Sd.Kfz. 186 Jagdtiger

Jens Andrée They're all meant to be simplified, i.e. fewer parts, to make them easier to build.
Great for beginners to grab one of these kits instead of the dreaded 1975 Tamiya Panther Ausf. A which frankly is wonky as hell - sadly picked up by many beginners due to its low price.
These Blitz kits will be of similar price so if you want a low parts count this could be it!

Nigel Thanks, Jens. Yes, ISTR that from TMN. What I was hoping was that the recent crop of Tiger IIs would give us an updated Jagdtiger without the vagaries of 'simplification' (how is that implemented?).

Oh well, perhaps Meng will oblige!

Jens Andrée Sadly I think we'll have to wait a wee bit longer for that updated - and detailed, Jagdtiger... Unless Takom plan to release it as a "proper" kit too? I've heard nothing in the grapevine sadly.

Tom Sanders It'll have the same amount of detail as their regular kits just with simplified construction according to my sources

Nigel The only way that I can think of to simplify construction is to reduce parts count and the number of smaller parts.

And the only way that I can think of to do that with the same amount of detail is to have smaller details moulded as part of larger pieces. IME this tends to less finesse.

But it'll be interesting to see the reviews of the plastic.

Soeren . The kit comes without the interior - like the Panther release from "Das Werk" - thats it.

Its just a marketing trick, because the Takom kits with interior are known to be a "handful" of work.

Nigel Aha, if it's just the interior that's missing, then that's fine by me. I assumed that simplification related to the external aspects of the model. (Doh!)

Nigel Come to think of it, if the only simplification is the lack of an interior, why the need to create the 'Blitz' line in the first place? That's what made me think that there was more to it. Surely it would be easier, and possibly less confusing, to simply state 'no interior'?

"Its just a marketing trick", indeed!

Jens Andrée I've recently seen more than one beginner picking a "full interior" kit as his first, with results thereafter, so by creating a specific line catered for beginners, but not using that specific term, isn't perhaps so bad after all? I keep track of virtually all new releases, as do you, but for a beginner who don't know the difference between the dreaded Tamiya Panther from 1975 and the modern ones from Takom, RFM etc could benefit by the Blitz line where they have the same kit but without the interior - thus making it a "simpler" kit to build but looking no different on the outside?!

No matter how you look at it, it is a marketing trick, just like Nigel says, but as long as they're churning out great quality kits I really don't mind!

Nigel I can understand that an interior kit would likely faze a beginner. Actually, they kinda faze me.

On the other hand, MiniArt seem to have no problems in creating non-interior versions of their interior kits. As you know, they're differentiated by the box art and the clear indication of the inclusion of the interior:

T-55A Early Mod. 1965 (MiniArt 37016, 1:35)
T-55A Early Mod. 1965 (MiniArt 37057, 1:35)

I have no idea whether beginners have purchased the interior kits by mistake though.

Laurent "HELLER-forever" good

Sebastian Meyner Not really a kit review, is it!

Curtis H. Yeah, it's not.

Thomas Mayer Done!

Felix Schulze Thx!

hobbyisthaven i bought this kit second hand new but it was missing the instruction manual. does anyone have scans they can send me or add them here?

Dave Flitton There is no way to tell if you have old stock or new stock. Old is the black vinyl, the other the tan DS tracks, both glue well

Derek Huggett Hi Dave - Yes, I thought so. As both the attached reviews have used early stock models, no reference is made to DS tracks, so I thought I would add a note accordingly. Another case of model specs changing (albeit in a subtle manner) as time passes - something not uncommon with models from Far East manufacturers!!!

Stanley Carrier this kit was on Dan Jayne's desk when he died. His widow, Judy, asked me if I would finish it for her. I will be completing this kit post haste, as soon as my desk is cleared. which is almost done.

Holger Kranich

Salvatore Ferragina a model started a few years ago and never finished ....

Holger Kranich Na das Rohr hast Du ja schon, den Bausatz auch? Oder suchst Du noch immer?

Thomas Mayer Den Bausatz von Revell hat mir der Mike schon vor längerem besorgt. Dafür, dass Revell hier einen Dragonbausatz in eklig-gelbem Plastik verkauft hat, ist der Bausatz ganz schön übel...

Schlechte Passung, verzogene Wanne, Ketten, die auch mit Tamiya Extra Thin kaum zusammenzuschieben waren. Letztere sind im Müll, da kommen Friuls drauf.

