Hello,
For some time now I have been working on the vehicles of the German tank troops during the Polish campaign. I was particularly impressed by the early variants of the Panzerkampfwagen III. In total, only 87 PzKpfw III (Ausf.A to E) were in service in September 1939. There were also another 30 Panzerbefehlswagen III of the D1 and E versions.
Particularly interesting is the Panzer Regiment 1, which was not only equipped with this medium tank above average with 20 PzKpfw III and one PzBefWg III Ausf.D1, but there are also a number of photos (the vehicles are very easy to identify due to their markings), and the regiment was proven to have all five different early variants in use side by side. That's why I decided to have fun and build models from all the different versions of the PzKpfw III of the 1st Panzer Regiment in 1/72.
The model kit is from the "World at War" series (W006) from IBG. The decals come from the spare parts box. The kit includes markings for the tank "222", which was also a vehicle of the Panzer Regiment 1. I like quick kits like these that do without unnecessary parts. The only drawback are the tracks with the unsightly running and driving wheels, which are made of solid material.
The historical model, the "213", was a Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf.B of the 1st platoon of the 2nd company (Panzer Regiment 1). The commander was Unteroffizier Heinz Jens. The tank was knocked out on September 5th near Petrikau and was then recovered and taken to a material collection point where the photo (found on the Internet) was presumably taken.
So the first of six PzKpfw III/PzBefWg III models of the Panzer Regiment 1 in Poland is finished!
Best regards,
Andreas
