Well everyone has been at it (or plans one it seems) but now Bronco has the lead as they reveal their feature set of this new 35th scale WWII German Assault Gun Sturmgeschütz III Ausf E (SdKfz 142) tank. See what’s coming on their version our preview…
New StuG for June 2016 from Bronco Models
WWII German Assault Gun Sturmgeschütz III Ausf E (SdKfz 142)
Kit No# CB35118
1/35th scale
Kit comes with photo etch, copper cable
Decals for two StuG IIIE
Production specs…Ausf E, in production from September 1941 – March 1942 with a total of 272 having gone into service…
Firstly, some pictures and history of the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf E (SdKfz 142)
The Sturmgeschütz Ausf.E was the final version of the StuG III assault gun to carry the short 7.5cm gun and to be designed as a close support vehicle for the infantry. The Ausf.E was fairly similar to the Ausf.C and Ausf.D. The main change was the installation of an armoured pannier on the right-hand side of the superstructure and an increase in the size of the pannier on the left. The extra space was used to carry the radio sets needed when the StuG III was used as a command vehicle. The extra space also allowed another eight rounds of ammunition to be carried.
The installation of the second pannier and the increase in the size of the original one meant that the track guards needed to be redesigned, and the 8mm slanted armour on the sides of the superstructure was removed.
A total of 500 Ausf.Es were ordered, but only 272 were completed before production switched to the Ausf.F with its long gun. One Ausf.E was used as the prototype for the StuH (a StuG carrying a howitzer) and another for the prototype of the StulG33B (an attempt to carry a 15cm gun on a StuG).
The StuG III Ausf.E was used to replace combat losses suffered on the Eastern Front. After production of the short-gunned StuG ended in March 1942 the number in service began to fall, until July 1943, only 37 were still in combat
The feature set promised with this new variant from Bronco Models…
We will bring you more from Bronco on this and all of their other new kits as soon as we have the info. Expect these to hit around February 2016. For more info check out the Bronco Models Website.