Joerg R. Hättest du was gesagt, hätte ich dir nen neueren Dragon gegeben, die sind etwas besser. Der Alte hatte einige Probleme auch mit den Drehstäben, da gabs von MR Modellbau extra nen Korrektursatz für.

Mike Kryza Da bekomme ich ja direkt ein schlechtes Gewissen.

Joerg R. ab in die Ecke Mike:-P:-P:-P

Thomas Mayer Der gelbe JT von Revell hat noch gar keine Drehstäbe... Jörg, das Teil wird ein Geschenk für unseren Ältesten, der in Stuttgart bei der Bundeswehr arbeitet/dient. Wir wollten da von vorneherein den geringsten finanziellen Aufwand treiebn. Von daher bin ich Mike dankbar dass er uns den Bausatz in Munster aufgetrieben hat!
Ich hab gesehen dass Dragon nun auch einen JT mit überlanger 12,8cm Kanone anbietet. What-if...

Joerg R. Es Gab den JT von Henschel/Drehstäbe damals auch von Revell. An den mit Porschelaufwerk hatte ich nicht gedacht.
Naja, WOT sei Dank kommen da Dinger jetzt raus, da hat damals keiner dran gedacht

Bill Davis It always amazes me how well a 1/72 scale AFV can look, good job!

Roberto Rocat Wow. 1/72! Good work.

Ulf Petersen Looks great, Paul!

Fernando Ripado Good, I like it.

Lex Jassies Very nice built.

Bart Goesaert nice paintjob. Looks good OOB, only thing that could be replaced are the handles at the rear doors...

Paul Tomczak Thanks All! yes I guess you could replace some of the hatch handles, but I did not want to mess up the molded on zimmerit.

James C Really nice build and could easily be mistaken for 1/35.

Thomas Mayer Nö. Leider nicht. Aber Mike und ich haben eben telefoniert. Mal sehen was er so für mich ergattern kann!

Holger Kranich Hast Du auf etwas bestimmtes ein Auge geworfen?

Thomas Mayer Ich könnte einen günstigen Jagdtiger gebrauchen, ebenso ein paar wenige Friul-Ketten.

Holger Kranich Was soll er denn max. kosten?

Holger Kranich Henschel oder Porsche?

Mike Kryza Einen Penschel...

Holger Kranich Werft den Purschen zu Poden!

Thomas Mayer Holger, so um die 20 Euro, denke ich. Mal sehen ob Mike etwas passendes in Munster findet. Zum Glück eilt da nix.

Chris Parsons great job!

John Van Kooten Thanks Matthias

It's a great kit. It does suffer from some fit issues but nothing that can't be dealt with.

The biggest problem I have is that the hull tub included in this kit is the wrong one (see photo 5). It was the one for the Jagdtiger WITH zimmerit... which I obviously don't have... three of my four Jagdtiger kits have this problem!
The request I sent to Dragon Care asking them to replace the hull tubs and/or send me new ones went unanswered (call was logged on January 1st, 2014!! And still no answer). I also contacted the Dutch distributor but they also said there was nothing they could do for me... so that was great

Anyway, I have started correcting the problem myself by using plastic card, basically scratching the front plate for the hull tub. So hopefully that'll work out. If it looks bad I guess I can camouflage it a bit with mud

Matthias Weiss 3 kits with the same problem - guess it's the same hull on all of them. Sharing the molds and the mistakes...
So how are you going to correct the mistakes? Can you change tub?

Well, a while ago I contacted Meng Model for an idea and Takom as well but both did not reply, seem's to be normal in that industry. As I mentioned once, I wish they had community managers like every online game has.
Someone we could talk to and that take our ideas and advices...

John Van Kooten Dragon added the wrong hull tub (which is a slide molded single piece in the box) of the other zimmerited Jagdtiger kit, so I think it was a problem in the packaging department.

I'm taking a piece of plastic card and basically try to shape it so that I can glue it into place. Fortunately the opening (where the zimmerited part in the other kit would go) is not so complicated. The only thing I think I'm going to have a hard time with is adding in the detail of the welds / cut armor plate.

Yeah, it would definitely be nice if they'd listen to their customer base, or at the very least pick up on common issues discussed in well known forums with an established reputation. But unfortunately with some manufacturers that is never going to happen.
MiniArt is one of the exceptions, by the way! They have picked up on complaints from their customers and read discussions about their kits and they have taken action. The discussed issues concerned the plastics they used to manufacture their kits. It was too brittle in some cases, leading to broken parts and hard to build kits (I have never had a problem with MiniArt kits though, so I wouldn't really know the exact ins and outs of this specific issue). So they actually worked to solve that problem based on feedback.

