====== Miniart 1/72 Sturmgeschuzte III Ausf.G assault gun ======

<WRAP box half round>
  * Manufacturer: Miniart
  * Part number: 72106
  * Year of production: 2024
  * Scale: 1/72
  * Series: [[:blog:models:military:index|Military series]]
  * Kit type: Scale model of WWII armoured vehicle
  * Vehicle: German assault gun
  * Build date: Started July 2025 (//Currently on pause after finding mis-cast parts//)
  * Price: £19.79 from [[https://www.emodels.co.uk|eModels]], August 2024 (first kit)
  * Price: £14.99 from Ebay.co.uk, July 2025 (second kit)
</WRAP>

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This kit was bought in August 2024 to be displayed as part of my [[blog:models:french_armour_display|WW2 French countryside ambush]] display. The first kit unfortunately had the hull sides / axles mis-cast, and I contacted the seller (eModels) to enquire about a replacement.

A second kit was bought in July 2025 while the first was being resolved.

===== Box Contents =====

=== Box ===

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173815.jpg?500|}}

=== Instructions ===

Instruction manual cover:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173838.jpg?300|}}

Five different colour schemes:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173853.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173908.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173920.jpg?500|}}

Paint guide and sample instruction page:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173936.jpg?500|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825173949.jpg?500|}}

=== Parts ===

Parts sprues:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174101.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174122.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174146.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174157.jpg?300|}} 

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174209.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174220.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174227.jpg?300|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174239.jpg?300|}}

=== Decals ===

Photoetch parts:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174316.jpg?300|}}

Small waterslide decal sheet:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20240825174347.jpg?300|}}

===== In Progress Images (kit #1) =====

**[Started 26/07/2025]** - I started to cut out the parts for this kit in July 2025, only to find with the very first step I was stuck...

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20250725165805.jpg?600|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20250725170828.jpg?600|}}

If that isn't entirely obvious, almost all of the axles have not been cast onto the parts - I'm missing 5 on one side and 2 on the other. And no, they haven't been cut off or been snapped while in the box - it's clear under a magnifying lens that the axles have not been cast correctly as each one has a little raised 'bump' where the axle should be; no cracks or cuts are evident.

Email sent to <support@miniart-models.com>, as well as https://www.emodels.co.uk to ask if replacements are available. For now, this goes back in the box.

===== In Progress Images (kit #2) =====

Whilst I left eModels to sort out the original kit, I bought another identical, new box. Look what I found when it turned up:

{{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20250731123344.jpg?500|}} {{:blog:models:stug_iii_g:img20250731123541.jpg?500|}}

Both sides with one axle broken off and rolling around the (sealed) bag. I suspect that the pins on the earlier kit possibly broke off in the same way due to a manufacturing flaw - they weren't rattling around in the bag of that one.
===== Completed Images =====

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[[:blog:models:military:index|Back to Military series index]]