for what they are, but the workable tracks from Trumpeter are nicer. I have gone a little loopy and also invested in the Trumpeter Jagdpanzer E-100 plus the Amusing Hobby 1/35 Flakpanzer E-100 8.8cm Flakzwilling, but that is a much more involved kit.