One of the joys of these 1:48 scale Tamiya kits is being able to build them in separate sub-assemblies, making painting much easier.
In the early years of the Second World War, it became clear to German forces that the punch their armour was delivering fell short with some of the new types of armoured vehicles they were encountering. In France, the B1 bis and the British Matilda presented quite an unpleasant shock to the German tankers. That’s not to mention the surprise they got when they first started encountering the Russian T-34 and KV series of tanks. Whilst not immune to the Germans’ firepower of the day, it became clear that a more powerful gun would be required to be effective in combat when faced by this new wave of tanks.
One such weapon was the PaK40, an anti-tank gun that was traditionally towed and deployed to the battlefront. By mounting this weapon to an existing tank chassis, the solution to the challenge seemed to be simple and easy to implement. The reliable Panzer 38(t) chassis was first selected to carry this new breed of weapon.
The new design of Tank Hunters (or Panzerjäger) was born.
Development of the Marder continued and saw a number of versions appear on the battlefield. During Operation Barbarossa, German forces captured large numbers of the deadly Russian 7.62cm field gun (M1936). These captured weapons were then fitted to the P38(t) chassis and would become known as the Marder III Sd.Kfz.139.