Trumpeter
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The Sturer Emil was based on requirements for a heavier tank destroyer than what was available in the early stages of the war. At the time the Pz IV chassis was the heaviest German tank and only experimental vehicles were available to accept a large gun caliber. One of these experimental tanks was the VK3001 (H) chassis. It was intended to replace the Pz III and IV with a total planned weight of about 30 tons. The VK 3001(H) was based on a further development of the well proven Pz IV chassis with a different running gear with interleaved wheels. In all only 3 VK 3001(H) were built and preparations were made to build 8 more vehicles. One complete turret with the short a L/24 gun was delivered for one of the vehicles. Two more chassis were built as tank destroyers. This version included lengthening the chassis, adding an extra pair of road wheels, and replacing the original Variorex gearbox with a SSG 77 similar to Pz III (ZW/7 and onwards). The engine was an unusual 300 HP 6 Cyl Maybach HL 116. In this superstructure the large 12.8 cm PAK40 L/61 gun was mounted. The gun was originally designed for AA defense in 1939, and some alterations were needed for it's new anti tank gun role. This gun was even more powerful than the PAK44 used in the Jagdtiger, and the 28 kg shells could penetrate 13,2 cm of 30 degr. sloped armour at 1500 m distance. The vehicle had only internal space for about 18 rounds of Ammo in the open fighting compartment and had a total weight of about 35 tons, with a top speed of 19.6 km/h. The first photos of a completed "Sturer Emil" are dated March 9th 1942. Apparently, the 2 Sfl L/61 guns were initally assigned to a Lehr unit at Wünstorf, as photos show it with an "L" marking on the front plate. The two prototypes were later sent to the Eastern Front for trials with the troops in late June 1942. Both vehicles were attached to 3rd company of Independent Panzerjägerabteilung 521 (6. Armee, XVII Corps), and saw service in Southern Russia. The Pz.J.Abt.521 had at the time two companies of Marder IIs, one company of Panzerjäger Is, and one platoon with two self-propelled 12.8 cm Selbstfahrlafette L/61 and one self-propelled 105mm gun (Dicker Max). The Sfl L/61 guns had some success, and were nicknamed "Sturer Emil" (Stubborn Emil) by the troops. From wartime photos we can see that one of the vehicles (#2) had 31 kill marks on the barrel. Later on the Pz.J.Abt 521 was assigned to the XI Corps and saw service in the Stalingrad area from November 1942. The Sturer Emils were used sucessfully in the northern coridor between Don and Volga to avoid tank attacks according to one field report from the unit. After the Soviets surrounded the Germans, the Pz.J.Abt.521 was totally crushed in January 1943. In the end the XI Corps formed the northern pocket of "Der Kessel" in Stalingrad, and from war archives we can read that the late Pz.J.Abt 521 unit Commander Hauptm. Christian Martin received the Knights Cross on Jan 20th and was reported killed on Jan 30th, a few days before the final surrender of the northern pocket of the 6. Armee. One of the Sfl L/61 guns (#1) was captured or found intact by the Russians in the event. It apparently had 6 killmarks on the barrel from a Russian photo source taken the probably a few days after the surrender of the Germans. This vehicle is now on display in Kubinka Tank museum outside Moscow. The other Sfl L/61 gun was probably lost earlier in the Stalingrad fightings. On 15 Apr 1943 Pz.J.Abt.521 was reformed as schwere Panzerjäger-Kompanie 521 (kompanie 1) under Heeres-Pz.Jg.Abt. 655 and refitted with Nashorns. The VK3001 project was canceled off during the field tests. One of the VK 3001 served as a test vehicle at the Henschel factory until 1945. The Kit The Sfl L/61 kit was released by Trumpeter in May of 2005, and is the only plastic kit of this rare vehicle in 1/35 scale. It is based on the surviving vehicle on display at Kubinka. Most of the interior and fitting details are missing today, and these details in the kit are probably based on wartime photos. The box art show the Sturer Emil painted in dark gray scheme as used on the Eastern front 1942. The kit contains 275 parts molded in light grey plastic on 5 sprues, upper and lower hull, Fighting compartment, a decal sheet and two vinyl rubber tracks. The building instructions are 20 steps in 12 pages with nice detailed exploded drawings. Also included is a one page full color painting instruction for one vehicle. Lower Hull : The lower hull comes in one large piece. Swing arms for the lower suspension, final drive housings and the side Pz III style escape-hatches are molded in separate pieces. The simple lower hull includes weld seams on the under-side. The construction of the lower hull is quit straight forward starting with the running-gear, and then adding a few details such as the towbars and the rear track tension adjustment screws. The very nice detailed road wheels are each molded in two pieces, with delicate details such as weld seams and bolts on both sides. Upper Hull/Fittings : The upper hull consists of a single piece with fenders molded to the upper hull. The molding is again very nice and clean with good details. There are no details on the underside of the fenders, and there are a few ejector-marks that need to be filled here. The driver's hatch is molded as a separate piece, but there are no details on the inside of the hatch. The driver’s visors are in two separate pieces. An additional feature is the dummy co-driver/storage box on the opposite side of the driver seen on one of the vehicles at the troop training school at Wünstorf before the vehicles went to Russia. Also there is some alternative arrangement of the drive-lamps, including both early as seen at Wünstorf (B20) and later style enclosed unusual lamps as seen on both vehicles in all photo staken in Russia (E8). The kit includes a rear alternative smoke grenade canister box, (used on the first vehicle built), and a Notek lamp as well. The Notek lamp was removed or lost on at least one