Meng Sd.Kfz.173 Ausf.G2 Jagdpanther (TS-047) 1:35

[Mike]

Sd.Kfz.173 Ausf.G2 Jagdpanther (TS-047)

1:35 Meng via Creative Models 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 killer “ambush predators” 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.  The heavily sloped glacis extended to the roofline, giving the vehicle a sleek look that was echoed at the sides, with a 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 a capable tank, just like is turreted progenitor.  The gun was almost unstoppable by armour at 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 have fuelled them), and making gains more costly in men and materiel.  Its “misuse” as infantry support and as a standard tank also helped the Allies with attrition, as tanks were destroyed or abandoned due to relatively minor breakdowns, then scuttled if the crews were able to do so.

 

The Kit

Meng have tooled a couple of Panthers in 1:35, and it made sense for them to add a Jagdpanther to their line due to the overlap in parts and research.  We reviewed their Ausf.A and the later Ausf.D, with the Jagdpanther G1 here and after a couple of years (has it really been that long?) we now have the Jagdpanther G2.  Meng have a well-earned reputation for producing good, well-detailed models, mainly because that's what they keep on doing.  I'm a fan of Meng, and I also love the Jagdpanther for no reason that I can divine, so I apologise in advance (again) if I come across a bit giddy at times.  The kit arrives in a standard Meng box with attractive artwork and that satin finish I like so much.  Inside are ten sprues in sand coloured styrene, a small clear sprue, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) in varying thicknesses, a run of polycaps, two lengths of braided metal wire, a tiny decal sheet, turned aluminium barrel, length of brass chain, instruction booklet with colour painting guide on the rear pages, all printed on glossy paper in a narrow sub-A4 portrait format.  In addition to the booklet there are four pages of information about the type on thick stock in several languages, which has a row of three ring-binder holes along the top edge.

 

First impressions are excellent as usual, and there are common sprues between both their Panther G and the Jagdpanther G1, with a few new parts on two additional sprues, plus a redesigned PE brass sheet, and that short length of chain.  Detail is excellent throughout, and the inclusion of things such as a turned barrel and realistic braided wire for the towing cables is good news, as it's just one less thing to have to add to your model, and keeps costs down, which will doubtless be appreciated by many.

 

 

 

 

 

New Parts

 

 

 

Construction begins in the same manner as the Panther with the paired road wheels with a polycap between each one, plus the idler and drive sprockets.  The lower hull is built from floor and two side panels, with two t-shaped braces holding them to the correct angles, so that when you fit the rear bulkhead it should slide perfectly in place.  Various bits of suspension and drive train are added to the sides, as are the stub axles through the holes in the hull sides.  These have a small additional peg at the end of the swing arm to allow the modeller to set them at the correct (neutral) ride height, and before installation the small holes in the back of the arms that are there to prevent sink marks are filled with small inserts, even though they probably won't be seen.  The upper hull with the engine deck and radiator bath sections are then made up and glued on the lower hull, with the overhang above the tracks closed in by additional panels.  The road wheels are interleaved in a similar manner as the Tiger to reduce ground pressure, so must be put in place in the correct order to prevent complications, so take care here to put types A and B in the appropriate places, after which the tracks are needed.  The links are individual, with twin guide-horns that are supplied as separate parts that must be added into the small square holes in the links before you can glue them together.  The position of the sprue gates on the links are on curved surfaces, which makes removing that last fraction of a millimetre that much harder, requiring a circular diamond file or similar to do a good job.  This slows the task down quite a bit initially, although as with all things you'll probably speed up near the end, which is exactly what I did on my short test run, electing to add the horns dry to the links, and glue them in place.  The links fit together snuggly, and hide all the seamlines as well as any less-than-perfect sprue gate removal, so it's not the end of the world, but the task will be a fairly long one, and as the guide-horns are small and tapered, they love to ping out of your tweezers at the slightest variance in pressure.  Once all the links have their horns in place, a relatively swift gluing of links should leave them flexible enough to drape around the wheels, and taping or chocking them in place will give you the realistic sag behind the drive wheels that you need on the top run.

