Dragon Jagdtiger PaK.80 (L/66)

Dragon 1/35 Jagdtiger PaK.80 (L/66)

  Background

The German Jagdtiger tank destroyer was 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 22mph @ best.

The Jagdtiger suffered from the same problems as Koenigstiger, because of its great weight and high fuel consumption that made it extremely slow. Jagdtiger’s breakdown problem was never solved and many were abandoned or blown up by their crews to prevent them from being captured intact by the Allies.

A proposal was made by Krupp engineers to replace the PaK.44 with the even more powerful (and heavy) 12.8cm PaK.80 L/66 gun. The weight of the extended barrel would have been too much while traveling and would have torn the mountings off the vehicle and would have required that the entire gun be retracted for travel, with the breech assembly hanging over the rear engine deck. This was only a proposal.

The Build

This kit is no different than Dragon’s other Jagdtiger kits, except there is the L/66 barrel, packaged along with the L/55. The molding is clean and there is minimal flash on any of the parts and requiring only a few needed minor cleaning
There are a few minor sink marks that weren’t an issue, and a considerable amount of flash on many of the parts. There is some nice textured detail on the cast iron gun mantlet and the texture of the rolled steel on the upper hull as well as good bolt head detail on the road wheels and sprockets.

Overall fit of all the part was quite good, and no major filling or sanding was required. I was very satisfied with the quality and ease of fit. I built it right out of the box, except for some resin tie downs.

I used the AK Interactive Dunkelgelb Modulation Set, applied over a coat of Vallejo Acrylic German Red Brown Primer. I painted the tools and details with wood and grey also from Vallejo Acrylics. The tracks were painted a dark grey, mixed with a little brown. I then sealed it off with Vallejo Gloss Varnish. Waited two days for the wash to be applied.

I used AK/Interactive and AMMO of Mig Jimenez. I used a wide range of colors. Primarily AK’s Dark Yellow Wash, Rust Streaks, Wash for NATO Camo Vehicles, and Burnt Rust Red Pigment. Representing AMMO of Mig Jimenez, I used Light Rust Wash, Tracks Wash, and for the pigments I used AMMO Black Pigment, Medium Rust Pigment, Light Rust Pigment, European Earth Pigment and Gun Metal Pigment.

I used a mixture of Vallejo Brown and Black for the chipping. I used Testor’s Model Master for highlighting the parts of the machine gun and cables, on board tools and extensive wear edges.

Dragon 1/35 Scale Pz.Kpfw .IV Ausf.E Tiger I Late Production w/Zimmerit

Rye Field 1/35 Sd.Kfz.173 Jagdpanther G2

My latest edition to my site with history, background , and reviews, to be added later, but now for the photos. As you will see in the construction photos, changes have been made.

Dragon 1/35th Scale Panzer IV Ausf. J Late Kit # 6080

It’s good to be back at my site. I have been very busy, going back to school and in my second year in college. I’m going for my major in Zoology. For the next couple of weeks, I will be working on my description, for now I am going insert several photos of my latest “build.” 

 

Alpine Miniatures – US Marine 1943-44 2nd Marine Division, Tarawa

U.S. Medium Tank M4A3E8 Sherman “Easy Eight”

I won’t say very much except for the fact this kit was a “sweet build”. I added Legend resin backage for that gritty look. I know the movie had many flaws but damn I just had to do it. Even though this sited is dedicated to German AFV’s I had to do it. Enjoy.

Tamiya /Verlinden 1 /35 Panzer IV Kugelblitz

 

Tamiya /Verlinden 1 /35 Panzer IV Kugelblitz

 

 

 

 

 

Tamiya /Verlinden 1 /35 Panzer IV Kugelblitz

Tamiya /Verlinden 1 /35 Panzer IV Kugelblitz
The Build

As I was building this Trumpeter Bergepanzer IV, I had an issue with the crane posts. But I found that the CMK/Tamiya kit had the exact parts I needed. So I used the Tamiya upper and lower hull, the road wheels, idler wheels, drive sprockets and the much needed PE details.

