Rubicon plastic 28mm 1/56th Panzer III Ausf.M

[JamesValentine]

My first ever Rubicon kit. And not my last.
Note: Revell Contacta Professional doesn't work well.






Apologies for last one self rotating

[carlos marighela]

Nicely painted. They make lovely kits do Rubicon. It’s a pity they buggered up the engine deck on that one. Still it’s one of their early models and they are already at work replacing it.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Nice job.

Nicely painted. They make lovely kits do Rubicon. It’s a pity they buggered up the engine deck on that one. Still it’s one of their early models and they are already at work replacing it.

Yes that was unfortunate. It is fixable if you have not glued the deck to the chassis.
http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/rubicon-panzer-iii-m-continuing-saga.html

[Captain Blood]

Nice work.
I found my Revell Contacta worked fine in the first few Rubicon kits I built. Then for some reason, it wouldn’t stick at all on the last one I made. I think the recipe of their plastic must vary slightly from batch to batch. They say not, but what other explanation is there? They are lovely kits though.

[Marine0846]

Well painted.
Like it a lot.

[ErikB]

Great job on that!  Makes me want to make one, too.  I have a weak spot for P. III and P. IV models.

That glue could have gotten old.  Super glue ages and lose its stick.  Other glues probably do, as well.

[Papawhisky]

Use Dichloromethan for glueing Rubicons kits, it is more aggressive solvent than Revell Contacta but shares properties with for example Tamiya ultra thin plastic cement. And it works like a charm

[Westfalia Chris]

Use Dichloromethan for glueing Rubicons kits, it is more aggressive solvent than Revell Contacta but shares properties with for example Tamiya ultra thin plastic cement. And it works like a charm

Do note, though, that the sale of Dichloromethan to private consumers is illegal under EU law, for health and environmental reasons, and that its use in an industry environment is severely regulated. It is extremely hazardous and not really an option for hobby use if you weigh the pros and cons.

The less risky option would be superglue. I've done numerous Rubicon kits over the last few years and while I never had an issue with using plastic cement, I prefer to glue smaller parts or those with high-stress joints using CA.

On a lighter note, nice work on that tank, and that choice of ochre/brown works very well for a new Afrikakorps vehicle.

[Ballardian]

Nice job on the Pz.III
With regards to glue, Deluxe Materials Plastic Magic works very well with Rubicon's stuff & is easy to get hold of in the UK (Rubicon use ABS, so Contacta doesn't work very well with it - that said, for the first kit of theirs I made, a Panther G, I did use the Revell, though I remember it being a bit of a bugger & it could be that it's the paint & varnish that's holding it together).

[Westfalia Chris]

Rubicon use ABS

Now that would explain things nicely, but it makes me wonder why Contacta worked so well on my PzIII. Any knowledge if they changed their material (from PS to ABS)?

[JamesValentine]

I'll probably just pick up some of the Tamiya stuff.
I see reviewers and builders use it with no issues.
Plus I keep losing the metal nozzles on Revell.

My hope is to get a Russian SU-122 next or American M8 Scott to do either as a captured vehicle.

[Ballardian]

Any knowledge if they changed their material (from PS to ABS)?

as far as I know they've always used ABS, (though they did change its colour about a year ago - there's a thread on their forum discussing glue etc somewhere...)
 The Panther (which was back in Sept 2016) did require a fair bit of persuasion to stay together during assembly - I seem to remember using a lot of glue - but it's still together - so far...

I'll probably just pick up some of the Tamiya stuff.

- that reputedly also works & is probably easier to get hold of (in that if you're lucky enough to be able to find a model shop these days they'll probably stock it).

[Ultravanillasmurf]

There has been a few discussions on this:
http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=685.0
http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=707.0

The consensus appears to be if you can get it, use a proper ABS cement.

Tamiya extra thin works generally but your mileage may vary.

Revell Contacta is only useful if you enjoyed building the kit and want to build it again and again....

Saying that I used Humbrol on my early kits and only had issues with the Studebaker, after that I bought a new jar of Tamiya.

[Erestor90]

Nice work!

Do you ever build an Warlord Games Panzer III ?  I think this kit have a few more details then the one from Rubicon.

[JamesValentine]

Nice work!

Do you ever build an Warlord Games Panzer III ?  I think this kit have a few more details then the one from Rubicon.

I've done the warlord panzer IV.
Prefer the running wheels on rubicon but the tracks on warlord.
Hull wise the details probably the same.