07259 1/72 German Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. F Plastic Model Kit

The StuG III (Sturmgeschutz III) was a German armored gun from the Second  World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1937, and  serial production continued in the period 1940-1945, ending with the  production of about 10,300 vehicles. The StuG III in the E version was  powered by a single Maybach HL 120 TRM engine with 300 hp. It was armed  (version E) with a 75mm short-barreled cannon. and 1 MG34 machine gun  cal. 7.92 mm.

 The StuG III was created as a result of an initiative undertaken by  Erich von Manstein, who in a letter to General Beck in 1935 signaled the need to create assault artillery for the advancing infantry within the  mechanized units of the Wehrmacht. Ultimately, the order to design a new vehicle was commissioned to Daimler-Benz, which in turn used the  chassis of the PzKpfw III Ausf. B. Several versions of the StuG III gun  were produced during series production. Chronologically, the first was  the A version, armed with the 75mm Stuk 37 L / 24 gun and based on the  chassis of the PzKpfw III Ausf tanks. F and G and produced from the  beginning of 1940. Soon after, version B was created - the first one to  be produced on a large scale, which differed only slightly from the  version A. In 1941, version D, which had better armor and sights,  entered the production. The E version was quickly created, which was the first to receive additional armament in the form of the MG34 machine  gun. At the beginning of 1942, the StuG III underwent a major  modification to become actually a tank destroyer by installing a  long-barreled 75mm StuK 40 L / 48 gun. The designation of the car was  also changed to StuG 40. In the period 1940-1945, the StuG III served on almost all fronts on which the German army fought. It turned out to be a very useful weapon, cheap to produce and, most importantly, effective.  It is estimated that different versions of the StuG were responsible for the destruction of approximately 20,000 Soviet tanks and armored  vehicles in 1941-1945.