I am attempting to build DML kit #6351 Premium Jagdtiger Porsche version for the" Heil the Hunters" build.
This is a little bit about the Jagdtiger that I obtained from the internet.
Jagdtiger ("Hunting Tiger") is the common name of a German heavy tank destroyer of World War II. The official German designation was Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B as it was based on a lengthened Tiger II chassis. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz. 186. The 71-tonne Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle used operationally during World War II and is the heaviest armored vehicle of any type to achieve series production. The vehicle carried a 128 mm PaK 44 L/55 main gun, capable of out-ranging and defeating any fielded Allied tank. It saw service in small numbers from late 1944 to the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front. Tiger ace Otto Carius commanded a company of Jagdtigers. His post-war memoir provides a rare combat history of the Jagdtigers that were under his command. Although 150 were ordered, only between 77 and 88 were produced. Due to an excessive weight, the Jagdtiger was continuously plagued with mechanical problems.
The 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion (Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653.) was a tank destroyer unit of the Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with Ferdinand and later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945.
In the Summer of 1945, US Army tested captured Jagdtiger, which was able to penetrate frontal armor plate of M26 General Pershing at 2100 meters. Only few Jagdtigers survived the war and today surviving examples are on the display at Bovington Tank Museum in England, at Museum of Armored Forces in Kubinka (near Moscow) in Russia and at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in USA.
The weight of the vehicle was approximately 70 tons plus or minus a few depending on your source. This made it dangerous to cross bridges with and seeming the only safe way to cross was by rafting it or building a reinforced bridge. If not then bad things could happen.
Attempts were made to camouflage these vehicles.
The 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion (Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653.) was a tank destroyer unit of the Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with Ferdinand and later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945.
Panzer Ace Otto Carius said "When the assault guns were calibrated in Sennelager, we experienced our first failure. Despite its 82 tons, our Hunting Tiger didn’t want to act like we wanted it to. Only its armor was satisfactory, its maneuverability left a lot to be desired. In addition, it was an assault gun. There was no traversing turret, just an enclosed armored housing. Any large traversing of the main gun had to be done by moving the entire vehicle. Because of that, transmission and steering differentials soon broke down. That such a monstrosity had to be constructed in the final phase of the war made no sense at all."
The kit itself seems to be a straight forward and very involved with detail. I went through the instructions and was a little taken back by the tracks which are first shown on step 17. They are a 5 piece set up and will test my novice skill level.
All sprues were nicely baged and seem to have no flash nor broken parts.
I got some Zimmerit fenders and body panels for it as well.
waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much
