Following encounters with the well armoured Soviet T-34 and KV tanks, the Germany Army assigned high priority to the development of the proposed 75mm anti-tank gun. The Pak 40 entered service in late 1941 and was a mainstay of the German artillery’s anti-tank units until the end of the war serving in all major theatres. After the war it continued in service with a variety of nations including Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Romania.

After first releasing the 75mm PaK 40 with a Wehrmacht (regular infantry) crew (kit 6249), Dragon has followed it up with an improved version featuring five Fallschirmjager (paratroopers) serving the gun. This kit is labeled “7.5cm PaK 40 Late Type w/Fallschirmjäger Anzio 1944” and the box art depicts the crew resisting the 1944 Allied landing in Italy, a theatre the Fallschirmjäger were well represented in.

Contents

As expected this kit is very similar in layout to the earlier release, the main difference with the gun being that the cradle and carriage trails have been improved. Sprue C, which is injection plastic, has also been changed with two metal ammunition cases replacing the previous wooden cases and the decal sheet has also been revised.

The gun is made from approximately 170 parts and the parts layout is:

• 2 sprues containing the gun and its carriage.
• 1 sprue with a choice of 3 types of wheels of which one is solid with raised spokes, and the other two have spokes and lightening holes. I have seen all patterns in photos.
• Choice of either factory fresh or worn road tyres. These wheels are made of rubber, simplifying painting and look convincing with the distinctive twin grooves of the Pak tyres.
• Small PE fret containing the small sliding centre plate and two visors fitted between the two skins of the gun shield.
• Choice of plastic or turned metal gun barrel. The plastic barrel has a one piece tube made using slide technology and both barrels are drop fits into the breach and muzzle breaks.
• 4 brass coloured rounds made from turned metal.
• 1 plastic sprue containing 8 rounds, 8 ammunition tubes, 3 shell casings and the two metal boxes.
• Decal sheet containing markings for the shells and their cases. These decals would also be useful for some kits of AFVs (e.g. Marder IIIs), which shared the same ammunition.

The kit is quite flexible in how the gun can be assembled. Apart from the road wheels and tyres, there is a choice of face plates for the cradle (both designs appear in many photos with B18 being quite common later in the war), and three muzzle breaks, which reflect common variants seen in photos (the designs with two circular flanges was more common in the mid-war and the one with both flanges elongated later in the war). As these muzzle breaks are crisply molded with slide technology and intended for fitting to a metal barrel, I will be using the spares on aftermarket StuG and Panzer IV barrels to replace their white metal breaks. The gun can also be built either in firing position or being towed. Typical prime movers would include the Sdkfz. 251, RSO, and the Sdkfz. 11 half-track.

The quality of casting is high with crisp detail on numerous parts. Some care is needed when removing a few of the larger parts including the gun shields where the connecting points are wide. As noted earlier this kit has corrected the dimensional problems of the earlier Dragon Pak 40 with the carriages trail arms length and the cradle, which was previously several millimeters too short. One small omission is that the weld seams on the carriage’s trail arms are absent.

The kit correctly has the double skinned gun shield of the Pak 40 (spaced armour saved weight) and both skins are made from plastic. The edges are heavily tapered to give the impression of being thin. No doubt someone will release a PE set featuring alternative shields, however for the majority of modelers, myself included, the plastic shields are an effective option as they have the bolt heads cast in place, ensure the shields are bent to the right angle and are easy to use.

The instruction sheet has 10 steps for the gun (line drawings) which are logically structured, painting guide and combined assembly/painting guide for the figures, but no background or technical notes.

Fallschirmjäger

The gun crew consists of five fallschirmjäger of which one is a standing observer with binoculars, one a kneeling gunner, two handling the ammunition and the third is kneeling while watching and waiting. These men are wearing the second pattern paratroopers smock, which featured buttons allowing the lower half to be buttoned around the legs (e.g. for a jump) and were issued in both camouflage and grey-green as per the box art. They also have the second pattern paratroopers ankle length boots and the brimless helmets, some with and some without camouflage covers. The trousers are fallschirmjäger issue as evident by vents for inserting the kneepads worn for jumps. These were issues in tan and a slightly darker shade of grey-green than the smocks. These figures were originally issued in the Dragon set “7.5cm Leichtgeschütze 40 with Crew” and consist of two identical sprues each of three men. By mixing parts between figures from the second sprue, five unique figures are created.

Recommendation

With the inclusion of a full crew, relevant accessories, metal parts and an upgraded cradle and trail arms, Dragon’s PaK 40 ‘late type’ is a well presented and competitive offering of this widely used German anti-tank gun. Definitely recommended.

Thank you to Dragon Models for the review sample.

User Contributed Notes