Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) Ausf. C/D - 1/72

I completed my first "tank destroyer" this weekend - a quick two day build of a 1/72 Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) Ausf. C/D.

The StuG was the most-produced German tracked armored fighting vehicle of World War II. It wasn't a tank – it was a low-profile assault vehicle built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the turret with an armored superstructure mounting a powerful assault gun. It was initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry in the 1930s (self-propelled, armored artillery was more helpful to infantry), but was eventually used far more often as a “tank destroyer” in the later stages of the war as the Wehrmacht increasingly operated on the defensive. With its low profile the StuG III could more easily ambush advancing Allied tanks, and by the spring of 1944 has counted over 20,000 Russian tanks destroyed.

I picked up this 1/72 Dragon StuG III Ausf. C/D last weekend at Scalefest because the wheels and tracks are one piece and thus far easier to build than the Ausf. G I saw, but also because I wanted to start with one of the early versions of the vehicle with the short 7.5cm gun L/24 KwK 37n gun that was then also being fitted to the Panzer IV, and move to the later long gun version that fought in 1944-45 later. The C/D (there's no external difference) entered service in early 1941, and featured a redesigned superstructure front that dispensed with the front-facing opening for the gunner's sight in favor of a periscope that didn't compromise the frontal armor.

The kit was a good one for my needs. It had less than 40 parts - some of which weren't even used - and ridiculously easy one-piece rubber tracks, road wheels and rollers. The paint schemes were both overall gray 1941 Eastern Front versions, but there was a problem with the subjects. The decal options given were two units of Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 177, the "Prinz Eugen" and the "Seydlitz". The problem is that Prinz Eugen is known to posterity because it was one of two StuGs captured by Soviet forces on August 15, 1941 after hitting mines. And the photos of vehicle #90247 show that it was an Ausf. B with unit markings for the 177th, not a C/D of the 177th.

Fortunately Seydlitz was in the 177th, and there is a photo of it. In the minds of 20th century military historians the name Seydlitz is most often associated with the WW I battlecruiser damaged at Jutland, but in 1941 the tank's crew was probably thinking of the ship's namesake instead, Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, a Prussian general during the reign of King Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War.

The kit decals are too large, but for a small educational build they're acceptable.

Another addition to my armor shelf, beginning a small collection of notable "tank destroyers."

2 additional images. Click to enlarge.