Mike Posted August 24, 2019 Posted August 24, 2019 Jagdpanther G1 Early w/Zimmerit & Schwerer Platformwagen Type SSys (2125X) Special Edition 1:35 Takom via Pocketbond Ltd. After the Nazis encountered the formidable Russian T-34, their medium tank project took a new turn to become the Panther, which proved to be one of their more successful designs and is still admired today for its technical prowess and abilities. The need for tank killers took the chassis of the Panther, removed the turret and superstructure, replacing it with a casemate and powerful high-velocity gun in a new mount with elevation and limited side to side movement that was used for fine-tuning targeting or chasing a moving target. The heavily sloped glacis extended to the roofline, giving the vehicle a sleek look that was echoed at the sides, with a vertical step down from the roof at the rear onto the engine deck. The G1 variant used the Panther A as a base, while the later models designated G2 were based up on the Panther G chassis. The same Pak 43 88mm gun was mounted, in an internally fixed mantlet initially, and later externally bolted in the G2. As with all WWII German tanks, the design was complex by comparison with the enemy's, so production was slower, which was probably just as well as it was an exceptionally capable tank, just like is turreted progenitor. The gun was virtually unstoppable by armour of the time, the engine had enough power for the task in hand, and it wasn't overweight, so the transmission could handle the power easily. If there had been more of them, they could well have had an impact, certainly slowing down the Allied advances (providing they could find fuel for them), and making gains more costly in men and materiel. Along with other tank types they were usually transported via railway on low-slung wagons due to their propensity to break down during longer road journeys and their command's desire to keep their mileage away from the battlefield low. The Kit This is a new boxing of Takom's 2019 release of the early Jagdpanther G1 with zimmerit anti-mine coating moulded into the hull and other parts. It also includes the 2014 SSys Plattformwagen from Sabre model, which as you can imagine adds extra parts to the box, requiring a little extra depth than usual. The box is white themed with a line-drawing of the combination on the front and sides plus the large green Takom logo, which immediately makes the package a little classy and shows its limited edition status off well. In case you didn't know, Sabre are another Chinese model company with a couple of these kits in 1:35 and 1:72 scale. This of course (do I really need to say it?) is the 1:35 edition. The box is bulging with sprues even though this is an exterior only kit thanks to both the detail included in the Jagdpanther kit, but also because the wagon is a pretty large tooling at this scale. Inside the box are 22 sprues for the tank, 12 sprues for the wagon, two black jig parts, two lengths of braided copper cable, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two decal sheets and a thick landscape instruction booklet with colour profiles in the rear for painting and markings. The detail on the tank is excellent, especially in regard to the zimmerit coating, which is of the waffle-type and is depicted as worn with an uneven surface that is exactly as it should be. The paste was applied by hand, often by forced labour who were working against their will and didn't give a hoot about how nice their enemy's tanks looked going into battle. Sections of the zimm are missing from the surfaces where tools or other parts are attached, and if there is repetition of the effect, it's difficult to find evidence and it defeated my eyes. The paste was applied to reduce the magnetic signature of the tank's vertical(ish) surfaces in order to defeat magnetic mines that the Russians were alleged to be using, although this threat was much less than expected which is why the paste was eventually removed from the construction process. There is a slight difference in colour between the tank sprues and the wagon sprues, with the wagon having a more bluish tint, while the Takom sprues are their standard grey. Construction begins with the tank, and the lower hull is the first part to be built up. This assembly consists of the floor with lower glacis plate insert, plus the two side plates, both of which have zimmerit coating around their suspension just in case some brave/foolhardy Russian chanced his arm (literally) and shoved a mine in there. The suspension arms are next, slotting into holes in the hull and with two holes in the back of each one that cleverly ensures that they will only fit in the correct direction and at the right angle, aided by leaving the jigs in place during curing. Don't throw the jigs away yet, as they have another job to do later. The wheels are up next, and they travel in pairs to spread the vehicle's weight over the ground. These are built up with their moulded-in rubber tyres (they switched to steel rims later), the outer pairs getting made up after fitting the inner wheel behind the inner part of the pair. The final drive housing and small guide wheel that was fitted to help reduce track-throwing are added to the front of the hull and it's time for tracks! The tracks on this kit are link-and-length, and come with separate twin rows of guide-horns that are best added before you remove the track links from the sprues. The guide-horns come on their own rails that you remove en-masse and apply to the tracks in accordance with the instructions, and once dry you can remove the rail and clean up the sprue-gates. Each of the track links are then cut from the sprues, with only one gate per link making that task fairly quick. Before you can make up the track runs, you need to construct the idler wheels and drive sprockets, with a choice of two types of drive sprocket. The reason for making these now is so that they can be slipped onto the spindles on the jigs to build up the tracks including the independent links around the more curved areas, and the longer lengths on the tops and bottoms. The lower section are shown added after they are fitted to the wheels, which will be most useful to paint them separately then glue them in place after. The final outer wheel from the rear station is fitted into place along with the idler-wheel tensioner and a small collar around the drive sprocket axle to complete the job. With the