1/32 Marder III & Pz. 38(t)

General custer · Post by **General custer** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:26 pm

I've seen, many thanx. You've right, now I must wait next year.

But I "anxious", because Italians & DAK with sun helmets have been on sale on Internet for 6 months, and did not arrive yet on their premises! Arrived at smalljoes.com only last week! I fear that make similar with these two panzers...

ChairmanMilo · Post by **ChairmanMilo** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:26 pm

I've seen a Marder III on eBay going up past $60 USD....

Just like I said, I'm patient

I'll wait until things get less crazy.

blurx7 · Post by **blurx7** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 4:10 pm

OK, I found both of these today in SE Michigan at TRU. I have been watching several locl stores and these were the first I found around here. There was only one of each so I bought both. I already have a T-38 built from a kit so the difference in scale is kind of interesting. The Marder is way cool!

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:18 pm

Just curious, but has anyone on the west coast - or at least west of the Rockies - seen the new Panzer 38s and Marders yet? I've heard reports coming from the Midwest to the East Coast, but not anywhere west of that.

I've been checking the TRUs in my area very regularly over the past few weeks, but nothing. Given that my stores seem to stock the new stuff slowly, it will probably be a while yet. The stores have gobs of Jagdtigers, Howitzers, and the occasional Sherman Firefly - not to mention all the FOV vheicles.

blurx7 · Post by **blurx7** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:54 pm

I would just be patient, Tman. TRU historically has been much more uniform in their distribution than has WM. My bet is you will see both new tanks within the week.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:33 pm

blurx7 wrote:I would just be patient, Tman. TRU historically has been much more uniform in their distribution than has WM. My bet is you will see both new tanks within the week.

Right on the distribution thing, and that would be good to see them soon, then again, with all the Christmas shoppers...

kimtheredxd · Post by **kimtheredxd** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:44 pm

Nothing in either the Tacoma WA tru or Silverdale WA for the marder maybe early next year plus to that is I will not be broke from Xmas lol

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:19 pm

Found the new Marder and Pz 38's at a Northern, CA TRU.

olifant · Post by **olifant** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:39 pm

kimtheredxd wrote:Nothing in either the Tacoma WA tru or Silverdale WA for the marder maybe early next year plus to that is I will not be broke from Xmas lol

Thanks for the recon kim. I am in the Lacey area and work in Tacoma. Are you out of Silverdale?

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:15 pm

immeww2 wrote:Found the new Marder and Pz 38's at a Northern, CA TRU.

Gosh Darnit!!! Then again, you found the M17 trailer in Nor Cal and I still haven't seen one of those yet in my area. I was in the Fresno TRU today and the situation was pretty scary. The only part of the store that didn't look like a bomb went off was actually the military aisle. Unfortunantly, that meant that most of the same items which were there just before the Christmas rush are still there. Guess I'll have to wait some more...

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:17 pm

That's a bit strange. That same TRU where I found the Marder and Pzr just restocked the M-17 quad trailers. They had eight of them on the shelf. I guess TRU isn't as perfect as we all thought in their distribution system too.

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:08 am

These 2 have shown up in SW MO.

krieglok · Post by **krieglok** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:12 am

Enlighten me here. Does the Marder have the gun fixed in the recoil postion? Are Walmarts not handling 32x anymore? I have to hit the TRUs now instead?

Pardon me as I have been out of operation for a while...

TJ

blurx7 · Post by **blurx7** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:41 am

krieglok wrote:Enlighten me here. Does the Marder have the gun fixed in the recoil postion? Are Walmarts not handling 32x anymore? I have to hit the TRUs now instead?

Pardon me as I have been out of operation for a while...

TJ

Walmart have been universally thin on 21C lately. Except for figures, XD has virtually vanished, and the only 1/32 there lately has been a few shipments of aircraft including the new P-51D. Fear is that WM is dropping 21C.

Rowsdower · Post by **Rowsdower** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:27 pm

Besides the three XD BBD Mustangs I saw marked down to $15 a piece at one WM yesterday, I haven't seen any XD vehicles or aircraft at all since the beginning of the year. They do still carry the figures however. Even the stickers on the shelves for 1:18 planes and armor have been removed and replaced with Spiderman stuff. Looks like XD is dead and buried at WM, at least in my AO

As for 32x, there are tons of P-40's and BF-109E's and higher but no sign of any new aircraft. Of course I never saw one of the P-51B/C Mustangs at any WM so it's not big surprise. I haven't seen a tank at WM besides in the playsets for quite a while either.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:42 pm

Well, I partially lucked out and found a lone 32x Marder tank destroyer at the Clovis, CA. TRU! The Panzer 38T must have already been taken, and wasn't hiding in the overhead bin or on top of the shelf. A partial victory nonetheless

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:22 pm

Well, I partially lucked out and found a lone 32x Marder tank destroyer at the Clovis, CA. TRU! The Panzer 38T must have already been taken, and wasn't hiding in the overhead bin or on top of the shelf. A partial victory nonetheless

Glad to hear you scored T

Overall, I think the Marder is very nice, my biggest complaint is that the gun barrel is molded in the recoiled position. If it had to be molded in a fixed position, I think I would have preferred to have it fully extended, what are your thoughts on this??

blurx7 · Post by **blurx7** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:57 pm

The gun on mine moves back and forth.

