Dragon Models Ltd

1/35 German Marder III Ausf M

Kit Number: Smart Kit # 6464

Reviewed by  Robert Scott, IPMS# 46127

MSRP: $51.95 Thanks to Dragon Models USA: www.dragonmodelsusa.com Brief History: The last Marder III variant was mainly based on the panzer 38t chassis, the ausf m standing for the Mittelmotor Or Middle engine, Armed with the 75 mm pak 40 anti-tank gun. In this variant, the gun and fighting compartment were located at the rear of the vehicle, unlike the previous Marder III. This compartment was closed at the rear, but still open toped. It could carry 27 rounds of ammunition. The ausf m did not carry a machinegun in its hull, instead a mg34 or mg42 was carried buy its crew The ausf M was the most produced version, some 975 vehicles where manufactured in 1943 and early 1944 its full name was the panzerjager 38t mit 7.5 cm pak 40/3 ausf .m sd.kfz. 138. In the box: You get dragons usual stuff 2 frets of PE, cable, 16 clear parts, 2 decal sheets and one bag of their magic track. You also get 15 sprues of parts that equal over 600 in total. Dragon gives you 7 painting and marking schemes even one for a captured Marder. Unidentified unit Italy 1943. Unidentified unit Italy 1944. Unidentified unit eastern front 1944. Unidentified unit eastern front 1943. British captured Mozza Grongna Italy 1943 Pz Jg Abt 113 Eastern Front 1944 12 Pz Div Hitlerjugend France 1944. Building the Kit: Study the instructions. Dragon instructions can be a little confusing, so go over them a few times to get the idea of what goes where. For those of you who like to go one step further, Dragon has given you an engine compartment and drivers compartment, complete with final drive. On figure 4, instructions show D12 going into the wrong place. Figure 5 instructions show D16 going into the engine block. D16 actually goes on top of D23. Parts P16 and P14 are switched on the sprue. The kit is different compared to Dragon's usual kits where they give you the option to use PE or the kit supplied tools. The Smart Kit only gives you the option for PE parts only to fix tools to the chassis. One thing I noticed is the PE fret is just really cramped. It's only a 3 ½ X 2 ¾ piece of brass. Some of the numbers are really hard to see, even with a magnifier. I found that you need to be VERY careful with part A14, which supports the idler wheel, as it's flimsy. I didn't break it, but it was close. In Figure 13, Part C8 is marked as C12 on the sprue. Along with this kit there are a lot of extra parts, including helmets, canteens, binoculars, and shovels which can be used on other projects. Although there are some problems with the instructions, the kit went together pretty well. General fit was good, the fighting compartment really looks good, considering the small size of the vehicle. There are details in the fighting compartment which really add a lot to the model. I don't really care for the individual track links, but they look much better than the "rubber bands" you got with some older kits.

Decaling and Painting the Kit I used Model Master ® enamel, Panzer Dunkelgelb 1943 for the base coat, then decaled the kit and sealed it with Future. I waited 24 hours and sprayed a white wash, then sealed it with Model Master Flat Lacquer. The tracks were painted with Model Master Leather enamel, which gives a good "rusty" appearance, then dry brushed them with MM Gun Metal. Overall Evaluation Highly recommended. This kit is designed for the experienced modeler, because of the PE and individual track links. You get markings for seven different vehicles; the fit and finish are good. The interior is highly detailed, but not overly finicky. Thanks to Dragon Models USA for the nice kit, and IPMS/USA for the chance to build it.

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