Trumpeter 1/35 German 8,8cm Panzerjägerkanone Pak 43 Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The Panzerabwerhkanone (Pak) 43 was an 88mm anti-tank weapon developed by Krupp in competition with the infamous Rheinmetall Flak 41 that made the German '88' a legendary and feared weapon by the allies. While the Flak was used in the anti-tank role in North Africa and other theaters, it was the low-profile Pak 43 that would become the most powerful 88mm weapon in German service.

The Pak 43's deadly combination of penetrating ammunition and high muzzle velocity made it lethal against virtually any allied tank up through the American M26 Pershing and the Sovier IS-2 Stalin. The weapon could be traversed 360 degrees and provided effective protection to its crew from small arms fire.

Unlike the Rheinmetall weapon, the Krupp developed Pak 43 was slow getting into production and the highly efficient cruciform mount was traded for a split-trail carriage from a conventional howitzer to get more guns into the field faster. The gun variant mounted on the howitzer carriage was designated as Pak 43/41

Trumpeter has released another artillery piece into their impressive and growing product line. This release represents the cruciform-mounted Pak 43 and offers its limber wheels the weapon in transport configuration or set aside for firing configuration. The kit has all of the detail and features found in their previous releases for displaying including the ability to move the gun in azimuth as well as elevation.

Molded in tan styrene, this kit is presented on seven parts trees plus one separately packaged carriage part, and three frets of photo-etched parts, one set of rubber tires, and a turned aluminum gun barrel. According to the specs, there are 341 parts in this kit.

What's interesting about this release is that you can build the entire model from the styrene parts which will appeal to the average modeler. Everything you need (plus the rubber tires) can be found on the styrene trees. The AMS modeler will also find everything they need in this kit as well as the gun shields can be built up from the photo-etched parts in place of the plastic sheld and the aluminum gun barrel can replace the styrene barrel in the kit.

Among the features in this kit:

• Highly detailed gun mount
• Choice of very detailed photo-etched armor gun shield or plastic armor
• Carriage and limber wheels have separately molded hubs and tires for easy painting
• Carriage can be posed in transport or firing position
• Choice of plastic or turned aluminum barrel
• Set of styrene ammunition included

No markings are provided in this release as these weapons were not usually marked, though you can find photos of weapons that have been personalized by its crew which would be easy enough to replicate on your own.

This is a very nice release from Trumpeter and kudos for providing a basic kit for average modelers as well as nice photo-etched parts and turned aluminum barrel for AMS modelers as well as those modelers wanting to try out more advanced modeling materials and techniques.

My sincere thanks to Stevens International for this review sample!