They also respond well to support requests!

I must say, I have the highest possible respect for them(!!) because we have to remember their country is literally at war (Ukraine) and they actually had to physically move their operations!

Here's their official statement (as posted on Armorama): armorama.com/modules.php?op=..p;topic_id=238114&page=1

Matthias Weiss Seriously, that is a superb attitude!
I'd tip my hat now if I had one.
Time to get another MiniArt kit.

John Van Kooten Totally agree! If nothing else, I'd say they deserve our support just for that. They definitely have mine

Jan Hazes Hmmm, i'll have to check if my kit has the right tub. I've recently built a minicraft kit and wasn't too impressed with the quality ofvthe plastic. Indeed brittle and a lot of broken parts.

Jan Hazes Phew. Mine has the right tub

John Van Kooten Lucky you!

I will be rebooting this project tonight, when I'm home

Hunter Cummins Lol go for it!! If you come across one can you let me know ??

M.Julian Marles sure

M.Julian Marles By the by I believe the Revell boxing is kit #6050 with skirts added as part of the re-box. You can also find the old Jagdtiger under the readily available "Girls Und Panzer" line by Platz/Cyberhobby. Happy hunting!

M.Julian Marles ....the kit is partially "Gunze" which sometimes pop up on evilbay ...

Hunter Cummins Cool, is the revell still available??? And are you sure??

M.Julian Marles I think it's OOP but there were some expired ebay auctions, I would keep checking. If I recall, all the DML kits are based on the Gunze late Jagdtigers, and were changed by DML slightly to reflect early/late/command/Henschell/Porsche as needed... The Revell kits has the side fenders added, but strangely, deletes the PE screens and tarp tie downs. The DML kits also have the star antennae even though it is not called for in the non-command kits.

M.Julian Marles hobbysummer.com/military/gir..-1-35-plastic-model-kit.html

M.Julian Marles amazon.com/Panzer-GP-10-Jagd..mp;keywords=girls+und+panzer

Holger Kranich Thats a deal, Guido!

Gábor Bélik Following with interest

David Winter Is it sad that I recognize that from the fact that parts of it, most notably the rear engine cover, were used as 'greebles' for the 5 foot Millennium Falcon filming model?

Mary Lawton I will show a close in stage by stage of my zimmerit application. Just to note that it will be the second time I have ever applied it to a vehicle its not the best technique or the cleanest but it gets the results I choose to want.

In the trenches keep up the good work Mary I am enjoying this build

Mary Lawton I'll be posting much later in the night with my progress. Thank Mr. trenches.

M.Julian Marles Lookin good, nice zim!

In the trenches ah, now I know what the blue tape is for

H K Is it the year of the Tiger ?

Patrik Spett Oh really, maybe thet is why Dragon releases another Tiger I then I want to put some firbranches on the vehicle but I have no idea how to make them... I have to figure out something

Gábor Bélik Following

Patrik Spett So I have to start this soon...

Alberto González Hi Mary, I have this kit in my wishlist, What is your opinion about the kit?

Mary Lawton I think it was a great price for what its worth at least! Im a fan of link n lenght tracks so this appealed to me turned metal barrel photo etch mesh covers I compared to tamiya I would have to match the cost of kit to the cost of PE not including the barrel! It looks fine and straight forward to build. stand out is surface texture I can only compare to the latter brands on this subj3ct but ifeel more inclined to approve this one more highly.

Alberto González What figures are you going to include in this project?

Mary Lawton 4 figure set dragons panzer raiders, they feature in the cyber hobby Flakpanzer V.
they are from the Flak V box I got they kit for only 15.00 AUD so been of the panther chassis it became a custom build and spares.

Alberto González Nice introduction!!

Kerry COX Judging on Mary's abilities posted previously, this will be something we can all learn a ting or two from, so grab your popcorn, sit back and take it all in. GO MARY. !!

Mary Lawton LOL, thanks Kerry your my second at the helm!

Kerry COX LOL, God, I don't know if I can steer a straight course at the moment, but I will try .

Acki Well done! Nice Tank and great base.

Dave Flitton Like it a lot

Bill Davis Tiger in the forest, looks good!

Philip De Keyser How! here is the Jagdtiger! Great job Kim

Kim Branders Thank you all for the nice comments. Grtz Kim.

