Unboxing: Bolt Action Marder III Tank Destroyer
September 30, 2015 by dignity
We have a distinct looking vehicle for this Bolt Action unboxing as the guys take a look at the Marder III Ausf. M Tank Destroyer, one of the most widely used vehicles of this type by the Germans during World War II.
The Marder III was produced from 1942 until 1944. It was a mobile and potent anti-tank vehicle used until the end of the war.
The kit is both resin and metal and comes complete with two crew members.
Would you field this tank destroyer in your German army?
Oh, man. 40 seconds in and already I’m cheering and applauding.
@johnlyons at 00:40 (with pained sigh) . . . “That’s . . . that’s . . . that’s a computer game . . .”
😀
3:25 – I agree with Justin about the rivets. Earlier tanks, because of all their disastrous design flaws, actually make more interesting miniatures a lot of the time. Multiple turrets, open gun decks, rivets, bolts, externally mounted weapons . . . Ah, a beautiful nightmare, a horrible glory. “Good” tanks with their sleek, clean lines, welded or cast hulls and turrets, and more internal weapons, certainly performed better on the field but sometimes almost look “boring” as miniatures. 4:30 – Ah there it is. 🙂 Although guys like piers, a27cromwell, crazyredcoat, and torros can certainly be counted in that roster… Read more »
…he’s gonna blow!
I think this is why 40k tanks always look like WWI or early WWII tanks in all their designs; they just look chunky and ungainly and like they will roll over anything(when they finally get there of course).
When you paint it remember to put a big red star on the side 🙂 That way Warren can use it as a captured vehicle.
Or “Re-captured” . . . at least partially. Didn’t a lot of these Marders have Soviet 76.2mm antitank guns put in them? 😀 So the Germans capture the Soviet gun, bolt it to their Marder, and then the Soviets capture the Marder back?
It’s an ugly beauty, but beautiful all the same. Another winner by Warlord – Jamie wants two!
I love the loadie mini.
Great un-boxing as always, but I must say I’m actually a fan of the videos where John gets groggy and waxes on end about the minutiae of the particular model they open up. The endless little trivia he brings up was one of the main drawing points of watching these videos and led me to subscribe. Perhaps John didn’t have as much to state about the Marder as much as the other tanks in the series, but if he knows some things, I’m all about hearing it. 🙂
Oriskany, yes the Germans did field a Marder with the huge stocks of 76.2 Soviet stocks that were captured in ’41. They also had Pak 76.2r that they tried to keep in the same units as the Marder to simplify supply. Also the 76.2 version, according to my info was built on the Pz II D chasis, where the Marder IIIs were constructed on the Pz 38(t). Records indicate that 975 Marder III M were built before being replaced by the Hetzer. 852 Marder II were built which includes the 76.2(t) version before being phased out in ’44. I can… Read more »
Early Marder IIIs , SdKfz 139 ,with the rear engine H hull had the 76.2 gun . A total of 365 were built . They were used mainly on the Russian front with 66 sent to the North Africa starting in July 1942 . The kit reviewed is the M hull with the engine mounted beside the driver , SdKfz 138 , built between April 43 – May 44 . Just to confuse things there was a SdKfz 138 with the rear engine ( H hull) and 75 mm Pak40/3 gun as well . Oh those crazy Germans ! Guess… Read more »
Okay, now that I’m home with my books . . . 🙂 Yes, John said this was the ausf. M, so I’m reading 975 produced between April 1943 and May 1944. Armed with the 7.5 cm PaK 40/3. Also known as Marder III or SdKfz 138. These have always confused me a little, though, because there are so many variants. I’m also looking at the SdKfz 139, (as @a27cromwell says) also known as “Marder III” and Panzerjäger 38(t) / PaK 36(r) – yes, both were known commonly as “Marder III.” These were the ones I was thinking of with the… Read more »
I think the problem is , that over the years, Model Companies and Modelers in general , have started to call the 7.62 cm Pak 36 armed Panzer II D model , SdKfz 132 ( the one with 4 large road wheels ) – Marder II . IIRC back in the 70s it was called the Panzerjager II . The Marder II , to me , is the 75 mm Pak 40 armed Panzer II F, SdKfz 131 ( 5 smaller road wheels ) . We get the same problems with people discussing Tiger IIs . King Tiger , Royal… Read more »
I was scratching my head at this post, @a27cromwell, wondering how I could have missed the SdKfz 132 in the encyclopedia I mentioned (I don’t even pretend to carry around all this stuff in my head). We started with the 138, then I brought up the 139 and 131. Sure enough, the 132 is in there as well, but they don’t even call it a Marder II (which sounds like it is for the best – and also why I missed it). The photos don’t even look like a “Marder” if you ask me. But for the record, @williamwidrick was… Read more »
They used the Ausf D/E hulls from the Flamingos to make some of them…
And I have seen two in Holland in September 1944.
While I’ve always found the German way of vehicle ‘labeling’ perplexing, the U.S. way is just as bad, maybe even worse. I think one of the problems confronting the Germans is that they had soo many different vehicle types out of necessity, with many vehicles used just to fill out the numbers. Logistics must have been a nightmare. On top of that you have field modifications to put armor back into the line that ends up being somewhat unusual compared to ‘official’ issue equipment. Interesting topic though. I field a couple Marder II models just because I enjoy the model.… Read more »
With regards to the track labels I think the term you were looking for was Warren resistant.
that just the inner ORK coming out in warren.
love the model.