Rubicon Models PaK 40 AT Gun with Crew

After a brief detour into the Wild West, we're back to anti-tank gun week with the PaK 40 by Rubicon Models.

The 7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40 or PaK 40 was the backbone of the late war German anti-tank guns. More than 23.000 units were produced and mostly used on carriages, but some were mounted to tank destroyers like the Marder series. Development of the PaK 40 started early, when the first Soviet tanks were brought to Berlin in 1939 and the 5 cm ammunition of the PaK 38 that was still tested at that point, proofed to be not powerful enough to deal with the newer designs of slopped and thicker armour.

Delivery of the first pre-production PaK 40 started in 1941, but it took until 1943 for the PaK 40 to make up the bulk of the German anti-tank guns. After the war, the Pak 40 remained in service in several European armies, including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Norway, Hungary and Romania. A couple of surviving PaK 40 can be seen in Museums like Munster, Saumur, Ostend and Hook of Holland.

This kit covers a PaK 40 AT gun including a crew of 6 in late war uniform in 28mm / 1:56 scale. Beside the option to build this PaK in deployed or towed position it doesn't cover any further options. There is an A5 instruction leaflet included.

The sprue itself was a bit warped, but the bits and pieces inside frame were absolutely fine. The quality of the light grey ABS plastic is great, very sharp details on the gun and a low amount of mould lines. As always the organic parts like the crew were glossier. Should you find the material to be greasy, give it a brief rinse in warm soap water to remove any remains of release agent.

Rubicon Models uses ABS plastic for their kits. Therefore you should use the appropriate glue to handle the material, I use Tamiya Cement ABS. Uhu Plast Special would be an alternative, depending what you can buy in your area.

Assembly begins with the upper carriage and the gun. Please note that the instruction is missing piece A25 and shows it already assembled to the barrel A14. In the Rubicon Models Board you can see the correct instruction as well as a more detailed info on the position of A18.

To make it a bit easier to understand the first step, I broke it down into two steps for you to see. Next up is the split rail carriage itself. As with the other PaKs, the lower gun shield is available in two variants, as a single piece for the deployed version and as two pieces, with the lower piece to be folded up, for the towed version.

I mixed up the alignment of the front plate for these shots, the plate has to be the other way around with the shovel on the lower part. Otherwise you can't mount the PaK 40 to the carriage. As you can see the rails are movable and it can be build either way, whereas the transport locks would touch both rails in the towed position.

And the assembled PaK 40 with the lower gun shield in the right place / orientation.

There is a crew of six to this kit, including an officer, two variants of gunners (one for gaming use with base), a loader and two ammunition handlers. The miniatures come without bases.

In this kit are a couple of ammunition crates and canisters with this kit, along with single shells and even spent shells.

A comparison of the Rubicon crew next to a Perry Miniatures (left) and Bolt Action (right) crew man.

And the Rubicon Models PaK 40 next to its metal counterpart by Warlord Games.

As you can see, the anti-tank gun works with crews of other manufacturers as well. And a scale comparison of the PaK 40 next to Heer46 PaK 43 and the Rubicon PaK 36 and PaK 38.

The assembled PaK 40 from different angles in front of the backdrop.

Conclusion
At 16 GBP you get a well done anti-tank gun kit of the PaK 40, including a huge crew. Casting quality is properly done and the fit is convincing. For a Rubicon kit, it has a surprising low amount of options (just towed or deployed). The added ammunition crates are a great add-on though. The price tag is around the same level as the PaK 40 of other manufacturers, maybe off by 10-20%.

Instructions could take it a bit slower on some points, lets parts per step and some different angles to show the assembled parts. Especially with the smaller parts that are assembled to the gun itself, it is a bit tricky to find the proper position for the parts. I had to look up pictures of the actual PaK to do it properly, something advanced model builders do during their research anyway. But it could be more beginners friendly - not the assembly itself, just the instruction.

And one thing I noted during all of the three kits, they appeal to model kit builders, due to the accuracy and research that Rubicon does for their kits, but from the amount of parts and the size of them, it is still in the wargamer ball park. That is something I give them credit for. I like building kits, but I do not want to spend too much time on just tinkering with small fiddly bits. And to me they balance that quite well.

If you are wondering that they didn't include a vehicle mount to build similar anti-tank vehicles like the PaK 36 kit had. Rubicon offers that option with the RM280041 SdKfz 251/22 expansion set already - at a lower price point of 10 GBP. Both kits make for a proper base for several Waffenträger conversions.

Link: Rubicon Models

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.