I bought this excellent kit above that gives one several options of making up three German 38t light tanks or three of the Marder variants contained in the box. So having bought two boxes i had lots of parts going spare for the 38t ,and parts for the two types of Marder variants. The box includes lots of figures too,and ( i ) HIGHLY RECOMMEND this Kit.
The six spare Guns can be used within scratch built bunkers. the six spare tank turrets will be used on my railway project.
The box above i bought,and the light tanks included are very easy to construct and look the part but having so many parts over from the PLASTIC SOLDIER boxes i decided to wield Excalibur my craft knife and cut and convert these two light tanks.
My thoughts upon the subject of tank conversions is if the Germans could take this Czech designed Panzer Tank and up- gun it and convert it then so could i.The Marder Variant shown above is the one i will construct,and all Marder types used throughout the war by the Germans were open topped.but with a canvas top providing cover for the crew and gun. They were Assault Guns rather than Panzerjager but they could exchange shells with enemy tanks. So other than the front,little protection for the crew was provided,but these were tank killers mounted with captured field artillery and they could with their anti-tank shells deal quite effectivly with the new Russian built tanks. Some would also tow extra field artillery or anti-aircraft guns too. So these captured tank conversions were a very cheap effective option for the German army that needed extra firepower quick.
My Conversion
With the turret removed,the back half of the tank top was cut away to create room for the new top section seen in the picture. It was tuff going work with the craft knife,because the plastic is very hard. Finally it was cut away and the ruff edges tidied up.
Before all that Cut ,Slash ,and Hacking took place i did remove the wheel and tracked sides.
Once the new top was glued in place all that was required was using the plans again.
Above one of the spare Guns. Below the Figures.
One figure has his right arm longer than his legs,but it can be replaced using the extra arms on the Sprue.
The pieces cut away are seen in the pictures.
The other light tank was converted too,from the spare parts,which now provided me with an extra two Tank Killers. The Motto ,"Waste Not ,Want Not "comes to mind. BB
