Artitec StuG III Version G assault howitzer  
    

Artitec 87.040 Highlights:

Model: Artitec's 87.040 1/87 scale StuG III Version G assault howitzer is a resin kit and is unpainted.

Prototype: The StuG III, or Sturmgeschütz (assault gun) III, was originally designed in the late 1930s as an assault artillery platform to support infantry in attacks on pillboxes and other fixed fortifications. It utilized the chassis of the Panzer III and was originally armed with a low velocity short-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 gun, firing high explosive shells. When the Wehrmacht’s Panzer III and IV tanks ran up against the better-protected Soviet T-34 and KV-1, there was an immediate need for an effective mobile anti-tank gun. In early 1942 the StuG III was armed with a high-velocity 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 gun and became the predecessor for later Jagdpanzer, or tank destroyers. The gun was mounted into a fixed position, making the StuG III easier and cheaper to produce than a tank with a rotating turret. While the StuG III had to maneuver to fire the gun could be traversed sideways 25° to 30°. An MG 34 machine mount was added to the top of the vehicle for protection against enemy infantry. The StuG III Ausf. G is the 1943-and-later version of the vehicle which mounted armor plates, or Schürzen, on its sides for additional protection and it was armed with the longer-barreled 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. After November 1943 StuG III Ausf. G models had a more angled and rounded gun mantlet, referred to as Saukopf (pig’s head), which proved to be more effective at deflecting enemy shells. More StuG IIIs were produced than any other German armored vehicle during the war.