Hello everyone,

I just got a Tamiya 75 mm Pak 40 Anti-tank gun to use as a quick build. When I finish the kit I think I will build a small dio just to get in some practice. My main question is "How were these guns used in the field." I have a mental picture of the gun located back in some trees with camo netting over the top and maybe around the front. There would be some low bushes in the front and the backside would be worn down to bare earth from the crew prepping the site and operating the gun.

Am I incorrect in this setting? My problem is I am actually a model railroad and aircraft guy and don't have the background to just know what would be right.

The markings show german grey or dark yellow with green spots. I would assume the german grey would be more fitting in a woodlands setting.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

James Nichols

Your setting is right on. For the color, it would depend on the year you are depicting. I believe the German Army switched to the dark yellow with green and brown camo in '43 for all vehicles.

You've got it pretty much spot on with the setting. How well dug in the gun is would depend on how much time the crew had to prepare its position. Often branches would be used instead of camo nets. I'm looking at a photo of a PAK 40 right now taken in Normandy with the gun just set up hastily on the edge of the road with some branches draped over the shield. Camo nets and/or branches would sometimes be draped all the way down the barrel and not just on the gun shield to brake up the outline of the long tube. Another picture in the same book shows a PAK 36 being towed by a Renault UE and the crew has draped a tarp of some kind over the gun shield with holes cut in it and branches threaded through the holes. From a modelling standpoint this is a bit more involved of course.

For paint, Panzer Grey would be appropriate up to mid-43. Yellow, Brown and Green camo after that.

This weekend BTW I am finishing a similar quickie diorama using Tamiya's 3.7cm PAK 36. The gun went together in one day, just have to paint the crew and do the base.