4.7cm PAK (t) auf G.W. R-35  Panzerjager

4.7cm Pak (t) auf G. W. R-35 Panzerjager, by Brian Bocchino

HISTORY:

     During the 1940 German invasion of France, numerous vehicles were captured (many intact) from the French.  Captured vehicles included numerous Renault R-35 tanks.  These vehicles were put into German service as both tanks or converted into other platforms/uses.  One such conversion was the mounting of the Czechoslovakian 4.7cm Anti-tank gun onto the chassis.  This vehicle was ordered into service as the replacement to the Panzerjager I (Panzer I with the Czechoslovakian 4.7cm gun) on December 25th 1940.  Thus the vehicle became Germany's 2nd Panzerjager.  A total of 174 Renault R-35 were converted by October 1941 and issued to Panzerjager detachments along with 26 unconverted command vehicles in secondary theaters.  By the beginning of 1944, 110 vehicles were still in service.  There is photographic evidence of these vehicles having seen service in the Normandy area.  Many of these vehicles were issued to the 22nd Panzer Division. 

      While this vehicle provided improved protection to the crew versus the Panzerjager I, it still suffered from an exposed open fighting compartment.  The vehicle weighed 10.5 tons, had a crew of 3 (sometimes 4), a speed of 19 km/hr and a range of 140 km.  There is at least 1 museum vehicle, I have a Japanese Tank Magazine special that shows a picture from Panzer Museum Thun, which I have never heard of but from the photos they appear to have, or had an extensive collection of vehicles.

REFERENCES:

     Panzerjager Sturm and Drang #6, Delta Publishing Company, Nov. 93
     Panzerjager by Horst Scheibert, Schiffer Military History series
     Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War 2 by Chamberlain, Doyle, Jentz; Arms and Armor Press
     D-Day Tank Warfare by Steve Zaloga and George Balin, Concord Publications

MODEL: 

     The kit is produced by Ironside, a subsidiary of the French manufacturer Azimut Productions, and is kit number IR002.  The kit is multi-media and consists of plastic, resin, white metal, and photo-etch parts.  It is both a conversion and a complete kit.  No decals are included.

     The model is based on the old Heller Renault R-35 kit.  The Heller released this model years ago and by today's standards, the basic model is fair.  The two biggest drawbacks are the tools and ejector marks everywhere, including on outside detail.  You will definitely need to raid the spares' box for some decent tools and plenty of putty.  Ironside has replaced the Heller rubber-band tracks with a set of non-workable ModelKasten Renault R-35 track links. There are 65 sprues of tracks with 4 links per sprue.  According to the instructions, you will need 127 links per side leaving 6 spares. 

     The upper hull requires modification.  Assembly requires that the portion where the turret would mount on the tank version be cut away.  Unfortunately, this is left kind of vague.  There is a diagram shown on the instructions with the area cut away, but it is not clearly defined.  To make the modifications, photocopy the drawing and tape to the hull to use for a guide.  The new fighting compartment will sit on top. 

     The primary resin pieces include an interior floor, driver's compartment, transmission, 4.7cm gun, and upper fighting compartment.  The resin is of high quality.  Almost no air bubbles in my example.  Considering that this model is several years old now and that resin production methods have improved over the past several years, I still say that it is on par with today's standards.  I always thought that Ironside was supposed to be the economic/lower quality side of ADV/Azimut.  However, I think the resin parts/moldings in this kit is better than any of the resin in the main line ADV/Azimut kits that I have built. 

     There are two major white metal parts, which are the replacement drive wheels.  Also in white metal are some support handles and levers for use with the 4.7cm gun.  The 12 photo-etch pieces are primarily brackets that support the rear of the fighting compartment (where the ammo was stored) and the driver's dashboard.