Marder III Sd.139 WWII German self-propelled gun WWII 1/72 WWII military VEHICLE scale plastic model kit UniModels (UM) 347 Manufacturer: Universal Models / UniModels / UM (Ukraine) Scale: 1/72 Material: Plastic Condition: New in Box Number of parts: 162parts + 10 photo-etched parts The Marder III is the name for a series of World War II German tank destroyers built on the chassis of the Panzer 38(t). The German word Mardermeans "marten" in English. They were in production from 1942 to 1944 and served on all fronts until the end of the war.Even in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht already felt the need for a more mobile and more powerful anti-tank solution than the existing towed anti-tank guns such as Pak 36 or tank destroyers like thePanzerjäger I. This need became urgent in June 1941, when anti-tank shells failed to penetrate the armour of new Soviet tanks like the T-34 and KV-1.