George Bacon Wow, very well done! I love the trees!

Kim Branders Thanks George.

Vorya hidaryan Very impressive.

Kim Branders Thanks Vorya.

Acki Masterpiece. Amazing base Kim.

Mike Kryza

Christian Lehmann Very nice Kim.

Anthony Richards Very well done and again the trees are awesome....

Kim Branders Last build of 2014. Off to 2015.

Gábor Bélik Great job!

Izzy Khalid nice build

Holger Kranich Nice and dusty finish! I like the colour of the tracks! How was the kit?

Kerry COX Shoot me if you think I am being "Picky", but if there is one thing I notice more than any other thing on AFV builds is the lack of attention given to the "running gear" or tracks. It would be a better looking model if there was some metal showing through all the dirt and mud occasionally, especially where the road wheels run on the inner tracks and the guide teeth. And the main drive sprockets. Why spend all this time on getting it to look like its an active unit and not show that it has been active. No yelling and screaming at me please, I am just making a point. Thanks. KC It is a nice build, but just think about what I have pointed out here.

C N I'd never shoot someone for offering constructive criticism. The guys at armorama pointed out the same thing. Chalk it up to inexperience. I'm not sure if it was your intent or not, but your post comes off as overbearing, however. I'll keep your point in mind for my next build.

Giovanni C. Great ! Very beautiful beast !

Vitaliy Silinevich I like it!

Oleg Krjukov Thanks, my friend! Brutal vehicle, indeed. Sherman near of this monstr looks like a toy!

Es-haq Khosravi Great job!

Oleg Krjukov Thank you, Es-haq! Painting jobs still waiting!

Giovanni C. Good classic kit from Tamiya, issued in 1975 ! When Magic Track and Friul were unbelievable...

Gábor Bélik Great finish! Great job with the tracks.

Fabian D. Nicely done Mike!

H K Nice one

Patrik Spett Exellent. I like how you attached the towcable to the shackle.

Alberto Bianchi Very nice, bravo.

Hunter Cummins Beautiful mike!!

Mike K Thanks guys.

Jan Hazes Excellent result.

Nikola Naumovic Cevka...mmmmm

Djordje Miltenovic HEHEH ne pali se vec je ugradjena u tenk ...

Nikola Naumovic E ako je vala

Hunter Cummins Cant wait to see
I love jagdtigers!

Erik Seidel Yeah is a verry good kit

John Van Kooten Damn! Seriously! I'm red with envy right now! you guys are really lucky over there!

Hunter Cummins Yup seriously lol I think shiping to you from the site would be quite cheap to
and I contacted dragon usa and guess what?? They are sending me a shell, barrel and metal shackles lol so I get all the metal stuff to lol

John Van Kooten Yeah, buying for us Europeans is cheap in the USA and shipping might be too. But we need to pay VAT, custom duties, import duties and clearance costs. And by the time the package arrives at our doorstep, it's even more expensive compared to just buying them over here... and the problem is, the chances of circumventing those duties and extra costs are nigh impossible these days. Clearance costs alone are 17 Euros (in the Netherlands) and you have to pay them in cash to the post guy that delivers the package. No way to avoid that.
Back in the day I used to buy a LOT from the US, Canada and Asia but nowadays everything is so tightly controlled that it's no longer an option.

And it seems Dragon USA is much more relaxed than... since you are getting the metal pieces after all. The importer for the Netherlands simply tells me to log a ticket with Dragon Care because even they can't get anything (they actually have to log a ticket themselves as well). So we're shit out of luck!

Hunter Cummins Loo I feel bad for ya, gotta love america eh??

John Van Kooten Don't feel bad, haha! I love where I live but yeah, America definitely has a lot going for her!

Hunter Cummins True!!! Lol well atleast model wise lol

Matthias Weiss Wow Hunter that is damn cheap, even here in China it's around 30$...

Hunter Cummins Lol I know right
I am getting the dragon premium eddition ferdinand (I thing 2012 kit) for only 34 dollars usd) and a shit load of weathering stuff for 166 usd

Murad ÖZER Great finish! i'm meaning to build one these myself in braille scale.

Gerald Willing Thx for the positive comment Murad

Albi Hitz Sieht doch toll aus der Jagdtiger!
Mag die feinen Abriebstellen an den Kanten toll, gefällt mir.

Hab gar nicht gewusst, dass das ein Dragon Bausatz ist.

PS:
Das mit den Decals macht gar nichts.
Man soll ja auch die eigene Entwicklung verfolgen können.

