"Marder
III"Panzerjäger 38(t) Für 7.5cm PaK 40/3
Sd.Kfz.138 Ausf H (part 2)
Nuts & Bolts Vol.18
Volker Andorfer, Martin Block, John Nelson
Published by Nuts & Bolts Books
Uelzen Germany
128 pages soft cover
Review by Terry Ashley
This book is the third in the Marder series after Vol.15 (Marder III 7.62cm) and Vol.17 (Marder III Ausf.M) and concentrates on the intervening variant of the Marder III Ausf.H as well as a section detailing the 7.5cm Pak40.
Additional information has become available since Vol.17 and has resulted in the charts showing the production numbers and unit allocation details being amended with the updated information. As well as the charts there is text in both English and German describing the allocation to anti-tank units and detailed development and deployment history as well as technical specifications.
There are then 20 pages of wartime photos showing the Ausf.H in action as well as of destroyed and captured vehicles mostly from the Russian and Italian campaigns. Each photo has detailed captions again in both languages to explain the photos and provide good reference for the cam schemes and stowage as well for anyone wanting to build a disabled vehicle.
The next four pages have detailed close-up photos of the Praga type AC engine and gearbox used in the Ausf.H and Ausf.M, all taken with the engine out of the vehicle to clearly show the details on all sides of the engine which should prove most useful with a few engine sets available for the 38(t).
There are then three pages of colour side profile drawings illustrating various cam schemes carried by the Ausf.H as well as a set of five view 1/35th plans and illustrations showing the typical vehicle layout.
The following 57 pages have extreme close-up detail photos of a museum Marder Ausf.H and cover every area of the vehicle from the hull exterior and suspension with close-up shots of individual vision ports, hatches and return rollers to give some idea of the detail included. The interior is equally well covered with many detailed shots of the gun, the gun mounting, controls and ammo storage canisters as well as the forward hull interior with driver’s compartment and transmission and should contain enough information to keep even the most fastidious modeller happy.
The final 20 pages deal with the 7.5cm Pak 40 mot. Zug in its original ground
mount configuration and has many wartime action photos as well as detailed
close-up shots of a museum Pak 40 that covers all aspects of the gun as well
as a set of five view 1/35th plans of the gun.
This section should prove most valuable not only when building the Marder but
also for the Pak 40 kits already available and the just released new AFV
Club kit.
The inside of the front and back cover also have colour photos of the building
of a fully detailed model of the Ausf.H based on the original Italeri kit with
parts from Dragon, ModelKasten, Aber, Jordi Rubio plus many scratchbuilt items
with most of the photos taken during construction so you can see the additional
items used.
The three volumes in the Marder series provide probably the most comprehensive and detailed coverage of the Marder IIIs you will find in one place and your reference library will be incomplete without them.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Heiner from Nuts & Bolts for the review book.
