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DR6458:
Jagdpanther Sd.Kfz. 173 Ausf G1 Early Production
1/35 injection plastic kit with photo etch grills, metal tow cables
and decals
The Jagdpanther with its powerful 88mm gun and thick sloping armor,
is often considered to have been the best tank destroyer of World War
II. First seeing combat in 1944, Jagdpanthers were deployed in most
of the major battles of the last year of the war in Europe. Despite
the fact that just over 400 were manufactured a good number of war-time
photos exist and several are preserved in museums. Some of the best
documented Jagdpanthers were the early production types used by schwere
Panzer Jager Abteilung 654 (heavy tank destroyer unit) in France during
1944.
CONTENTS
This new release of the Jagdpanther is designed to the latest standards
of tooling and is in the new Smart Kit format. The parts are a combination
of new tooling such as for the Jagdpanther’s superstructure, and other
parts, such as the Magic Tracks and rubber rimmed roadwheels, from the
recent Dragon Panther Ausf G kits. This kit does not share any parts
in common with any previous model of the Jagdpanther. Rather it features
extensive use of refined molding techniques such as slide molding and
crisp weld seams, while other features include clear vision blocks,
photo etch mesh grills, and twisted metal tow cables. The gatefold instructions
have 16 steps of line drawings that are well laid out.
This kit has the features indicating a northern spring 1944 production
Jagdpanther including cast mantlet, mono-block barrel tube and larger
rear engine deck grills. Jagdpanthers built during this period had factory
applies zimmerit with a pattern of closely spaced tiles. This kit requires
the modelers to add their own zimmerit. Several aftermarket resin sets
exist for the 1990s Dragon Imperial series Jagdpanther and these could
be used on this new kit with a bit of tweaking, however there is no
doubt sets specific to this new release will soon appear.
A generous number of spare parts relating to Panther Ausf Gs (e.g. hull
MG, flammvernichter exhaust with curved hoods, exhaust guards) are included
and would be useful for making tweaks to older kits to enhance them
or to represent specific vehicles.
SUPERSTRUCTURE
The newly tooled superstructure is particularly impressive and benefits
from careful research and design. A large single piece provides the
front and side armour plates, forward fenders and the large fixed parts
on the engine deck. Separate parts are then added for the roof, engine
deck hatch, rear escape hatch and small fittings.
The interlocking joins of the armour plate have been depicted as rectangular
joins based on research and not as parallelograms as would appear on
flat scale plans. The weld seams look authentic and have differing sizes
and patterns to reflect actual production practices. For example the
seams on the edge of the roof plate are finer than those interlocking
the thick frontal armour.
The roof is a separate plate and all crew hatches can be modelled open
and have internal handles and levers. The gunner’s periscope is made
from clear plastic and has a cover, while the larger scissors periscope
is detailed and includes a mount. Other roof details include the fan
housing that is nicely reproduced, the rain channels (integrated into
the roof plate), and the nahverteidigungswaffe (close-defense weapon)
which can be fitted either open with the internal detail visible or
shut. There is no option to fit a blanking panel instead of the nahverteidigungswaffe
as happened on some Jagdpanthers.
On the rear of the fighting compartment, the modeler has the choice
of two stowage bins (Gepackkasten) that differ in their height and are
designed to be built shut. The standard aerial base is included (no
rod) and there is an option for a blanking panel where command vehicles
had a second aerial. The rear escape hatch has internal detail and can
be left open or workable.
The 88mm PaK 43 is the earlier mono-block design and is a one-piece
injection plastic tube. It requires minimal cleanup to remove the seam
line and has a separate three-part slide molded muzzle break. The break
is designed such that it would be easy to fit aftermarket barrels.
The gun is fitted into the earlier style mantlet and recess. These were
cast metal and did not have the large visible bolt heads of later models.
Dragon has captured these parts slightly asymmetrical shape and the
mantlet in particular benefits from having cast texture on all angles,
which adds that extra degree of realism.
Typical of early 1944 Jagdpanthers one of the driver’s vision slots
has been welded off and PE is used for the blanking plate. The driver’s
periscope is clear plastic. The hull MG34 is included along with its
internal detail such as the butt and spent shell case. There is an optional
MB ball mount plug.
The engine deck has detail such as the hex bolts in recessed holes and
the new hatch can be positioned open, although you will need to supply
your own engine (several are available). The six metal grilles are correct
for the early Jagdpanthers with all round grilles being the lower profile
and the rear rectangular grilles being larger than the other two. Photo
etch screens are included for all 6 grilles.
HULL
The hull is new tooling that features small changes to depict an early
production Jagdpanther and is as comprehensive as those on recent Dragon
Panther Gs. Features include a pair of engine radiators which sit underneath
the four rectangular grills, armored guard for the round air-cooling
outlet grills, and detail on the sponson floors. The suspension arms
are separate parts that allow flexibility for dioramas. The separate
torsion suspension arms extend the full width of the hull interior.
The rear idler wheel has the earlier smaller pattern, and the idlers
swing-arms are separate, a feature which will please some modelers when
fixing the tracks, as by leaving it loose, the idler can be adjusted
to get the ‘right’ track sag.
The tools have most of the brackets and clamps cast on for ease of assembly
and the newly tooled jack is built from seven parts plus separate parts
for the support bracket. The rear storage boxes are slide-molded, and
the storage cylinder for the barrel cleaning rods has fine detail for
the latches. The spare track racks are slide-molded and come with fine
securing pins that slot into open holes. The multipart headlight is
impressive and has the conduit integrated into the base part to simplify
assembly while delivering finesse.
The exhaust system has the configuration with two side vents on the
left outlet. The tops of the pipes are hollow and the main pipes feature
the metal insert. Some early Jagdpanthers lacked the side vents and
the kit’s left pipe could be modified accordingly (add brackets with
bolt heads from side vents).
Two lengths of twisted wire are provided for the tow cable and the thinner
cable that was used for changing tracks. No side skirts (shurzen) are
included, which, is consistent with the fact side skirts were often
missing in photos from the frontline. Numerous firms sell aftermarket
photo etch shurzen and it can be easily scratch-built using plastic
card.
TRACKS
The tracks are the ‘Magic Tracks” which come loose. They have open guide
horns, and chevrons on the outer face. With the slight injection marks
hidden between the guide horns these links can be assembled quickly
without clean up. Most of the links are one piece with the open guide
horns cast onto link making for quick assembly. Several links, which
have separate guide horns are for fitting around the drive sprockets
where their slightly larger and contoured holes will better fit the
sprocket’s teeth. With the open guide horns and the benefits of the
magic track not needing clean up, these tracks are better than some
aftermarket sets.
DECALS
The instruction sheet has four view profiles of two Jagdpanthers from
schwere Panzer Jager Abteilung 654 (heavy tank destroyer unit) in France
during 1944. One is tactical number black 314 which had green and brown
patches and is shown in the box art. The other is a solid yellow vehicle
with Balkan Crosses. Both vehicles are seen in photos. As usual the
decals are by Cartograf.
RECOMMENDATION
This kit sets a new standard for the Jagdpanther. The tooling shows
the potential of the Smart Kit format to deliver a kit that has crisp
detail, such as subtle casting and weld marks, while ensuring the kit
has both broad appeal and offers a solid basis for super detailing.
Definitely recommended.
-
Neville Lord
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