vehicle while they served in Russia. For further details regarding these details it is advisable to have a look at some of the many existing wartime photos of the vehicles. The OVM tools are all molded with very fine details. Even the tool clamps are molded with very fine details. Strangely, there are included two jack-blocks but the jacks are not included in the kit. On some of the wartime photos one (#1) of the two Sturer Emils carried two jacks, one at the rear right fender and another right beside the door just above the first, one or two extra road-wheels and two spare jerrycans, but neither of these are included in the kit. On top of the upper hull there is a simple open square boxlike structure that served as the fighting compartment. The box is molded in one piece and has very fine detailed weld seams, on to replicate the rough structure. Inside there are marks for the position of the interior details. There are two ejector pin-marks inside the front of the small roof section that needs to be filled. Dry-fitting upper and lower chassis and the fighting compartment show very good fit and there are no gaps to be filled. Tracks : The tracks are standard vinyl tracks as other Trumpeter kits. The tracks are well detailed on both sides. A very nice feature is the molded open horns in the tracks, which I have not seen before on this type of tracks. I would have preferred tracks with individual links, and I think many modellers will substitute the kit supplied ones with some of very nice aftermarket from either Modelkasten, Lion Marc of Fruil. Main Gun : The 12.8 cm L/61 gun is very well detailed, with as much as 40 parts in all. The breech block is made of 2 separate parts and might be posed open - but in that case, one of the sides of the block needs then be filled with putty. The recuperator, hand wheels etc are well detailed. The gun barrel comes in two halves, and a test fitting of these show no fitting problems. When fitting the gun into the mantlet the gun-tube seems to point several degrees off-centre to the right. This error is quite simple to correct by enlarging the small hole inside the mantlet. Unfortenately the gun muzzle seems to be a bit underscaled compared to wartime photos. This error is diffecult to correct unnless the entire barrel is replaced by a the more correct one from either Armorscale or Armo Interior : The Interior consist of a lower fighting compartment floor with wooden floor planks molded in one piece. In the middle of this structure there are a gun travel-block, and the engine cover box. A cool detail feature is the fine detailed open molded vent openings in the engine cover. The gun base is well detailed with two crew seats. On the inside of the fighting compartment walls, there are several details such as ammo racks, boxes, two MP 40's, hand grenades, a Funksprechgerät f (FuSpr. f) Radio and external speaker etc. The overall layout/position of these corresponds very well to the interior photos in the reference Spielberger book, and again detail is very good. The lower chassis, which is barely visible through the gun base there are no details such as the torsion bars provided in the kit. Decals : Decals are provided for the one vehicle serving with Panzerjägerabteilung 521 with optional white or black and white balkenkreutz. The Kill marks provided are for the seccond vehicle built, as it looked like some time late summer 1942. A nice touch is the small white numbers for the interior ammo racks. Although the instructions does not indicate their position, they should be placed in the middle of the lying ammo boxes starting with "K1" at the upper left box and "K7" at the upper right box. "K13" should be at the rear ammo box below the standing ammo rack. The rear standing Ammo shell trays should start with "1" from the rear left side and continue with "9" from the rear right side. The numbers 1-15 should be placed with one each at the top of the upper and lower rack section. A small error in the kill marks on the barrel goes all around the barrel, but on wartime photos these actually were just vertical lines on the sides of the barrel. Also a tank symbol was originally painted in front of the kill marks. One of the vehicles (#1) had a "K", probably for group "Kleist" painted on the left side before the balkenkreutz. However it is uncertain if this was original or added by the Russians after capture. I believe the emblem of Pz.J.Abt 521 was painted in two different colors. The shield with the cross in the the middle was painted white, while the two deer-horns? were painted in different colors for each company in the unit. The Emils belonged to 3rd company and the color should be yellow. Painting :The Two Sturer Emils were most likely painted in plain dark grey, as indicated on the painting instructions. The vehicle captured by the Russians at Stalingrad had apparently an additional winter whitewash. It was added in a quite rough style, and partly worn off - particularly on the lower chassis. The painting instructions indicate the ammo shells to be painted grey. The kit supplied ammo are of the HE (High Explosive) type. I believe the Sturer Emil used the same type ammo as the 128 mm FLAK, and not the later type used by the army. These shells were painted Yellow with a silver tip. The rings at the bottom of the shells were copper, and the bottom in metal steel color. Conclusion Another superb kit of an unusual vehicle from the Chinese producer Trumpeter. Details and mould are crisp with no flash, very few ejector pin-marks, and other faults. The parts fit very well, and construction is fairly straight forward. Trumpeter seems to have done their homework well and details correspond very well to available sources. The kit does not include any PE or metal parts such the gun barrel, but this is hardly expected at an unbeatable price of 13 EUR. For the advanced modeller there are several well made aftermarket kits such as PE details and fenders, metal gun barrels, metal turned both HE and AP ammo, and finally tracks for the Sfl V L/61. References
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