I already had the Tamiya Panzer parts. So I bought the Verlinden FlakPanzer 3cm KugelBlitz Turret and built it into a Panzer IV Kugelblitz. For the tracks, I used Voyager German Pz.III/IV 40cm Normal Tracks Middel Patten B.
This Panzer IV Ausf H was the third Panzer IV they introduced in 1975 I believe,and the only thing new was the box art.

Tamiya kits have a reputation for ease of build. Construction of this kit should be fairly straight-forward. If you are less experienced as a modeler, it is an ideal kit to start with, and will turn out nicely. If you are more advanced, there are a variety of aftermarket products available to meet every skill level.

It went together very nicely and the fit was great. Adding the aftermarket parts was no problem, I just had to fill the tool mounting holes, where the stock tools would of been installed.

Also the hole for the turret,had to be widened so that the Flakpanzer would fit nicely.
The verlinden turret is a very fine quality item. There is little cleanup to be done,and the quality of the resin is right on. I didn’t have any issues whatsoever. I then primed the turret and the hull with a dark grey automotive primer, that went on great ,dried fast,and sanded great.

On the Hull I sprayed Tamiya’s Light Tan, then set aside for about 20 minutes and started with the chipping process.

I used Verlinden Acrylics, AK Interactive Washes, and Mig Pigments. I can say that I a very pleased with the outcome.

Tamiya /Verlinden 1 /35 Panzer IV Kugelblitz

                                               Background

The Flakpanzer IV Kugelblitz (ball lightning) or abbreviated Flak Pz.Wg IV was a Wehrmacht self-propelled anti-aircraft gun developed during the Second World War. However by the end of the Second World War, only a small production run of 2 units had been completed. Unlike earlier self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, it had a fully enclosed, rotating turret.

The need for a specialised self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, capable of keeping up with the armoured panzer divisions, had become progressively more pressing for the Wehrmacht Armed Forces, as from 1943 on the Luftwaffe was to a lesser extent unable to protect against opposition fighter bombers.

Consequently a large number of makeshift and specially designed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were built, many on the Panzer IV chassis, starting with the Flakpanzer IV Möbelwagen and progressing through the Wirbelwind and Ostwind models. The Kugelblitz was the final development of the Flakpanzer IV.

The first proposal for the Kugelblitz envisioned mounting a modified anti-aircraft turret developed for U-boats on the Panzer IV chassis, which was armed with dual 30 mm MK 103 Brunn guns (a configuration known as Doppelflak, “dual flak”). This was however abandoned as impractical, as development of this gun had not yet been completed, and in any case the entire production run of this gun turret was reserved for Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine.

The most advanced feature of the Kugelblitz was its fully enclosed spherical turret. The sphere was attached at its sides to a protective mantlet, and could rotate vertically, while the mantlet and entire turret could rotate horizontally.

Alternatively, the 3 cm MK 103/38 twin gun, a twinned mount version of the 3 cm MK 103/38, was used, which had also been fitted to the Henschel Hs 129 and Dornier Do 335. The rate of fire of the twin 3 cm MK 103/38 was 450 rounds a minute per gun.

It had been hoped that the Kugelblitz would enter series production in February 1945, but by then only the five (or possibly only two) prototypes had been built due to the cancellation of Panzer IV production. Interest then switched to a similar vehicle which would have seen the Kugelblitz turret mounted on a Hetzer, but work on this design only began after November 1944, far too late for anything to come of the idea.

It is also unclear what happened to the few Kugelblitzes which were built; some sources say that they ended up being used in the Battle of Berlin.

One Kugelblitz was also involved in the fights near the town of Spichra, Thuringia, where it was destroyed and remained buried in the Spatenberg hill until its excavation in 1999.

Tamiya 1/35 Jagdpanther (Sd.Kfz. 173) Late Version Kit# 35203

  The Pictures