STUG IV (EARLY PRODUCTION)  STUG BRIGADE 912

NOTE:    StuG IV (Early Production), StuG Brigade 912, Courland 1944
SCALE:    1:72

Item Number:    DRR60069                                                                                                                                                        Price:    $24.95

Main Features:
- Accurate StuG IV mold with full details
- True-scale model
- Historically accurate 3-tone camouflage pattern typical of the late war
- Full detail on the machine gun, on-vehicle tools and side skirt brackets
- Detailed and weathered track links
- Includes display case

About the StuG IV:
Sturmgeschütz is a German word for "assault gun", abbreviated StuG. They were widely as fire support to infantry, panzer and panzergrenadier units. The vehicle was essentially a tank chassis with a gun, usually a long-barreled 75mm, mounted on it. Due to it not having the gun mounted in a turret, it afforded the crew more space but limited the traverse of the gun, requiring the whole vehicle to turn to aim at a target most of the time. Throughout World War II, especially later in the war, Germany produced more assault guns than tanks, because they were cheaper and quicker to produce due to the lack of a need to put in a revolving turret and the complex machinery, and were almost as effective as tanks. They also provided a use for obsolete tank chassis, most assault guns being mounted on Panzer III and Panzer IV chassis, producing the StuG III and StuG IV, respectively.

The StuG IV is a slightly modified Sturmgeschütz III superstructure mounted on a Panzer IV chassis. Around 1100 were built starting in 1943. The StuG IV was known as a very effective tank killers, especially on the Eastern Front.