ME
Hey, here I am near a Sturmegeschutz III G (this one is on Madrid)
Hello, my name is Vasco, I am from Portugal and I love german panzers (as you may notice !).
I was born in Lisbon, but I am living in a small village named "Loureiro", 60 km from Oporto.
I am a history teacher. I am married and am 33 years old.
My interest in german panzers started during my teens, when I began making 1:35 models of these AFV. Thatīs why this page is mostly aimed at modellers, with mostly pictures and less text. I particularly like these shots of assembly lines because is a theme not so often pictured and because it represents a major challenge for the modeller. Who dares to make a diorama of an assembly line ?!
I would be very pleased to reply to any e-mail and discuss any subject related with the hobby.
The making of a panzer was not performed at a unique site, several subcontractors, and major assembly lines, were involved in all the process. For instance, a Panther could be assembled at Daimler-Benz but itīs shellproof glass blocks were made by Sigla (=Sicherheitsglas GmbH).
Furthermore the factories where responsible for applying an antimagnetic paste called zimmerit. Some plants had a specific zimmerit pattern, the Sturmgeschutz III completed at MIAG and ALKETT differed from each other on this aspect. At the end the vehicles came out already finished, painted and tested. On the first years they left the assembly lines only with a base colour but at the end of the war a camouflage pattern was already sprayed at this stage.
This homepage will deal only with the main assembly lines, my primary goal is to display information and pictures that can be used by modellers and everyone interested on the subject. I will try to maintain things the most straightforward and focus on the simple display of pictures. Whenever possible I will add a link to others homepages who offer a more detailed information. You can access the pictures by clicking the tables bellow.
A special thanks is due to Mike Kendall (of AFV INTERIORS ) who supported me on this project, and help me building of the previous layout of this site.
March 2000