UMmt 3.7cm Pak35/36 and Related Kits Comparison

This is an in the box compare and contrast kit preview of six small scale artillery pieces released by UM. These diminutive artillery kits are reviewed together as they are all related and share most common parts. All these guns represent the German 37-mm Pak 35/36 anti tank guns and its German and Soviet developments. There are two gun kits in each box. The German Pak 36 served as the father for many small caliber anti tank guns such as the similar Soviet 37-mm and 45-mm guns, the US M3 anti tank gun, the Hungarian 40M 40-mm gun, and the Japanese Type 94 37-mm gun.

I do not intend this to be a research article or detailing guide, but I will share some assessment of the details that are obvious.

Kit 409

The box art of kit 409 represents two Soviet Army 45-mm anti tank guns of World War 2, both used throughout WW2 and the Korean War. Both look to be pretty accurate paintings of the two weapons.

In the background is the 53-K M1937 version with the initial, shorter length barrel. The wire spoke, motorcycle-like, wheels are characteristic of this gun. It has a gun shield with a top that folds down, very much like the German Pak 36. In the shield we can see the small square opening for the gun sight left (our right) of the gun barrel. This M1937 gun can also be used to represent a Soviet M30 37mm antitank gun, the predecessor of the 45mm gun.

In the foreground is the later Soviet M42 45mm anti tank gun which has a longer-caliber gun barrel, new style wheels, and a front shield that does not fold down lower. The longer barrel was a way to get a little more velocity and tank killing ability out of this relatively petite gun. Here we have a pretty accurate depiction of the gun elevation and traverse handwheels and the gun sight. Except for the barrel length this gun appears the same as its parent Pak 36 gun.

On the back of the boxes are 3-view paintings showing the recommended colors of the guns and the ammunition boxes, and the colors for the ammunition and tires. This box art is of kit 409. Both guns are painted in a plain olive green color. In this case I disagree with the use of Matt Black for the tires, from a distance the tires will actually appear dark gray

Kit 605

UM Military Technics' kit 605 depicts other developments of the Pak 36: The earlier Soviet 45mm 19-K anti tank gun in the background, and in the foreground the Soviet OB-25 76mm regimental howitzer, also referred to as an Infantry Gun. The 19-K I have little information on other than it being a version of the 45mm gun in UM kit 409 with wooden spoke wheels.

The OB-25 76mm regimental artillery has pneumatic tires like the M42 gun in kit 409, a modified gun shield from the anti tank guns, and the short 76mm regimental gun barrel. A good way for the Red Army to use an existing carriage for a needed support weapon, something the Germans did with their Pak 36 carriage.

On the ground next to the guns is ammunition and boxes, also present within kit.

Kit 606

The last kit in this series shows the parent of these guns: the German 3.7-cm Pak 36 (Panzerabwehrkanone 36) in the background, and in the foreground a 4.2-cm Pak 41 (Panzerjagerkanone 41) which is a 'taper bore' gun mounted on a modified Pak 36 carriage. These look to be reasonably accurate paintings of the respective guns. The guns are painted in a pre-1943 dark gray color.

The Pak 41 in the foreground differs from its parent Pak 36 in having a longer tapered gun barrel and a simpler gun shield with a top part that does not fold down. The 4.2-cm Pak 41 was an interesting gun in that the gun barrel tapers from about 4-cm down to about 3-cm forcing the tungsten cored projectile out at a significantly higher velocity. Another difference from the Pak 36 was that the 4.2-cm Pak 41 had a shield of two layers.

On the ground in front of each gun are stacked ammunition, which is not where I would pile my ammunition in a combat area. On the ground next to the Pak 36 is a large Stielgranate 41 hollow charge projectile grenade.

The Parts

Each box comes with two guns and about each gun has about 40 to 45 medium green colored, injection molded, styrene plastic parts and two etched brass frets of about 11 to 13 parts, depending on the particular kit. The number of parts will vary depending on the gun kit. The parts are well molded with few problems like mold-seam edges, sink holes and ejector pin marks.

Kit 409 here includes two identical sprue so for this model kit either gun can be built from either sprue. The difference between the two guns is the choice of the original 1937 gun barrel (part 11) or the long gun barrel for the model 1942 gun (part 10)

We get two sets of wheels (parts 2 and 5) so we will have extra wheels when done. I am disappointed with the wire spoke wheels for the M1937 gun (parts 2) as the spokes are molded as raised ribs on a solid disc but unless these spokes can be done with fine etched brass, this may be something we do not have choice in.

