Trumpeter Sturer Emil

The Sturer Emil was an experimental vehicle combining the lengthened chassis of the VK.30.01(H) with the 12,8cm PaK 40 L/61. It went through many different names in its relatively short career (Sturer Emil, actually not being one of them). Only two vehicles were built and both served with s.Pz.J.Abt.521 on the Eastern Front and were respectively called "Max" and "Moritz" by their crews.

Continuing on previous research by Bjorn Tingstadengen and his own research, Timothy Lau teaches us how to tell both apart.
(Note that the article previously posted on Missing Lynx, shows the pictures in chronological order, while they are ordered per characteristic identification feature in this article.)

Introduction

There were 2 vehicles of this machine built.

(Pictures taken before shipping out from Germany)

(Picture taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

Vehicle 1 Recognition Features

The first vehicle had a kink in the fender, right at the beginning before it was shipped out of Germany.

(Picture taken before shipping out from Germany)
The kink was there even after its capture by the Soviets and was on display.

(Picture taken after capture)
The machine currently lives in Kubinka, with a front mudguard fashioned by the Russians.

(Picture taken at Kubinka)
This same machine had a smoke grenade box.

(Picture taken after capture)
The Soviets removed it after display.

(Picture taken at Kubinka)
The machine had a vertical jack holder on the rear, starboard side.

(Picture taken after capture)
The Soviets removed it now, but traces of it remain.

(Picture taken at Kubinka)

It might be that the vehicle also carried a jack holder on the port side of the fighting compartment (symmetrical to the starboard side) as some traces of something being attached there remain.

(Picture taken after capture)
THEN:

(Picture taken after capture)
NOW:

(Picture taken at Kubinka)
For most of the life of this machine, it had a damaged Balkenkreuz on the starboard side.

(Pictures taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

(Picture taken after capture)

No such deficiency now, of course.

(Picture taken at Kubinka)
The vehicle now has traces of cable holders.

(Picture taken at Kubinka)
At some point, it did have the braces for the cable holders.

(Picture taken before shipping out from Germany)
It is not clear who removed the feature. Traces of the cable holders remained when it was displayed by the Soviets, but most of them were gone. It would be odd if the Soviets removed those features while preserving most of the others.

(Picture taken after capture)
A wheel was pictures sitting on where the holders were at capture.

(Picture taken after capture)
Note how the cleaning rods sit.

(Picture taken before shipping out from Germany)
The crew placed boxes on top of the cleaning rods. The crew had braces for holding the box there.

(Picture taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

The braces of the rods and the box were still there while the vehicle was on display.

(Picture taken after capture)
Nothing there now, but traces of the box holder remain.

(Picture taken at Kubinka)

Other Photos of Vehicle 1

(Pictures taken before shipping out from Germany)

(Pictures taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

(Pictures taken after capture)

More markings were added by the Soviets.

(Pictures taken after capture)

Pictures of the vehicle at Kubinka today can be found here. Note that the vehicle lost most of its details and that some of the wheels are not original.

Vehicle 2 Recognition Features
Vehicle 2 did not have the kink on the fender.

(Picture taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

(Picture taken after capture)

I believe the forward box is a identifying feature of vehicle 2.

(Picture taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

Vehicle 2 on the left, vehicle 1 on the right.

Other Photos of Vehicle 2

(Pictures taken before shipping out from Germany)

(Pictures taken while serving on the Eastern Front)
Other Photos that might be of Vehicle 2

(Pictures taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

Naming and other features that might identify the vehicles

I don't think anyone really knows which one was called Moritz and which one was called Max by their crews. Moritz was allegedly the one with 22 marks when captured. But there weren't 22 marks on the first vehicle when captured. It is most likely, but not entiely certain, that vehicle 2 in this study was the one called "Moritz", while vehicle 1 was "Max".
This means that the following picture might be vehicle 2 "Moritz".

(Picture taken while serving on the Eastern Front)

After studying these vehicles for a long time, I have come to believe that kill marks were removed by the Germans from the firstvehicle for whatever reason.

We can see that spare tracks were also removed and therefore no longer an identifying feature. The removal of kill marks appear contemporaneous with the removal of spare tracks.

The placement of the Balkenkreuze has sometimes been used (even by me) as an identifying feature, but I have lost confidence in this, due to possible repainting of the vehicles.