Marder III - Sd.Kfz. 139

In the summer of 1941, the German invasion of Russia went favourably for the Wehrmacht.
However, the Germans found that their tanks and anti-tank weapons were inferior to those of the Soviet army.
To counter this disparity, it was decided to improve the Panzer III .IV, develop new tanks and increase the production of the 7.5cm anti-tank gun.
Finally, as an interim solution, it was decided to improve captured Russian 7.62cm anti-tank guns and use them for the Wehrmacht.
These guns could penetrate 83mm of armour at a range of 1000m, but after improvement they could penetrate up to 122mm and were renamed the 7.62cm Pak36(r) gun.
Until the new tanks were operational, 7.62-cm Pak36(r) guns were to be mounted on the chassis of obsolete Panzer II and Panzer 38(t) hulls to create a makeshift tank destroyer.
The 38(t) were based on the LtVz.38 tank, which had been developed by the Czech company CKD (later BMM) for the Czech army in 1938.
With the annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, this tank was put into production for the Wehrmacht.
The Czech tank was combined with the Soviet 7.62 cm Pak36(r) gun, resulting in the Wehrmacht's feared tank destroyer, the Marder III Sd.Kfz.139.

Plastic model kit
 

• two figures included
• including ammunition

scale 1:35

unbuilt / unpainted