Dragon 1/35 Jagdtiger (Henschel) 12.8cm Pak 80 (L/66)

Weighing in at 71.7 tonnes, the German Jagdtiger tank destroyer was definitely the super heavyweight of WWII armored vehicles. It was 10.65m long from the tip of its powerful gun muzzle to the outlets of the rear exhausts, and it was a massive 3.6m wide. The Sd.Kfz. 186 Jagdtiger entered service in late 1944, and it served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, with around 80 or so produced. Although these vehicles were armed with a lethal 12.8cm PaK 44 L/55 gun, the Jagdtiger’s enormous bulk impacted severely on its mobility, meaning it could only hope to reach a maximum speed of 34km/h at best. In November 1944 Krupp engineers even proposed to make the tank destroyer more lethal by fitting an even longer 12.8cm PaK 80 gun of L/66 caliber. This design was never fielded, however.

Dragon continues to produce low production or paper projects based on extant kits. In this case, the standard Jagdtiger gets a longer gun barrel  and that is pretty much it. This is shown on the F sprue in the parts image. The rest of the kit is the same as their standard and very nicely done Jagdtiger. This one has the Henschel suspension. It also includes separate track links which make up many of the 330 parts.

Photo etch is used for things like engine grilles and hand holds. There is a diagram  or two in the instructions that show the exact placement of the hand holds so there will be a bit of measuring required. Actually, I suspect that in reality these were not as precisely placed as one might think. The rear access hatches are nicely detailed on the inside which makes me think that, though not shown, these could be posed open. There is not all that much to see on the interior though there is a small floor where one can see the gun breech.

Instructions are well done with the usual Gunze and Model Master paint references. Two spurious paint schemes are shown and the small decal sheet only contains insignia.

Overall, this will make for a rather large vehicle. I know a lot of folks who enjoy building these types of AFVs and it will certainly make for an imposing display. Despite having individual track links, it should not take that much time to build.

www.dragonmodelsusa.com

August 2016 

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. You can find this kit at your favorite hobby shop or on-line retailer.

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