German Sd.Kfz.173 Jagdpanther Ausf.G1
Academy #13539
Hitler believed in the concept of a “hunting” armored vehicle. With a prefix of “Jagd”, Hitler’s Armored “Jagd” series of armored combat vehicles would prove to be lethal. To go with his doctrine of always being on the attack and never in a defensive role, these vehicles were well suited for these types of “hunting” operations. The types consisted of those that were referred to as “Jagd” and those that were not. Hetzers, Marders, Nashorns, Ferdinands/Elephants come to mind that are considered killers without the traditional “Jagd” in the name designation. They ranged from some of the smallest in the Hetzer to the largest in the Jagdtiger.
All were highly mobile, well, maybe not the Jagdtiger, being one of the least of these vehicles in the agility department weighing in at about 70 tons and having a drive train that on best days could get the vehicle up to about 20 mph. The Jagdtiger was considered a formidable weapon system, essentially a pillbox with a 128mm gun that would be hard to destroy. Created with armor plating of 80mm for the upper frontal area, the gun mantlet was 100mm thick. Side plate armor amounted to 50mm, so a head-on shot was indeed risky to take. Of the types that had the “Jagd” designation in the name of the vehicle, such as the Jagdpanther, this vehicle would have a special distinction for being one of the best if not THE BEST of all of them.
The Jagdpanther would be armed with a lethal 8.8cm gun on an armored chassis that weighed in at 45 long tons. The frontal armor plate on the Jagdpanther was sloped and thick and it made a kill shot to destroy the vehicle from head on almost suicidal. The vehicle was fast for its size and maneuverable. Maximum speed was decent, at about 30 mph in best conditions. The Maybach HL230 P30 (V-12 Petrol Engine) delivered 690 horsepower or about 515 kW to the drive train which gave it the speed it enjoyed. The range of this vehicle was about 80 miles cross country and about 160 miles if driven in the best of conditions.
The Jagdpanther first entered service in early 1944. It was in production with a G1 and G2 models being the main variants. The G1 variant had a small welded main gun mantlet and a one-piece Pak 43/3 gun with a modified Panther A engine deck. The G2 variant used a bolted mantlet externally with a two-piece KwK 43/4 L/71 gun. For defensive purposes, an MG34 machine gun was mounted in ball mount and accessible by the radio operator who served as the machine gunner. A commander, loader, gunner, driver and radio operator/machine gunner rounded out a crew of five.
The G1 variant had good visibility, not bad for the driver with two vision openings. Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste was used on the G1 variants on all those vehicles made up until about September 1944. Later, some of the final G1 variants that were produced were converted to a hybrid G2 design that would be the last variant produced of the Jagdpanther. Of all the vehicles produced, both the G1 and G2 production models, only about 413 were produced with the number ranging from 400 to 413 depending on sources that one can read.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX....
The box contents consisted of the following:
Sprues:
A=23 parts
B=40 parts
C=No sprue in box
D=61 parts X 4 sprues = 244 parts total (Roadwheels and drive train parts)
E=40 parts X 4 sprues = 160 parts total (Track parts)
F=No sprue in box
G=94 parts
H=No sprue in box
I=1 part
Photo Etch parts=39
String (1) total (for tow cable)
Grand total of parts=602
One instruction booklet that has 13 build steps
NOTE...model will have to be coated with Zimmerit which is NOT in this kit. You have to create this or build without.
THE DIRECTIONS
THE SPRUES
Academy has released a very nice kit in this offering. The kit is not laden with multi media parts other than a very simple PE set of engine deck mesh covers and a simple piece of string to serve as a tow cable. The decals appear to be in register and appear to also be thin. The parts are nicely molded, that is, all except the inside of the tracks where you can see the knock pins on the facing of the tracks. Those will have to be filled in before the tracks can be assembled or you will be judged rather harshly in the AMPS judging system should you choose to compete with this model.
Additionally, there is no zimmerit parts to be applied to this model. That is not good as the G1's were shipped out of the factory with a coating of that before reaching their assigned operating theatre. So if this model is to be accurate, the zimmerit has to be added by scratch or an aftermarket set of zimmerit will have to be sourced, if that is even available during these COVID19 supply chain times.
There are no clear parts to speak of, no clear periscope parts at all. But, the main gun barrel is in fact slide mold technology so cleaning that up will be much easier since an aluminum gun barrel is not offered in this kit. The tools appear to be molded very nicely. They come with the brackets molded to the parts. If you want to add a touch of realism to your model, they can be cleaned up and the brackets removed. As for the rest of the parts, they are crisp with no apparent flash to be found. The moldings are nice.
If I were building this model for a contest, I would replace the tracks and look at replacing the molded on tool clamps. I would also replace the tow cable which makes use of the flimsy string. The model is approaching $70 USD and is not as expensive as some of the high end model releases. But, once you add tracks and a tow cable, you are probably pushing close to $100 USD. Since the kit already has a limited PE set for the screens, you will not have to purchase that part of upgrading this model. But, all said and done, the model can be built up to be a very competitive Jagdpanther on the contest circuit and I believe this model has the loins of being a GOLD medal contender but you have to put some work into it. It's just like any other model, you have to make it shine and this one is no different.
Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders depending on intended contest entry purposes.
Thanks goes out to Model Rectifier Corporation for this review kit and their ongoing support for AMPS.
Reviewed by GLEN MARTIN
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