Marder III
by Phil Novak
The first in Tamiya’s series of German 38(t) tanks is the Marder III, which is essentially a Russian Gun on a Czech chassis. It was produced to be a stopgap tank hunter, and achieved success on the Russian and African fronts.
The kit is nicely molded by Tamiya, in the usual tan plastic. The molding is crisp in the usual Tamiya style and the detail is incredible. The hull comes in flat sheets, rather than the normal “tub”. This is really no problem, because the molded in guides give sharp edges and the dimensions come out perfectly.
The running gear is flawless, as the roadwheels and idler look great, and the actual suspension is well molded. The tracks are the usual vinyl type, but I replaced mine with ATL-13 from Friulmodel, the correct type for earlier 38(t) vehicles.
With replacement of the tracks come replacement of the sprockets, as the Friul tracks don’t fit the Tamiya sprocket. Don’t worry though, Friul provides the sprockets in the track set. The PaK gun is finely detailed and fits together very well. The only things on the model that need improvement are the tracks, and the spent shell basket, which is a little thick and out of scale. The Nuts and Bolts books is a great reference, to work from, with plenty of detailed shots.
Photo by Phil Novak