Nuts & Bolts 18, Marder III Panzerjager 38(t) fur 7.5cm Pak 40/3 (Sd.Kfz. 138) Part 2, Ausf. H & 7.5cm Pak 40 Mot. Zug.

by Volker Andorfer, Martin Block and John Nelson

This most recent volume in the N&B series is also the third and final part in the Marder III story. Also, in order to lend completeness it covers the towed version of the Marder III Ausf. H and Ausf. M’s main armament, the 7.5cm Pak 40. Another thing this title does is provide information to update some charts and part of the text from the previous volume, number 17. This is because the authors have uncovered more data, which they thought would be of use to those interested in this vehicle series.

Thus, the first segment of the book contains re-worded text and tabulated data, as mentioned above. The next segment provides period photographs of the Ausf. H, in production and in action. There are also a number of factory photos of the engine and transmission, removed from the vehicle. One more photo shows the port side of the engine compartment with accessories, and is taken from a vehicle tech manual for the Pz.Kpw. 38(t).

Next is the color art section, which has very fine drawings of six Ausf. Hs. These are divided equally between vehicles that served on the Ost Front as well as the Italian Front. They range of schemes include a winter whitewashed dark grey vehicle, as well as others in variations of the 1943 three-color scheme. Generally, they are all confirmed by photos that appear within the book. The 1/35-scale CAD drawings are very clearly rendered and include five complete views (plan, front, rear and both sides). The scale CAD perspective drawings add further variety as one of them “looks” into the fighting compartment at enough of an angle to show details not seen in ordinary profile-type renderings.

The next segment provides detail and overall photographs of two preserved Ausf. Hs; one in the German Sinsheim collection, the other from the Italian Henriquez collection. Using these two examples of the Ausf. H, nearly every external fitting is detailed from various angles. Also included are detail photos of the driving, fighting and engine compartments. Following that, there is another bit of text that briefly details the development and early deployment of the 7.5cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun in its towed configuration. This is accompanied by a partial list of the numbers of Pak 40s deployed on the Ost Front with Heeres Gruppe Mitte (Army Group Center), taken from a July 1942 census. The scale drawings (which I believe are the first quality renderings ever devoted to this gun, in this scale) will prove to be especially useful to modelers of the Tamiya, Italeri and upcoming AFV Club and DML kits. There is also a specification chart detailing the gun, its ammunition and its theoretical armor penetrating performance. A selection of in-action photographs is followed by images of preserved Pak 40s in the collections of several museums. Of particular interest to modelers are the various types of wheels fitted to this widely-used gun.

The final bit within the book (“dessert” if you will), are a group of color photos of a super-detailed Italeri-based Ausf. H modeled in 1/35 scale by Tony Greenland. It is presented using in-progress and as-completed images, and is sure to inspire.

The archival photographs are, for the most part, well-reproduced. Of course some are better than others in this regard, due no doubt to the condition of the originals. There is an especially “modeler-friendly” group of photographs of the Ausf. H in Italy, which clearly show camouflage patterns and markings, including divisional signs. The photo captions are useful as well, but like the text, they sometimes fall victim to less-than-perfect translations into the English language. This is only a bit disturbing when one considers the overall high-quality production values of the book as a whole. The fact that at least one person on the book’s editorial team speaks English as a first language would indicate that someone is not making full use of that individual’s talents.

Regardless of these tiny nit-picks, this book and its companion, Volume 17 is a first-class effort and will be of immense help to anyone who is considering taking on the rather dated Italeri kit.

Highly recommended.

Frank De Sisto

Nuts & Bolts books are available at retail and mail order shops and from the publisher Heiner F. Duske at: Nikolaus-Otto Strasse 10, 24536 Neumunster, Germany. E-mail: hfd.duske@t-online.de or Nuts-Bolts-Frank-Schulz@t-online.de.