PSC Marder III

I originally bought the PSC Panzer 38(t) and Marder Variants kit so I could build some Slovakian Pz. 38(t)s. However, after looking at the parts, the SPGs kind of grew on me, and I ended up making one of each type of vehicle.

The box art shows a Pz. 38(t), a Marder III Ausf. H, and a 15cm sIG 33 Grille, but the versions that can be built are actually a Pz. 38(t), a Marder III Ausf. H, and a Marder III Sd.Kfz. 139.

Outside of drilling out the barrels and travel locks I only modified the chairs of the Sd.Kfz. 139. Everything else was assembled OOB.

As with all PSC kits, there are a ton of left over parts after construction. I actually put together two different turrets for the Sd.Kfz. 139 so I can swap between the two for versions with and without canvas cover.

The models are only half painted because I ran into some issues and decided to take a break. Normally I only use rattle cans for priming, but since these were quickbuild kits, I didn't want to go through the trouble of cleaning my airbrush, so I decided to try out some Coat d'arms rattle cans that I had sitting around.

Unfortunately the spray cans gave very inconsistent results (I guess that's why they were on clearance, and no longer sold by Black Hat). I ended up having to strip the Marder III H in Simple Green and repaint it.

For the the Sd.Kfz. 139 I cut the backrest off of one of the seats and mounted it on the stowage rack.

The Pz. 38(t) was the easiest to put together, and it matches the dimensions of the Attack Pz. 38(t) perfectly, though the position of the muffler, and appearance of the rear idler seem to be different.

The models are all very robust, and perfect for wargaming purposes. With the addition of various details, they could probably make decent static models as well.

First completed models of the year

My building progress has been abysmal the last few years, and I've finally been able to finish assembly of some kits that have more than a dozen pieces.

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) is the 1/76 Fujimi kit, while the LT38 is the 1/72 Attack kit.

The Fujimi kit was a breeze to put together, though I had some problems with the tracks causing the rear return rollers to bend outward. I somehow lost the MG34 for the kit, so used one from a Kubelwagen in its place. The only scratchbuilding I did was to add a saddle drum to the MG34, and a periscope. I tend to build kits mostly OOB since I'd like to finish all of my kits sometime during my lifetime. Unfortunately my rate of accumulation is faster than my rate of completion.

The Attack kit was something I started several years ago, but never got around to finishing because I wanted to give it Slovak markings. I finally found some decals from Aleran for vehicles of Axis Minors, which included the Slovakian cross, and got motivated enough to finish the kit. The turret numbers are Archer Fine Transfers. I did add a few details to this particular kit, since it seemed to be missing a few pieces that appear on the real tank.

While the two kits are supposed to be in different scales, they are actually pretty much the same size when built up. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) is somewhat wider than the LT38, which is how it is in reality. I recently purchased a UM Flammpanzer 38(t) kit, and will have to do a comparison to see how it matches up with the Fujimi kit.

The UM kit is supposed to be the most accurate in terms of dimensions (see Missing Lynx discussion on UM v. ESCI), but I have often heard that the Fujimi kit is very close to 1/72. I'm not a terrible stickler when it comes to scale, but I prefer to keep my models as close to 1/72 as possible for consistency.