Dragon’s original Jagdtiger was a much welcomed release several years ago being the first accurate 1/35 model of this heavy WWII tank destroyer. This new release of the Jagdtiger incorporates many of the improvements in accessories and tooling seen in Dragon’s most recent releases of the Kingtiger with Henschel Turret "Battle of the Bulge". The Jagdtiger was based on a lengthened Tiger II chassis and featured a powerful 128mm anti tank gun in a fixed superstructure. Approximately 85 vehicles were built and most were used to defend Germany’s western borders. The first Jagdtigers had a Porsche designed suspension (Dragon kit 6051) while the main production run had a Henschel suspension with internal torsion bars as per the Tiger II.

Contents

As expected this kit is based on Dragon's earlier versions of the Jagdtiger and includes the one piece lower hull, large single piece for the upper hull and superstructure with subtle texture on the side plates, as well as most of the smaller parts including the mantlet, rear fenders, engine deck mounted machine gun, barrel travel lock and hatches. Key features retained from the earlier series include the basic interior for the fighting compartment comprising of the floor, gun breach and pedestal; injection plastic side fenders (not included with all earlier versions); and photo etch for the mesh screens on the engine deck grilles.

New and upgraded parts in this kit include:

• New 1 piece turned metal barrel with a machined ring at the end of the thread protector as seen in photos of many Jagdtigers. The muzzle has been drilled out. This new barrel is the same size as the earlier two-piece plastic barrel that is still included in the kit and appears to be a drop fit. Dimensionally it compares favourable to scale plans.
• “Magic tracks”. These tracks depicting the ‘standard’ combat track Gg 26/800/300 with chevrons which were used with the 9 tooth drive sprocket. Each link comes loose, so there is minimal cleanup; and the links can be snapped together with a loose fit before a quick application of liquid glue is applied to secure the joins. Each link has two injection marks on the inner faces, which I found could be easily scraped off using a hobby knife fitted with a rounded blade, although you only need to remove the outer mark as the inner mark is hidden by the road wheels. These improved tracks offer a considerable saving in construction time over those in the earlier versions of the Dragon King Tiger/Jagdtigers.
• Newly tooled steel road wheels with improved detail including revised grease nipple recesses and more accurate reproduction of the nuts and bolt heads. These wheels were first used on the Dragon King Tiger ‘Ardennes’ and ‘Battle of the Bulge’ releases and address a minor issue some people noted about Dragon's earlier Jagdtigers.
• Improved suspension arms, which only have two connecting gates to the sprue and based on past experience are easier to clean up than those in the earlier releases.
• Two sets of on-vehicle tools are provided of which one is the set from the 1995 release with the clamps moulded on for easy of assembly and the other is common with the latest Tiger I and has no clamps and is intended to be used with the PE clamps. Unfortunately (unlike the Tiger I late) the new Jagdtiger does not include the PE fret with clamps to use with these tools (although these parts are widely available on aftermarket PE sets).
• 8 clear plastic parts for the periscopes.
• 420 mm long length of tow cable wire which is loosely twisted and slightly over scale. This is used to make two 200mm long tow cables each with a pair of plastic cable ends.
• 4 metal U-shaped tow hooks with 4 brass towing cable heads.
• One two part brass ammunition round. The shell head and charge are separate pieces as was the case with the Jagdtiger whose crew had to assemble the shell prior to loading it.

As with earlier releases the level of accuracy is high and the overall dimensions are consistent with Hilary Doyle's scale plans. The major sub assemblies align neatly and the newly tooled suspension and tracks will simply and save time during construction. Overall the kit contains ample detail to keep most modellers busy over several sessions and should be rewarding to build. One easy improvement is to add a cable to the light on the centre of the glacis. This was powered by a cable, which went from the hull roof to the light’s base and can be scratch built using stripped electrical wire. The hatch to the engine bay can be positioned open, allowing for the possibility of adding an after-market engine.

The multi-fold instruction sheet has step-by-step drawings in the black, white and blue format and appears to be easy to follow.

Production Series

This kit can be used to build a Jagdtiger typical of those built between September 1944 and February 1945 (after this date Pilze were fitted on the roof) by varying which parts are fitted. The jack and block included with kit were dropped in November and two extra pairs of track hangers, making for a total of 6 were fitted in December. Zimmerit was dropped in September and is not required for this model.

Decals

A new 80cm x 14cm decal sheet by Cartograf is included which provides sufficient flexibility in the turret numbers to allow a modeller to depict most of the Jagdtigers with the Henschel suspension that carried tactical numbers. Schwere Panzer Jager Abteilung 653 (heavy tank destroyer unit 653) was equipped with over half of all Jagdtigers with Henschel suspensions and was deployed in Alsace. The decal sheet provides 28 turret numbers in each of the fonts used by 653 (56 in total). One of these fonts can also be used for schwere Panzer Jager Abteilung 512, the other major recipient of the Jagdtiger who used their vehicles in the Ruhr. The well photographed vehicle white ‘X7’ of ‘512’ for which markings are provided did not have a jack on the rear hull.

Recommendation

This new release has increased the appeal of Dragon’s Jagdtiger by including extra features such as clear periscopes, greater decal options, metal barrel and tow cable with metal tow hooks. The “magic tracks” and improved suspension arms will speed up assembly, while still offering the advantages of individual link tracks. I am pleased that Dragon has taken the initiative to improve what was already a very good model and definitely recommend this release of the Jagdtiger.

Technical Reference

Jentz and Doyle “Panzer Tracts no. 9: Jagdpanzer: Jagdpanzer 38 to Jagdtiger”, Panzer Tracts MD USA 1997.

Review and photos by Neville Lord.

Thank you to Dragon Models for the review sample.

User Contributed Notes