Tristar Models
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In early 1942 it was determined that the Panzer 38(t) as a front line tank had passed its usefulness. So it was decided to try and mount the Pak 40 AT gun on it in case supplies of captured Soviet 7.62cm AT guns became unavailable, which were already being used on the Panzerjaeger 38(t) fur 7,62cm Pak 36 (Marder III). The development of this new Marder is well detailed in the Panzer Tracts book (ref.1). It was deployed to the Eastern Front and saw action during the Manstein Offensive, Italy and North Africa. The Kit Italeri had a Marder III Asuf.H kit at one time. It suffered from major inaccuracies. The hull being completely misshapen, no interior was supplied and the general detail was terrible. Recently Dragon released a kit of this subject too, although I have not seen it so I can not comment on it. However... now we have this excellent Tristar kit. Tristar previously have released three Panzer 38(t) kits, an Ausf.E/F, an Ausf.G and an Ausf.B; one would think that this MArder would share many common sprues, however this is not the case. The only common sprue is the running gear and tracks. Even though the Marder III Ausf. H was based on the Ausf.G (and later Ausf.H) chassis, Tristar have correctly re-engineered the lower hull sprue. The Tristar kit is moulded in sandy coloured styrene. Moulding overall is quite sharp, there is no flash, warpage or short shot problems (which is a problem with new kits). The styrene assembles well with both Testors Liquid Cement and Tenax-7R. The parts breakdown follows the same breakdown of the prototype's armour plates. I like this more than the "tub" style parts breakdown, where major armour panels are moulded together. The instruction sheet is a ten page fold out printed in black & white. Included are sprue layouts, eight marking profiles a short description in Japanese and English. Paint references are given for Tamiya acrylics and Mr. Color. The instructions are clear and well laid out. I have not assembled this kit yet although I have assembled Tristar's Panzer 38(t) E/F kit and that went together well. Care must be taken however. I used Tenax-7R to assemble the basic hull panels and Testors Liquid Cement for the small parts.
Interior There is a full interior, as far as I can tell based on my references at least. A lot of the front area, especially the transmission won't be visible when the superstructure is assembled. The glacis plate's transmission hatch can be modelled open however. In general, the attention to detail is excellent. Based on photographs from several books all the parts that should be there do appear to be there... in fact this has to be the most complete interior of any injection moulded kit available. For example the driver's seat consists of 13 styrene and photo-etched parts! Assembly of the interior will present difficulties for beginning modellers as there are a lot of tiny parts and several photo-etched parts that require some tricky bending. The final drives have photo-etched heat shields that must be bent into a circular profile, this is difficult even for experienced modellers. They are best formed over a dowel of the correct diameter. The steering linkages are also complex, being made up of "sandwiches" of tiny photo-etched an styrene parts. The radio will need various power cables and wires added, along with a head set, as none are supplied. I think that there should be an asbestos (I'm guessing) heat shield that fits over the transmission housing. I've seen one installed in the regular Panzer 38(t) tank before. It is always missing from museum photographs. Also there could be a mat added to the fighting compartment floor too. Stowage for 32 × 7.5cm rounds is provided, there was 38 rounds stored on this vehicle, the other six rounds must be hidden from view. The racks consist of the storage tube and a separate shell top that fits into the tube. It looks convincing when assembled. To show an empty storage tube it will look better if the tube is thinned out with round file. The Hull This Marder was based on the Panzer 38(t) Ausf.G hull initially, and then the Ausf.H which did not differ externally. One interesting thing worth noting comes from Panzer Tracts No.18 were Jentz states that all other plans of this chassis were based on a 1:5 scale overview drawing that was "...drawn over 30mm too high." Furthermore the new plans in the Panzer Tracts book where drawn accurately based on firsthand measurements. Tristar did get the height of the hull correct based on the new research. One thing that I am confused over is the 15mm bolted on armour on the upper hull sides, it is not there, it is moulded Tristar's Ausf.E/F and G tank kits. It may well be that this was omitted on the Marder III Ausf.H... does anyone know for sure? Compared to the plans of the Marder III in Panzer Tracts the dimensions are within my error of measurements... and before anyone goes off complaining about how plans in books are not accurate, consider this: This plans from the Panzer tracts book are those which I consider the most accurate and are the criteria against what I am comparing this kit to. I am well aware that printed plans may be off due to the printing process (as some claim), so I have tested known dimension, scaled them down to 1-35th scale and compared to the plans. They are spot on. I also chose to trust the work of Jentz and Doyle over all others in the case of this vehicle. So, as I was saying, the kit compares well to the plans in the two Panzer Tracts books. I have built the hull from Tristar's Panzer 38(t) Ausf.E/F, which is nearly identical. Tristar now have little tabs in place for a positive fit on the lower hull. The lower hull "tub" is still in three pieces, floor and each side. Along with the rear and front plates and roof. The resulting lower hull is quite solid when assembled and "true", that is to say when placed on a flat surface it doesn't wobble. I used Tenax-7R for assembly