Advantages: First kit of this new subject to get to market;
very nicely done and appears easier to assemble than competing kit
Disadvantages: may be compromised by shared parts with later Pzkw. 38(t) kits
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all THNP series fans and German modelers
F I R S T L O O K
After years of rather underserved neglect, in the past year model companies have
turned to the Praga TNHP-S series tanks and their German derivatives with a vengeance.
Last year Tristar released two kits of the Pzkw. 38(T) Ausf E/F and Ausf. G, and this year
they are following it with a Marder III conversion. DML is also putting its hat into the
ring with a series of Pzkw. 38(t) kits, and this one, the Marder III, is their first
entry.
There has been a lot of speculation on the internet about this kit, and having
finally seen it, most of it turns out to be specious. Only one problem brought up by the
"boo birds" seems to be correct: the base Pzkw. 38(t) chassis had a
"kink" in the fenders about halfway along their length with the front section
angling up about 3 degrees from the rear section. The fenders on this kit are dead
straight, so it does not replicate that feature. However, many checks of photos with a
straight edge show most of the vehicles in service either are hard to tell if this feature
is present, or the fenders are so bend up along their edges that it is impossible to tell
if it is kinked or not. While the kit comes with styrene fenders, a set of cyber-hobby.com
etched brass ones now seems inevitable.
The kit is nicely done, but unlike past "Smart Kits" - designed so that
etched brass is either kept to a minimum or not required - this kit has a good amount of
brass with it and it must be used to construct the model. Some parts are obvious, such as
the various grilles and the "basket" at the rear of the deck extending out
from the fighting compartment (which is nicely pre-formed and packed separately.) Others
include the frame for the radio set and the ammunition rack mounts.
Generally the kit follows the same formula as the Sd.Kfz. 251/22, the Sd.Kfz.
234/4 and Marder II kits in that it is a base vehicle with additional parts and two sprues
from DML's towed Pak 40 kit.
The directions are typical DML and start out being obtuse. For example, it
shows the ammo cases being assembled and sealed with the rounds INSIDE the cases –
only a small wording of "open/close" and some two-way arrows indicate it can be
shown either way, with no drawing of what "open" is. The suspension is similar
to that of the Tristar kits with each bogie assembly consisting of nine parts. A
"doormat" type matting is provided for the floor of the fighting compartment.
The rear plate comes with optional covers (D29) over the track tensioning mounts (D28) but
in this case, unlike Tristar's first kits, it shows them as either/or rather than both at
the same time.
The driveline and interior are mostly styrene parts, such as the
transmission/clutch assembly, steering controls, driveshaft and shield. DML's machine gun
is similar to the Tristar one, but is not moveable once installed. It consists of a single
piece element with a "slide molded" hollow flash hider. It comes with a mesh
grille (MA-20) with working cover (MA-1, MA-12) over the rear air exhaust grille.
The ammo racks are all molded as groups of tubes and dummy half rounds are
provided to simulate a loaded tube. There is one small radio and it mounts on the right
side of the casemate. Each periscope in the fighting compartment is all stryene (clear
prism component, grey mounts) and may be positioned as folded or erected.
Four different finishing options are provided along with two Cartograf decal
sheets (a targeted one for the vehicle, and a generic one for the 7.5 cm ammo shipping
containers.) The vehicles are for Pz.Jg.Abt. 171, 17th Infantry Division, Italy 1943 (three
tone camo); 2nd Company Pz.Jg.Abt. 39, 21st Panzer Division, Tunisia 1943 (two color camo); 23rd
Panzer Division, Eastern Front 1944 (Panzerbraun); and unidentified unit, Italy 1944 (three
color camo.)
Assistance on this kit is credited to Tom Cockle and Gary Edmundson.
Overall, this is a nice kit and a vast improvement over the 30+ year old Italeri
one. It appears to be well laid out and with the (relatively) minimal amount of brass easy
to assemble.
Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell
Sprue Layout:
A 66 Pzkw. 38(t) wheels and suspension
B 70 Pzkw. 38(t) Ausf. G fenders and hull components
B 63 Pak 40 upper carriage and barrel
C 31 Pak 40 7.5 cm rounds and shipping containers
D 58 Pzkw. 38(t) interior and transmission components
G 87 Pzkw. 38(t) - Marder III gun mount and details
E 1 Pzkw. 38(t) Hull
J 4 clear styrene vision blocks
K 18 Pzkw. 38(t) OVM
M 1 Pzkw. 38(t) hull rear plate
N 4 cleaning rods and accessories
W 3x2 clear styrene vision blocks
Y 240 Magic Track
MA 81 etched brass
MB 1 turned aluminum barrel
MB 1 preformed etched brass basket
