1:35 Sd.Kfz. 138 Marder III Ausf. M Initial Production - DRAGON

Almost as soon as WWII began, Germany began to realize it had a weakness in the penetration power of its tank guns. This truth was forcefully rammed home when panzers began facing well-armored Russian tanks like the T-34 and KV-1. There was an urgent need for mobile antitank weapons, and one solution was the Marder III Ausf. M based on the chassis of the Czech-designed Panzer 38(t). (Note, the “M” in Ausf. M stands for Mittelmotor, referring to the mid-engine layout). This tank destroyer mounted a 75mm PaK 40/3 L/46 antitank gun set well back on the hull. The Marder III Ausf. M was the most widely produced Marder variant, with 975 vehicles built from April 1943 to May 1944. Marders fought in all theaters, and some 350 Ausf. M were still in service in February 1945.

THE KIT:

• Carefully configured as an Initial Production vehicle
• The open-topped fighting compartment is full with components such as ammo racks and rounds.
• The edges of the armor plates in this fighting compartment are produced to an extremely realistic thickness.
• This attractive vehicle makes widespread use of slide-molded plastic parts.
• Photo etched parts included
• Magic Tracks with casting number detail etched on every track