of the hull. Pak 40 7.5cm and Gun Shield AFV Club has supplied sprues from their Pak 40 kit. In return Tristar had supplied sprues from their Flak 38 for AFV Club's Sd.Kfz.251/17... this is an interesting collaboration. Included are AFV Club's basic gun, without shields and carriage, and a set of ammunition cases and rounds. There is no turned metal barrel included however, so Tristar have included a one-piece solid moulded item in styrene. For those interested in after market options see below. The gun shield is moulded quite thin, the prototype's was made up of 15mm armour plates. I measured the kit parts at 0.6mm which scales up to 20mm, so the kit thickness should be closer to 0.5mm... I challenge anyone to see the difference. The shields are moulded consistently thin too, none of that tapering that other manufactures use. There is some tapering used on the insides of the upper hull sides, but this is won't be visible once the hull is closed up. There are small tie downs along the edges of the gun shield exterior, the bases are moulded in place and the hoops are included on the photo-etched fret... these parts are so tiny and I think a lot of modellers may have trouble fixing them in place. Exterior Details The Marder II Ausf.H featured a prominent wire basket and folding perforate deck panels above the engine deck. These are moulded in styrene. The two side panels (parts B23 and B24) could be improved by thinning them out with sandpaper as they do appear a little thick. These panels were hinged and could be lifted up to get access to the engine. The wire basket to the rear is finely moulded and does look convincing, cleaning up the mould lines will take a long time however. Photographs of these vehicles often show a lot of storage, boxes, bundles, etc. added to this area. The muffler is directly below the wire basket... so don't store any ammunition boxes there. A full set of pioneer tools is included, these are the usual Tristar tools included in most of their German WW2 kits. They are nice and include photo-etched mounting brackets. Suspension The road wheels feature the correct detailing on both sides, they are suitably thin too. A separate tyre is included but when assembled the rim at the outer edge of the wheel does not appear proud enough. I sanded the tyre down a little from the back to make this look better. The leaf springs are accurate featuring the correct number of leaves for this chassis (yes I counted them) but the mould release line runs straight down the middle of them. I find that scraping with an X-Acto blade can remove these lines quickly, sanding may "round" off the edges. The swing arms, two per bogie, are separate and can be built as moveable. Individual track-links make up the tracks. They look accurate to me. They can be built as flexible but don't have much strength when completed. I find it easy to assemble them as just like regular non-working individual track-links. Fenders I've never been a fan of kit fender, these ones I don't like too much either. I find them thick and always elect to replace with either my own scratch-built items, modified kit fenders or after-market photo-etched items. In the case of this kit I ultimately decided to modify the extra set of fenders from the Tristar Ausf. G kit and use the Aber fender supports. As included in the kit, the fenders are accurate, they match photographs well. but they are much too thick. The mounting brackets also lack the finesse of the real tanks. Thinning out is a simple, yet tedious task. That said... the fenders are the ONLY gripe I have with this kit, and I usually gripe about all kit's fenders. Tristar, I'd really like to see a set of super thin fenders with separate mounting brackets included with these kits. The moulding technology that you used for your Flak 38 shields could be used. Marking Options Included are water-slide decals by Cartograf for a selection of eight vehicles. Cartograf decals are very thin, on register and opaque. I have used Solvaset with them with excellent results. Included are:
After-market Options There are several options available currently for Pak 40 barrels and muzzle brakes. There is one available from Aber: Pak 40 Early 75Mm Gun Barrel (#35L19). I don't know if it will fit, I have one on order and will test it as soon as I get it. Two options are available for photo-etched fenders, one set from Aber and another set from Voyager. The Aber set is actually for the old Marquette kit but I have tried the Aber fenders on the Panzer 38(t) Ausf.E/F and they fit fine, but I found them difficult to assemble. I recently purchased the Voyager fenders, these are specifically engineered for the Tristar Asuf.G kit, although I have not yet tried them, I do plan to use them on my Marder when the time comes. Conclusion This is a great kit of a subject that really needed to be updated. Due to the complexity of the interior and the sheer number of parts I think a beginning modeller will find this kit a difficult project. Experience modellers however will appreciate the challenge. This is one of the few kits that I would build straight from the box... there is simply nothing to add of correct, except maybe the fenders. I hope Tristar continue to produce more Panzer 38(t) based kits as they are some of the best injection moulded kits available today. I gave the kit 4½ stars, deducting one half a star for the fenders, which I felt were not up the the high standard as the rest of the kit. This review is basically to show what is included in the kit. And to check overall dimensions and assess the engineering quality of the kit. The kit will now be featured as a Blog where it will be examined in depth. This kit was supplied by Tristar as a review sample. References In addition to the various picture books on the Panzer 38(t) chassis vehicles, such as Squadron's and Tanks & Armour, there have been three excellent references books on this Marder published recently.
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