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:55 pm

The gun on mine moves back and forth.

Well mine does too Geoff, the problem is it will only go forward just so far, and then it hits a firm stop point, basically it will only go as far forward as what you see in this pic (click to enlarge)....

Now, look at this pic of the same model from Tamiya... http://tamiyausa.com/articles/ln/pictur ... img=16.jpg you can see the barrel sticks out quite a lot further on the Tamiya model. I'm no expert on the Marder, but this was discussed in a previous thread here, and the consensus was that the 21C Marder gun is modeled in the recoil position. At any rate, that's as far as mine will go forward, and I don't want to try and force it.

Jagdpanther · Post by **Jagdpanther** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:38 pm

ostketten wrote:
The gun on mine moves back and forth.
Well mine does too Geoff, the problem is it will only go forward just so far, and then it hits a firm stop point, basically it will only go as far forward as what you see in this pic (click to enlarge)....

Now, look at this pic of the same model from Tamiya... http://tamiyausa.com/articles/ln/pictur ... img=16.jpg you can see the barrel sticks out quite a lot further on the Tamiya model. I'm no expert on the Marder, but this was discussed in a previous thread here, and the consensus was that the 21C Marder gun is modeled in the recoil position. At any rate, that's as far as mine will go forward, and I don't want to try and force it.

I want one so bad, hope they show up very very soon!

Jagdplastic · Post by **Jagdplastic** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 8:43 pm

The gun on the Marder will back out completely from its cradle, but then it will stick on the muzzle brake. At this point if you turn the gun 90 degrees and apply steady pressure pulling the gun toward the back of the vehicle keeping the muzzle brake at the bottom of the opening in the gun shield where the opening is largest, it will pull free. Once the gun is free, file down the sides of the gun that stick on the gun shield. I used a Dremel, but some other sanding method should do. Then, repeat the process in reverse that you used to remove the gun and, if you filed enough away, the gun will slide forward appropriately.

On mine, once the gun was free, I was able to remove the gun cradle as well, but that may not be necessary to get the job done.

I have also seen some examples where the gun was already in the appropriate position, but most were in the recoil position. Maybe you'll be lucky and find one that's OK.

Good luck and happy holidays.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:18 pm

Yes, the Marder is quite nice. I'm very tempted to sneak away at some point tomorrow to go check the other TRU in my area to see if I can find the Panzer 38, but then I'll probably wait a day or so...

mikeg · Post by **mikeg** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:30 pm

They're in Atlanta at TRU

blurx7 · Post by **blurx7** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:16 am

ostketten wrote:
The gun on mine moves back and forth.
Well mine does too Geoff, the problem is it will only go forward just so far, and then it hits a firm stop point, basically it will only go as far forward as what you see in this pic (click to enlarge)....

Now, look at this pic of the same model from Tamiya... http://tamiyausa.com/articles/ln/pictur ... img=16.jpg you can see the barrel sticks out quite a lot further on the Tamiya model. I'm no expert on the Marder, but this was discussed in a previous thread here, and the consensus was that the 21C Marder gun is modeled in the recoil position. At any rate, that's as far as mine will go forward, and I don't want to try and force it.

I see what you mean. Sounds like a job for the dremel.

AlloySkull · Post by **AlloySkull** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:45 am

It's not MOLDED in the recoil position. With some gentle pushing, you can "unlock" it and be able to move it back and forth at will. Mine was packaged in the recoil position, I think they're might be a reason to this, but I've yet to figure one out. Mine is fully forward now.

I did hit the stopping point, but I obsessed with it and got it fully forward. I also had to do this with my 1:18 Pak-40 Hanomag. It's just that because the parts are so much smaller, the paint creates a lot more friction than would be on larger pieces. You just have to work with it, and be gently rough (oxymoron, I know) and it should work.

I don't care if the barrel is 2 mm too short. This is one of the best armor pieces ever created by 21st and it is amazing to look at, and when I first took it out of the box (which I do with all of my stuff) I was awestruck by the detail and the paint quality. If my Henschel King Tiger were of this magnitude, I would definately be more inclined to use it in dioramas than my FOV Tiger I. Don't get my wrong, I love all my 21st armor, but the Marder III and the 38t were huge stepping stones in affordable, pre-painted, pre-built plastic models. These things are eye candy for under 20 bucks.

I still need to grab a 38t, but I've seen it in person, and it's amazing.

But yes, even if your Marder's gun sticks a little, work with it, modify it, because for 20 bucks (after tax) this kind of detail is so amazing, it's worth the trouble. Nothing's perfect, and never has been, but I'm glad it's something that is fixeable by something we call can do, i.e. sanding, and not like huge paint flaws, bent parts, etc.

My .02 cents.

P.S. Most pieces don't have the recoil feature, we're pretty lucky.