Background

Despite early and overwhelming success of its armored and mechanized forces during initial conquests in western and eastern Europe early in World War II, the German Wehrmacht found itself in urgent need of an able tank destroyer capability as it began to encounter Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks following the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Initial response was to repurpose obsolete tank designs, such as the Panzer II, and refit them as tank destroyers. An incarnation built on the Panzer II chassis, Marder II’s were initially fitted with rechambered Soviet 7.62 cm guns, and were designated Sd. Kfz. 132. Follow-on production examples were fitted with 7.5cm PaK 40’s and designated Sd.Kfz. 131. Their open-top configuration and thin armor limited their utility in urban environments, but their mobility and firepower made them a notable improvement over fixed and towed anti-tank weapons they were designed to replace.

Background

Originally designed with breathing and wading apparatus to support the Wehrmacht’s amphibious invasion of Great Britain during Operation Sea Lion, the Panzer III Tauchpanzer never had the opportunity to wade ashore on the British Isles following the Luftwaffe’s defeat in the Battle of Britain. Despite the denial of the opportunity to tread on British soil, Tauchpanzer III’s saw duty on the Eastern Front against the Red Army.

The Kit

Based on earlier Dragon Panzer III releases, the introduction of the Tauchpanzer Ausf. H brings a somewhat obscure Panzer III variant to the modeler’s workbench. Molded in light gray styrene, the Tauchpanzer III kit is a mix of Panzer III, Panzer IV, and unique Tauchpanzer III sprues, with three frets of photoetch and two decal sheets.

Mr. Wilder provides a series of YouTube video’s displaying some of the same techniques that are in Adam’s Armour 1 and 2. Both books, however, contain far more information than the videos. YouTube Link

These two publications are now available through Casemate and AFV Modeller Publications. Adam Wilder, a talented and gifted modeler, as well as an excellent writer, has authored “Adam’s Armour 1” and “Adam’s Armour 2”. This review focuses on “Adam’s Armour 2”.

“1” focuses on the construction of the model while “2” covers painting and finishing.

Reviewing the Table of Contents is an appropriate and enlightening place to start. While ten chapters were sufficient for Vol 1 “Construction”, Vol 2 contains 18 chapters.

Mr. Wilder provides a series of YouTube video’s displaying some of the same techniques that are in Adam’s Armour 1. The book, however, contains far more information than the videos.

Two publications are now available through Casemate and AFV Modeller Publications. Adam Wilder, a talented and gifted modeler, as well as an excellent writer, has authored “Adam’s Armour 1” and “Adam’s Armour 2”. This review focuses on “Adam’s Armour 1”.

“1” focuses on the construction of the model while “2” covers painting and finishing.

Reviewing the Table of Contents is an appropriate and enlightening place to start. There are ten chapters (the ToC mistakenly identifies two chapters as Chapter 8):

The Kit

The plastic motorcycle parts are on a single sprue, the figure on a separate sprue, plus a sprue of clear parts, a set of photo etched parts, and a decal sheet with markings for the motorcycle and uniform patches for the figure. The instruction sheet is very nice: Large, clear, and in color.

The parts are all very cleanly molded, no issues with flash, sink holes or ejector pin marks, and the detail is crisp. The kit also includes plastic jigs for bending the photoetched parts.

The Build

Following the instructions, the build begins with bending the photo-etched parts. The spokes for the wheels are no problem, but the fender supports for the front wheel assembly were a bit challenging. In order to get the proper curve where the supports attach to the front fender, I used a small paintbrush handle, pressing into the cutting matt to get the proper curvature. I couldn’t get a sufficiently curved bend using the jig alone.