For this particular kit the rear section of the gun having the breach (part 13) is the same but we have choice of two gun barrels (parts 10 or part 11).

The two etched brass frets are identical for this particular kit. Each gun shield is compromised of one large part and six smaller sections that are glued on top of the lower shield part 40B. For scale accuracy it would be nice to have a one-piece etched brass gun shield but this is still better than the typical molded plastic shield

These parts from kit 605 are for the OB-25 regimental gun. The sprue is almost the same as that in Kit 409 except the gun barrel parts are replaced by a separate sprue containing parts 12 and 13, and the 45-mm ammunition is replaced by 76-mm ammunition (parts 2).

The brass fret at far left holds parts for the OB-25 gun shield, grab handles for the trails, and inserts for the ammunition crate. The fret and gun shield is similar but not the same as in the other UM kits

The kit 605 sprue for the 45-mm gun is not depicted here as I had already assembled the 19-K anti tank gun model, but it is very similar to the other UM sprues except for the gun barrel, shield, wheels and ammunition. The assembled but unpainted gun is below, with the etched brass shield cut to portray it folded down.

45mm Anti Tank Gun 19K (1932) kit with wood spoke wheels. The wood spoke wheels indicated a gun that was towed by horses. Don't forget to add braces to hold up the parts of the shield folded forward.

45mm Anti Tank Gun 19K (1932) from kit 605. The rear face of the shield is missing some rivet details. The wheel hubs need correcting.

Kit 606 supplies two identical sprues for the German 3.7-cm Pak 36 and the 4.2-cm Pak 41 guns. The sprue are almost the same as for kits 409 and 605 except for the wheels, and that the two gun barrels are on a separate sprue particular for this kit.

The top etched brass fret is for the Pak 36 and is the same as in kit 409; in addition to the shield parts it has two handles for the trails.

The lower brass fret holds parts for the Pak 41 anti tank gun. This fret also has a shovel, fins for the Stielgranate 41 projectile, and ammunition boxes for the Pak 36 and Pak 41. The shield is different from the Pak 36 shield in that the top part does not fold down forward. What is interesting is that the Pak 41 was produced with a double shield like the double shield on the Pak 38 and Pak 40. The outer shield represented on the UM etched brass was designed to attach to the regular Pak 36 gun shield. Unfortunately UM does not supply the inner Pak 36 shield. We will have to steal or scratchbuild a Pak 36 shield and detail the parts based on references. This issue and a correction is described more thoroughly in Al Magnus' article below (reference [3]).

My partially assembled 4.2-cm Pak 41 model from kit 606 has some scratchbuilt details based on my reference photos, and replacement elevation and traverse wheels I took from a DML kit.

This photo represents how UM instructs us to assemble the Pak 41 model, other than a scratchbuilt box evident in one of my reference photos, but not present in others. In addition to the additional shield, the Pak 41 differed from the Pak 36 in switching from a coil spring suspension for the carriage to a torsion bar suspension.

Assembly Instructions

Above are the assembly instructions from Kit 409 for the 45mm M42 gun and the 76mm OB 25 regimental gun. Since this one plan covers both guns be careful not to get the parts mixed up. For example, in Step 4 the part 2A wheels are for the short barrel M37 45-mm anti tank gun while part 5A wheels are for the longer wheeled M42 45mm gun model.

In Step 1 of the above instructions we see the complex assembly of the five-part breach allowing us to model the sliding block breach open or closed. Most small scale artillery does not offer this option. The UM breach parts are pretty small and will need some careful clean-up with a small file.

Above are the assembly instructions from 4.2-cm Pak 41 and ammunition box in Kit 409. The instructions are similar to the instructions for the guns in kits 605 and 606, except for the color of the ink.

Conclusions

These three UM kits do not have the detail and molding quality of Revell and Heller small scale models for example, but are decent and many of these artillery models like the OB25 and Pak 41 are not commonly available even in resin. In order to get as many gun variants as possible out of the basic Pak 36, UM compromised on some details but I give UM credit for the alterations they did do to the sprue with different gun barrels, wheels and ammunition.

All the wheels supplied have soft or missing tire tread, not an uncommon problem for small scale tires. The brass parts are a very good addition to the kits and I appreciate them, but do not expect the etched brass quality you typically expect from Part or Eduard.

These kits were purchased by the reviewer.

References

[1] German Artillery of World War Two, by Ian V. Hogg, Stackpole Books and Greenhill Books (1997), ISBN 1-85367-261-0

Article Last Updated: 27 February 2015