Welcome to part 4 of Building Italeri’s Battle of Berlin Set. I have finished building and painting the remaining German units from the battle set, which includes the PaK 40 anti-tank gun and the last sprue of elite German infantry.
The successor of the Pak 38 anti-tank gun, the development of the 7.5cm PaK 40 (Panzerabwehrkanone 40) started in 1939 when Berlin received information of new Soviet tank designs with superior armour. The PaK 40 entered service in 1942, and by the end of the war some 23,303 PaK 40 anti-tank guns were produced. Italeri’s PaK 40 anti-tank gun is a soft plastic kit that includes 6 artillerymen.
PaK 40 anti-tank gun sprue: side 1
PaK 40 anti-tank gun sprue: side 2
As a novice model builder, I ran into some challenges while building this kit; as a result, I made some mistakes along the way (making mistakes are part of any learning process). First, I attached the lower gun shield (I am not sure if this is correct term) upside down. Second, I had trouble figuring out where one of the artillerymen goes (the figure in the squat position); thus, I omitted this figure, leaving a crew of 5. Finally, I glued the artilleryman opening the ammo box on the wrong side of the box (he was supposed to be opening the ammo box from behind, not in front).
PaK 40 anti-tank gun: side 1
PaK 40 anti-tank gun: side 2
There are 16 figures included in each Elite German Infantry sprue. Each sprue includes the following:
- Four soldiers with Karabiner 98k rifles (one soldier has a scoped rifle)
- Four soldiers with MP40 submachine guns (one soldier is wearing a peaked cap and a Fallschirmjager smock)
- Three soldiers with StG 44 assault rifles
- Two soldiers with MG 42 machine guns
- One soldier operating a mortar
- One soldier with a Panzerfaust
- One soldier with a Panzerschreck.
Elite German Infantry sprue: side 1
Elite German Infantry sprue: side 2
As with the previous sprue of German infantry (please see part 3 for more details), I used the Eichenlaubmuster (Oak Leaf A) camouflage pattern for these figures (as well, I used this camouflage pattern for the PaK 40 crew). The infantrymen represent soldiers of the Waffen-SS, as Eichenlaubmuster camouflage was used exclusively by the Waffen-SS. Since both Elite German Infantry sprues are identical, I combined the two patterns of Eichenlaubmuster camouflage (the spring and fall patterns) with pieces of clothing coloured in German Military Green. This was done to give each German Infantryman in this set a unique look.
Waffen-SS Infantry (1): front
Waffen-SS Infantry (1): back
Waffen-SS Infantry (2): front
Waffen-SS Infantry (2): back
Waffen-SS Infantry (3): side 1
Waffen-SS Infantry (3): side 2
The below photos include miniatures/models from previous posts.
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