Not A Tank.... A Tank Destroyer

      This is my latest model....It is a German
World War II Sturmgeschutz Sdkfz.167..  It was the
forerunner of todays mechanized artillery. It was NOT
classified as a tank since it does not have a rotating 
turret. The 75 millimeter high velocity main gun could
only change elevation and all panning sideways was

accomplished by moving the left or right tracks. Since they did not have a turret it was easier to build. The top half of the 'Stug' was built on the chassis of the Mark III German tank. The word 'Sturmgeschutz' translates to 'assault gun'. Over ten thousand of these vehicles were built by the Germans because of their success in the early years of the war. They are said to have destroyed over 20,000 enemy vehicles (mostly Russian T-34 tanks on the Eastern Front). The Sturmgeschutz had a crew of four men and usually was among the leading edge of all Panzer attacks.
   My model is painted to resemble the vehicles used in the Ardennes Offensive, more commonly referred to
as The Battle of the Bulge. The Germans painted their
tanks and trucks to blend in with the snow storm of
December 1944. Infantrymen cut holes in the middle
of sheets and wore them to make themselves more
difficult to stand out in the snow.