Panzerbefehlswagen III 266, 267 & 268 Ausf. K

The Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K from Grobdeutschland Div. in early 1943. 

It was interesting to find escape hatches on the lower hull of this vehicle.

Most of Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K’s were modified from Pz. III Ausf. M in late 1942, while the command vehicles from Grobdeutschland Div. seemed to have lower hulls of Pz. III Ausf. J; or maybe this lower hull comprised some parts which recycled from Pz. III J and M. 

The commander of Grobdeutschland Div., Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz stood inside the cupola.

Unlike some other versions of Pz. III using two pieces cupola, the Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K employed a single piece cupola as late production Pz. IV G, thus the thickness of its cupola increase to 80-90mm. 

One of the Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K’s were painted in winter camouflage. Note some ice-clips were installed on the tracks and a number of track pins were inserted to the gap of front spaced armor. 

The Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K with tactical NO. ‘02’. We could see a triangle frame in front of the base of star antenna, however, we do not know its function.

An early production Pz. IV G was in the left front of these 2 command vehicles. 

All the 4 Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K’s from Grobdeutschland Div. could be seen in this photo, 2 of them were in RAL7021 and the rests were painted in winter camouflage.

A half track carriage and a Tiger tank were also in same picture. 

Unlike some other versions of Pz. III, the Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K chose to place the items/tools on fenders in a different way; for example, the cleaning robs for L/60 barrel could be found. 

The crewmen were all dressed in summer uniforms. 

A dust cover on the turret. 

One of the special features for Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K was the vision port on the manlet of turret. 

A Pz. III J with spaced armor and 2 Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K stayed together. 

The Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K with Schürzen. The vehicle was also painted in winter camouflage. 

One of Pz. Bflswg. III Ausf. K’s captured by Russian during early 1945 in East Prussia. This vehicle was finally disposed of by Russian red army. 

The boxart for Dragon 9018, the classic red box series in 90s last century. 

The boxart for Dragon smart kit 6853. 

I use a lot of spare components from Dragon Smart Kits to do the upgrade.  

A lot of painting works are waiting for me. 

My collection for Pz. III’s are increasing. 

Risk analysis + Decision making = Control + Command