Tamiya 35215 WWII German Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf.L 1/35 Scale Plastic Model Kit

Description

Tamiya ventured into the modeling business in 1948, with a scale wooden ship model kit. Since then, Tamiya has been striving to offer merchandise that can truly be called ‘First in Quality Around the World.’ Now Tamiya is offering more than 300 different products, both in the fields of precision static models and high performance radio control vehicles. These products are not only sold in Japan but also exported in vast quantities to the United States, Europe, South East Asia, and to many other parts of the world. The standard of excellence achieved by Tamiya is regarded as among the very finest in the world of model hobbies. The German Pz.Kpfw. III, along with the IV, played an active part in the early stages of WWII as their main strength tanks. However when they encountered the Russian KV and T-34 tanks on the Eastern Front, the weakness of the Pz.Kpfw.III was revealed and the balance of power tipped in favor of the Russians. Thus the pz.Kpfw. III underwent constant improvement throughout its career to maintain an advantage. The Pz.Kpfw. III had a number of types, from the A to N. Among them, the Ausf. L was produced from July 1942. As it was manufactured at the existing tank factory, the basic performance and structure were the same as previous versions with a few modifications. Armament consisted of an improved, long barreled Kwk 50 L/60 tank gun, which was effective against the Russian T34 tanks up to a range of 600m, plus two 7.92mm MG34 machine guns. The armor of the front superstructure was increased to 57mm in thickness, and a 20mm thick spaced armor was added to the gun mantlet as well, which increased the tank’s weight by 200kg. To cope with the added weight, the suspension system was also strengthened. The power plant was a Maybach HL120TRM, V-12, water cooled engine producing 300 horsepower. In total 635 Ausf. L’s were produced by the end of 1942, and many of them saw active service on the Eastern Front and the North African Front. Although its roll was shortly replaced by the Tiger I and the Panther, the durable chassis of the Pz.Kpfw. III was used for self-propelled guns till the end of the war. This finely detailed plastic model kit requires assembly and painting.