Jump to content

Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer by Unimodels 1:72


Recommended Posts

After the two Renaults shown few days ago this one is quite another piece of cake. And this is not the matter of size, as the WW2 16-ton Hetzer tank destroyer is roughly the lenght of Mondeo or Audi A4. The problem was complexity of this tiny kit by Ukrainian Unimodels. The whole package some 67mm long (87mm including the barrel) consists of 147 plastic and 16 photoetched parts !

And the Renaults mentioned above consisted of less than 20 parts each...

The Hetzer was invented by the Germans looking for the cheap and effective tank-buster. It was based on the widened chassis of Czech CKD LT vz.38 light tank, used by the Germans as Panzer 38(t). Powered by 160 BHP Praga 6-cylinder petrol engine and armed with a 75mm AT cannon it showed great efficiency against both Allied and Soviet AFV in the last 2 years of war. Some 2850 were built (in Czech factories) until the VE Day and almost 350 after the war - 160 of these last mentioned were exported to Switzerland. After the StuG III, Panzer IV, Panzer III and Panzer V it was the "number 5" among the most numerous German WW2 all-tracked AFVs.

The quite recent (2004 tooling) UM kit is available in 10 different boxings. Mine is the original #352 "tank hunter, early version". It's built OOB except for the drilled (1 mm dia) gun barrel and exhaust pipe as well as the decals representing a Hetzer fighting in Falaise area in August 1944. It is not "shake and bake" kit however. Making L-section fender hangers from the 1.5mm wide PE stripes will be my nightmare for several weeks  :)

 

49728628767_85f99a5ef3_b.jpg


49727765023_f4bf695fe5_b.jpg


49728314476_1db615ccfa_b.jpg


49728631867_c0d7ea94a0_b.jpg


49728316261_07063f4833_b.jpg


49728633952_262eedbb90_b.jpg


49727769833_c5c7ff8fa6_b.jpg

 

The paints are (as always) Humbrol enamels: 93 for the RAL7028 Dunkelgelb, 117 for the RAL6030 Olivgruen, and 186 for the RAL8017 Rotbraun - painted with brushes.

Afterwards the Vallejo acrylic matt varnish was brush-applied overall.

The digits are from the Dragon Panther tank and the Eduard SPAD.

The pictures are made by LG smartphone.

Comments welcome

Cheers

Michael

 

Edited by KRK4m
  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

If those are the kit tracks, you've done an excellent job, especially around the drive sprockets and idlers, of making them look like a continuous length of track.  I have a Flakpanzer 38(t) at that stage and am not looking forward to it.

 

Also good job on painting the wheel tyres: they are not as well defined as they look on the sprue!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...