OH MY G*D! That would be awesome if they were coming out with one! I really like the look of that SPG. One can only hope some of the others are in the know and will enlighten us!
They do an excellent model of this in 1/35, and they already have some of the suspension done for the Hetzer (dips into Hetzer box to make sure - yep, early version of the Hetzer, same suspension as the PzKpfw 38t family)..... Depending on which version they do, it would not take much effort for the aftermarket folks to come up with several nice resin/PE conversions. I would assume they'd do the earlier Marder III with the 7.62cm Russian gun amidships, as per the 1/35 kit. That opens the early versions of the PzKpfw 38t family, as that vehicle was a converted turret tank. It also has a lot of character, and it was used in North Africa. Time to sell the children....
" IŽam home darling! Where is our daughter? Oh honey, DidnŽt you have two eyes and both legs this morning ?!?! And that dumper ful of boxes at the garden..... what the fu.k is that? I will sleep by my mother tonight!!! "
Tamiya following Ultimate Soldier diecast offerings?
March 17 2008, 6:29 PM
I find it odd that this rumor of Tamiya bringing out a Marder III in 1/48 arises shortly after Ultimate Soldiers puts out their latest 1/48 diecast offerings of a Marder III and a Panzer 38t. The releases of each company's Wirbelwinds were also close in time. These "toys" have about the same diecast base/plastic top ratio as the Tamiya kits. (There are a few of both on eBay right now if anyone wants to see what they look like. They are available at Toys-R-Us for about $7.00 each.) Is there a relationship between these two companies, or is this just coincidence?
Jim Spellmire
Ultimate Soldiers! Never heard of them. Where have they been hiding? What other subjects have they done. At $7.00! They sound like a real bargin. With the way the dollar is going that would make it only 700yen. Great. Does any one have pics?
I saw those marder III's on ebay also so was thinking this must be a mix-up since the diecast classic armor kit is what's new. We need Tamiya to do one, but there's too many other "early 08" releases to worry about making their appearance before adding this to the list.
Sorry for any mix up, John. These are branded "Classic Armor", which I beleive are from Ultimate Soldier. Their earliest offerings (Kubelwagen, Scwimmwagen, type 170V German staff car, a US jeep and an Amphibious carrier, plus some modern Hummers) were 1/43 scale, and lacked sufficent detail ranking them definitely as toys rather than diecast models (ala Corgi). This line is also available at Wal Mart for about a buck less than Toys-R-Us.
Jim Spellmire
Chris, while they have already done the early Marder III with the Russian 76.2mm gun, they could do the ausf H or the later war ausf M, with the gun in the rear. Either way, we get a proper PzKpfw 38t chassis, and the princes of resin will have a field day. We, of course, go to the poor house....
I remember those, Tim; but weren't they in 1/72?
I expect that if this gets coupled with something, it will be an aircraft like all the other "double packs" of recent date. A Marder protecting a Heinkel He219 A 7 UHU as it takes off. Why not, since this Tamiya aircraft kit also has a diecast cockpit floor just like our armor!
Jim Spellmire
That will give us an easy conversion for the SP 15cm sIG 33 gun and the ammo carrier vehicle, and a slightly more involved conversion for the SP 2cm Flak 38 mount. And, the resin folks can still do the PzKpfw 38t tank and earlier AT gun vehicles from the Tamiya chassis.
