introduction

The recently released brand new StuG.III Ausf.G from Dragon was by any standards an excellent kit. It included such things as Magic Track individual links, photo etched engine grills, working torsion bar suspension, and incredible levels of detail. As with any injection moulded kit however, there are things that could be improved upon by using more expensive materials such as photo etched brass! Enter this second update set from Cyber Hobby, which is the second of two sets for this kit.

the set

Supplied in the now usual Cyber Hobby blister pack is a large photo etch fret, three grey styrene sprues, a small separate part, a metal barrel, and two turned brass shells.

Firstly, the plastic! Two of the three sprues included are the same, and are sprue 'WB' from the second generation figure sets. On each of these are two MP40's a Gewehr 41 and a Sturmgewehr 44, but each of these has separate bolts and magazines, coming as they do from the second generation figure sets. It's a nice inclusion, but you'd be hard pressed to use all of these, or even one of the frets on the StuG.III model? On the other plastic sprue are 6 ammunition pouches for the MP40's, again from the second generation figure sets, and so two of these are supplied with their flaps open.

The small styrene part mentioned is the spent shell case for the main gun, which is beautifully moulded, and as the kit does feature a very nice interior to the fighting compartment it will add a certain something. The photo etched fret includes MP40 brackets for the inside of the fighting compartment of course, and also a rather nice bulkhead to dress up the interior, to which a photo etched rack is fixed to hold charges. Also supplied is an ammunition rack, where you can place the two supplied shells. This rack is a complicated little assembly and will require some skill to build properly. It includes the casing itself along with the brackets that hold each line of shells, and there's also a couple of gasmask cylinder brackets thrown in for good measure!

conclusion

A very nice set from Cyber Hobby, but you have to wonder why the spent shell bag wasn't included in the original kit? I can understand all the photo etch not being supplied in order to keep costs down to a reasonable level, but one plastic part? Hey ho, still recommended if you're going to leave your StuG.III opened up so that you can see those lovely ammunition racks!