Gerald Willing Danke Albi

John Van Kooten The beast looks great, Gerald! Love the subtle weathering! Good job!

Gerald Willing Thx for the positive comment John Van Kooten

Acki Pretty one, Gerald. As always very good pictures. Thanks for sharring.

Gerald Willing Thx Acki

Hunter Cummins You bought another ???

james johnson nope, just removed it from my stash, must have done something wrong!

Hunter Cummins Its a glitch
it does it to me to lol

David Lengyel This is awesome! Love the finish and weathering.

Mike K Bravo!

H K

Hunter Cummins The paint is later today
it comes pre thinned and can be cleaned with water easily
the pigments are like all pigmemts exct more dense.
the nature effect stuff makes some cool spatter effect

Hunter Cummins Did you finish her yet ??

George Bacon This looks absolutely marvelous!

james johnson Thanks George, yep it's done........I just got to get it out of the case and go around it a couple of more times to tighten it up......then tighten up the KV-2 that's going into the contest..........post some pics tomorrow probably............

43 Rascarcapaco can't wait to see the end results James!

Matthias Weiss Excellent work as always, James!

james johnson Thanks Matt and rascar........This thing has weaseled its way back onto the bench.....putting finishing touches on it and a KV-2.......

H K Those Jagdtigers, you don't see them coming
Btw. Youtube Video

james johnson I can?t believe I have this kit. I ordered a Jag V; then received an email from the seller that politely said that the Jag V was unavailable????the Jag VI was available for the exact same price???so for book keeping simplicity I asked them to switch the Jag VI for the Jag V???
Should have checked it out first!! Not too long before this event, someone here at Scalemates had posted something about what a pain in the butt the tracks were going to be???.I found at least one review saying the same thing???.and here I am?.staring at the same task??.
Away we go!

william wise yes the Porsche tracks suck i have the premium edition of this kit and i took one look at the tracks and placed the kit on the shelf and there it will set unless you find a ingenious way of assembling them

james johnson no ingenious way, just going to suck it up and do it! Wish whoever it was here at Scalemates that was tackling this would respond. When he/she posted about these tracks, I remember thinking that I was glad I wasn't that person! Ouch, came back and bit me! Oh well, I like your comment on camaraderie on that other thread William, ditto for me!

Hunter Cummins The person who did it was me and mike
I hace found the easiest way of assembling
build the tracks like you would anyother plastic track. Take the two big pieces and make the whole trake run from them. Put them around the running gear and let to dry (add in all of the sag and make the tracks the way you want them before they dry. Then take the tracks off of the running gear and add the tiny little pieces accordenly

Hunter Cummins And bam
set of porshe tracks dome and ready for painting

james johnson Good idea Hunter, actually I was thinking along those lines.....I'm making the ground runs with all of the pieces.....when it comes time to make the section that goes around and over the wheels........I'll do as you describe.......thanks!

Hunter Cummins Your welcome james
I dont have this kit
but I know what the links are like
I &ad the first one and devised a plann for it
then I traded it
but I still have it written down

james johnson The link assembly isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The pieces fit together nicely and the injection marks aren't very bad at all.........a little tedious, but that's the nature of the beast................

Hunter Cummins Yup
kinda wish I never traded mine lol
picked mine up for 10 dollars

william wise That is a good idea ill have to remember this when i ever start my Porsche Tiger

Fabian D. so we´re pulling out the big guns?
Not a bad choice I guess

Hunter Cummins Well I have a KT so why not go bigger lol
And id perfer te dragon kit haha

Fabian D. It´s a rebox of one... I´m shure the instructions and the decals are better than in the original boxing

Hunter Cummins Hahaha im sure

H K @Robbie: A grey heat-resistant primer was used on barrels.

Aghis Barberopoulos Nice work, it looks the part!

Phil Marchese It very much looks the part and conveys mass and weight.

Robbie Thanks H K - Is there a RAL number or better yet a recommended Tamiya, testors, Humbrol, etc etc you recommend to use ?

Eend What a great looking monster!

Don Ellis Thanks guys! Btw, the barrel is grey now, and that's as far as it's gone, I'm working on a few other kits too, but this Jagdtiger is going to be entered in a show next month, I'll be sure to update you all on the outcome!

Don Ellis Oh wait... I also made up some metal tow cables too and those are rusted, they turned out sweet! I'll have to post pics

H K @Robbie: Sadly no RAL number. The descriptions range from medium grey to dark grey.