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Marder! Detailing Tamiya's SdKfz 139 Marder III

That Russian Gun
I started on the gun next. I assembled the gun barrel, cradle and trunion without modification or trouble. The seam down the middle of the cradle was sanded away, no filler needed here! The rivet detail that was sanded away was replaced with sliced Evergreen rod. More sliced rod and stretched sprue was used to add various bolt and grease nipple detail all around the trunion. I decided early on to include the chains that connect the equilibrators with the gun cradle. This means that the gun on my model will not be able to raise and lower in elevation. The parts were first given their first coat of Polly S Dark yellow and glued together. I used medium sized anchor chain from a 1/700 scale photo-etched (PE) anchor set from Gold Medal Models. The connecting shaft from the elevation control wheel to the elevation gears was added, passing through the elevation gear (the white rod in the picture to the right).

The telescopic gun-sight had the eyecup drilled out and the smallest Grief lens added. The telescopic gun-sight was added to the gun-sight bracket and the assembly added to the trunion. It was at this point that I noticed that the trigger arm for the gunner was missing. This was fashioned from shaped and flattened copper wire. A bracket for the trigger was made from slices of I-section Evergreen strip. A safety pin and chain from were also added.

The gun-shield was put together next. Retaining straps and L-brackets were added to the gas mask containers and the toolboxes. Retaining bolt heads were added to the two brackets that held the sliding portion of the gun shield in place, five bolt heads each. The interior of the gun-shield was painted before attaching to the gun trunion.