The Hamfisted Modeller: 1/48 Tamiya Marder III - 19 Tank Destroyer Battalion 19 Panzer Division

Saturday, 8 July 2023

1/48 Tamiya Marder III - 19 Tank Destroyer Battalion 19 Panzer Division

Depicted as a vehicle from 19 Tank Destroyer Battalion 19 Panzer Division in Russia, Winter 1942.

This was built for the 2023 NSW Scale Model Competition's "Panzer Tracks" trophy. For the record it didn't win.

The Kit

Tamiya 1/48 German Tank Destroyer Marder III, (Kit No.32560)

Aftermarket

Some resin bits from the spares box.

The Build

Construction is straight forward although, due to the open fighting compart it look a bit longer than a subject with a turret. I painted and did some preliminary weathering on the lower hull before attaching the upper hull

The lower Hull was masked off with Al foil before painting the upper assembly. SMS Panzer grey was used as the base coat.

Painting and Weathering

The painting process was first a coat of SMS German grey. Then a coat of hairspray. Then Tamiya Flat white with a dollop of grey.

This was chipped really heavily before it was all filled in with the Tamiya White/Grey mix. All the details were picked out with various Vallejo Acrylics.

Washes were various shades of Mr Weathering Color mixed to get dark greys. Pigments were used for the exhaust.

I have small group of mates who provided some valuable feedback throughout the process (Thanks Bruce , Sam and AP). One of the big tips was to up the chipping around areas the crew would touch – obvious really. A sponge was used for this

To finish the vehicle off I added some random bits of gear and stowage. The 75mm shell casings were for a Stug but I figured they were close enough. I painted the necks with dark iron to simulate the heat from firing. The box and other bits and pieces were from various aftermarket sets I’ve collected over the years.

The Base

The base was made from insulation foam. I then covered it with artists texture paste mixed with brown paint and dirt from the garden to give it some more texture.

The foliage is various “tufts” and some dried grass from the compost. The tree is also from the garden.

Once the ground work was completed I primed everything with Mr Surfacer mahogany then painted the vegetation with Tamiya Dark yellow, buff and deck tan.

White was also used for a base snow layer. I used white pigment for the rest of the snow. I tried some AK Snow Sprinkles for wet snow but didn’t like how they looked.