tracks out of the way, the sponson floors are added to the sides of the lower hull, and the rear bulkhead with complex exhausts is made up, noting that the instructions don't show the zimmerit coating on any of the parts but it is there on the sprues. The stowage boxes on the rear of the tank are coated with zimmerit, as is the bulkhead, while the cast exhaust armour and the tubes themselves aren't coated, although the armour has a nice casting texture moulded-in that helps with the realism. When it is fitted at the rear a pair of towing shackles are glued to the rear extremity and attention turns to the upper hull and casemate. It is worth stating again here that the moulding of the zimmerit on the hull is excellent, and the first act involves adding all the pioneer tools and the track racks to the sides, using a few extra links from the track sprues. The interior of the upper glacis plate is laminated to the outer layer, with the bow-mounted machine gun trapped between them, the zimmerited domed kugelblende, periscope and the inner mantlet moulding all fitted from the outside. The inner mantlet has cast texture included, as does the saukopf that fits at the base of the barrel later, but first the full breech is made up from a substantial number of parts, including compensators, sighting gear and crew seats, which isn't half bad for an exterior kit. The completed breech is fitted from the inside and linked to the barrel, which passes through the aforementioned saukopf, with a choice of two muzzle-brake styles, one large, the other small. Each one has a baffle and end-cap fitted before installation for extra detail. With that the upper hull and lower hull can be joined, and the engine compartment frame fitted to the aft deck in anticipation of the heavy cast louvered parts that are covered with PE mesh grilles to keep grenades and debris out. The front fenders are covered in zimmerit and are fitted to the front along with their headlight, and a long frame and hangers is run down the sides for the schürzen that will be fitted later. Firstly, the casemate roof is assembled, with numerous hatches, periscopes, vents and it's then placed on the roof with the addition of a bit of glue. The shürzen panels are supplied in complete runs, one for each side and they have their edges thinned to give a more accurate look, however if you want to depict them damaged you'll need to either mangle the plastic parts or replace them with thinner material such as brass or thin styrene (aftermarket being the easiest way). Following this the engine deck is filled in with the round louvers and their grilles, plus the large engine hatch with its smaller inner inspection cover complete with mushroom vents on the tops. The rear of the casemate is the last of the hull plates to be added, and this has a drop-down hatch in the centre, stowage box on the left and shell-ejection port on the right with an aerial mount above it. The final act is to cut two lengths of braided wire and attach them to the towing eyes, then fit them to the deck using the small hooks supplied. Schwerer Plattformwagen SSys Moulded in a shinier plastic, this portion of the build begins with the flatbed, which comprises four sections and is best laid flat during curing of the glue to ensure a level bed later. If you are planning on choosing the option of using the upstands along the sides of the bed, you'll need to remove the flashed over points that are picked out in the first step, and you'll probably also want some narrow chain to string between them, as I think that was sometimes the case. With the glue on the bed cured, four longitudinal C-profile ribs are fitted, then seven lateral cross-beams and some smaller ones at angles toward each end. Then the large weight-bearing tapering beams are run along each side, made up from two parts that butt up against each other. Two box section pivots are made up from flat parts, and the sides of each of the two bogies are fitted out with bearings and leaf suspension (four in total), with brake-blocks installed on the inner faces using scrap diagrams to get the position right. The sides are spaced apart by the box section and additional rods are attached between the brake block mechanism, cut to length as required. The wheels are made up on their axles and are also suspended between the sides, the additional bracing girders are attached around the bogie to stiffen the assembly. When complete, these mate with pivot points under the bed assembly, and can be glued in place or left to pivot. The bogies are finished off with buffers, pneumatic brake hoses and a nicely detailed hitch, with a few small parts added to the sides of the bed. Happily, you also get a set of tracks to sit your wagon on, with enough track to sit under the wagon, and some linking plates in case you've decided to get some more track or have another wagon up your sleeve. There are 18 sleepers/ties and two lengths of rail a shade over 30cm/12" in length, and while the rail on my sprues were a little bowed at one end, attaching the sleepers and fixing them to a base will bring the rails back into alignment. The sleepers are shown with a 10mm gap between them, and you thread the rails through their cleats from one end to the other. Markings There are six markings options for the tank with varying camo scheme on a dark yellow base, one of which is straight dunkelgelb without any camo. The profiles are five-view to give you every side of the patterns, and the colours called out using Mig AMMO shades, as they were also involved in the artwork. Decals are printed anonymously with good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Yes - those profile backgrounds are all different colours. The wagon decals are printed by Sabre with a copyright of 2014. They are all white, so there's no registration to worry about, but they appear sharp and dense with plenty of stencils along the main beams of the bed with a few more on the bogies. Conclusion The Jagdpanther on its own is a great kit with superior detail, and added to the Sabre Plattformwagen it really lends itself to a transport diorama just by the addition of some groundwork and ballast, with maybe a few figures to add a sense of scale. This has me itching to build it, although at the moment I'm trying to finish at least one project before I start another. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for 3 2
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