Vintage Classics German Stug III 75mm Assault Gun (1:76)

DETAILS

Designed in 1936 & developed by Daimler-Benz AG, The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most-produced fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle during World War II, and second-most produced German armored combat vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank, replacing the turret with an armored, fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful gun. Initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later Jagdpanzer, was employed as a tank destroyer.

The Sturmgeschütz III-series of vehicles proved very successful and served on all fronts, from Russia to North Africa and Western Europe to Italy, as assault guns and tank destroyers. Because of their low silhouette, StuG IIIs were easy to camouflage and be hidden and were difficult targets to destroy. As of 10 April 1945, there were 1,053 StuG IIIs in German service. The StuG assault guns were cost-effective compared to the heavier German tanks such as the Tiger I and the Panther, although as anti-tank guns they were best used defensively as the lack of a traversable turret and its generally-thin armour was a severe disadvantage in the attack role. As the situation for the German military deteriorated further later in the war, more StuGs were built than tanks, particularly due to its ease of production.

After the Second World War, abandoned German StuG IIIs remained behind in many European nations Germany occupied during the war years, such as in Czechoslovakia, France, Norway and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union also captured hundreds of ex-German StuGs, most ending up being donated to Syria, which continued to use them along with other war surplus armoured fighting vehicles received from the USSR or Czechoslovakia (varying from Panzer IVs and T-34/85s) during the 1950s and up until the "War over Water" against Israel in the mid-1960s. By the time of the Six-Day War in 1967, all of them had been either destroyed, stripped for spare parts, scrapped or emplaced on the Golan Heights as pillboxes. None remain in service today. A few Syrian StuG IIIs ended up in Israeli hands and have become war memorials or simply left rusting away on former battlefields.

Mould Tools made in 1962, pack Illustration by G.Schule, 1963. Enjoy the nostalgia with Airfix Vintage Classics.

This kit represents the STuG III in 1944 German (Western Europe) colours & includes German decals.

This kit comes in moulded grey plastic. Construction & Painting is required

We recommend the use of Deluxe Plastic Kit Glue when building this kit

Specifications

Humbrol Paints required to complete this kit

• No.33 Black
• No.53 Gunmetal
• No.94 Brown Yellow or No.67 Tank Grey