38cm RW61 Sturmmorser Tiger Tank

Vehicle History:

The Sturmmorser (official name Sturmmorserwagen 606/4 mit 38 en RW 61) is commonly called the Sturmtiger (Assault Tiger) by most modelers. It was a vehicle built on a Tiger I lower hull, equipped with a large casemate and designed to hurl a 380 mm rocket to a distance of 6000 meters. Since a 210 mm howitzer was not available at the time Sturmtigers were ready for production, it was decided to adapt a depth charge launcher used by the Kreigsmarine.  Besides having a crew of 5, the Sturmtiger carried 14 rounds, was equipped with a 100mm grenade launcher on the rear loading deck hatch and an MG 34 located in the front right hull. The 68 ton Sturmtiger was produced between 1943 and 1945 by the designer and producer Alkett and particularly designed as a heavy infantry support vehicle particularly for use in urban fighting environments. Most references indicate there were under 20 actually built, with most references claiming eighteen. Some action the Sturmtiger was involved in were the Warsaw Uprising,  present at the Remagen bridge and Battle of the Bulge.

The Kit: Italeri has changed up their boxart look as well as the color of their plastic from a sand color for their German armor subjects to a universal light grey color. But that's not all that changed; some of their moldings are more detailed and crisp than previous offerings and this kit is proof.

What's Inside:

Sprue A

As you can see, this sprue contains the upper and lower hull parts, interior floor, engine, road wheel arms, drive sprockets and parts to complete the main gun. While the engine is quite basic, scratchbuilders will not be able to help themselves and add a number of detail, especially if they plan to show the engine access hatch in the open position.

Some of the flame cut out details.

Weld marks looking down on the top left side of the casemate.

Sprue B  (x2)

These sprues contain all the road wheels, track links and section and the 38cm shells

Sprue C

Sprue C contains the parts to complete the rear engine deck, rear hull plate, hull sides complete with molded on zimmerit and a host of other details that will mostly be hidden unless a hatch is positioned open.

Zimmerit on the rear hull plate and lower front plate is actually not that bad.

Tracks:

The tracks...well yes these are the same kind of tracks your parents warned you about.

Italeri provides the modeler with two sets of tracks; a one piece affair and a link and length set found on Sprue B. The link and length set is complete with knockout pin marks, but they sit proud and are not too tall, so while cleanup is necessary, it won't take on a life of it's own.

Decals

With the exception of the Balkenkreuz, the other decals are applied to the projectiles with the instructions providing correct placement. The decals look thin enough on my review sample to not be an issue, but I'll find out during the full build of this kit.

Instructions

The instructions included are the typical line drawing that are straightforward and missing confusing sub-assemblies. An added small bonus was the color guide on the rear instruction panel which refers the modeler to Italeri-brand paint colors.

Upon my First Look review, I can see there's a benefit for all modelers beginner to advanced with this kit even with much newer offerings of this kit from a variety of manufacturers. For the beginner, this kit has all the necessary details to build into a respectable representation of the Sturmtiger straight from the box. While the zimmerit pattern may not be up to some modelers' expectations, it is rather convincing. For the intermediate modeler, it provides opportunities to build it out of the box, yet trying their hand at scratchbuilding some smaller details like the small crane on the rear deck for loading the projectiles. For the advanced modelers, well they could make quite a few modifications and turn this kit into a master class winner.  Regardless of where the modelers' skill have them, this kit looks quite nice even before assembly and just in time for the holidays. A full build review will follow and let's see how well it builds up.

Highly Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders, pending full review.

Thanks goes out to MRC for this review kit.

Reviewed by Chuck Willis

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