 

 

The upper hull that was installed earlier is merely the liner, but the front panel is exterior armoured surface, and this needs a hole drilled in the side of the plate, and a port removed from the glacis with a sharp blade.  The side armour panels are in need of holes for the tools, and after they are fixed in place you have a vehicle that looks more like a tank.  Small PE parts are added to the exterior along with other fixtures such as the lights, towing shackles and pioneer tools that are a must for any AFV.  The rear bulkhead is fitted with armoured access panels and two tubular exhausts, which have welded armoured lowers and are surrounded by the angular stowage boxes that usually fare badly in reversing incidents.  The later tubular Notek convoy light is hidden away on the left lower exhaust, with a scrap diagram showing the correct colours and its location on a bracket attached to the left exhaust, which is another new one on me.

 

The engine deck has three louvers, two of which are rectangular and have PE mesh covers, the other a raised circular cast unit that has its own PE insert, while on the sides a run of narrow PE fenders are fitted with styrene brackets, which later also act as hangers for the schurtzen side skirts.  The crew heater unit fits over the left circular aperture, and has a fan, PE mesh grille and wedge-shaped PE adjustment covers that fit inside the top lip.   A rack of spare track links and tools are added above on the right, with more tools on the left, plus a tube containing barrel cleaning rods on the left side of the hull attacxhed by a bracket.  The central lift-off cover to the engine deck was a source for some variance, so flashed over holes are drilled out as needed for this version.  The jack block was omitted on this version, but the jack is stowed between the exhausts, then the rear is finished off with the crew hatch, spent shell-ejection port, and aerial base, with an antenna base on the right of the crew door, and one towing cable on each side of the hull, made up from the supplied braided cable and styrene eye parts.  The roof of the fighting compartment has a simple flat mushroom vent, as well as crew hatches that can be left open or closed, and clear periscope parts around the surface.  The rotating sighting periscope is made up and dropped into the roof, then secured by a ring to allow it to rotate if you wish, and a choice of flat or curved central vents to finish off.  The roof is then glued in place.

 

The bow mounted machine gun was surrounded by a domed armour panel called a Kugelblende, which came in two flavours with a stepped aperture and a smooth one.  The machine gun barrel is fitted to the ball mount and trapped in place by the installation of this part, or it can be left off and covered by a plug with styrene lanyard that was fitted during deep wading for example.  The gun breech is surprisingly detailed considering this is a "no interior" kit, and this is built up over a number of steps before being pushed through the riveted mantlet.  The Saukopf (literally "pig head" due to how it looks) that protects the vulnerable gap between mantlet and breech is slid on next, then the completed assembly slides into the glacis and can be glued in place to accept the turned barrel once it has been topped & tailed with the three-piece flash hider, and four part gun sleeve.  The barrel is keyed, so there's little change of it going in upside down unless you are very determined and prone to violence.  With the barrel glued in and the nickel-plated Schurzen put in place, that's main construction over with.

 

This boxing includes a crane arm that could be fitted above the rear deck to accomplish heavy lifting tasks during maintenance.  It is made up of a vertical pole with two bracing struts that attach half way along the roof, then a jib that is supported by a length of cable and a chain that sets the angle of the jib.  A pair of lifting pulleys are made up and laced with PE chain according to a scrap diagram, then the completed assembly is fitted to the roof as shown in the final step.

 

Markings

There are three markings options in the box, and a tiny decal sheet covers them all, with six crosses being the only content.  Each option is heavily camouflaged, as the Germans were at this point in the war running scared of the Allied fighters such as the Typhoon, Tempest and Thunderbolt who could roam at will due to the almost total lack of Luftwaffe by then.

 

• Unit Unknown, German Military, Germany, Spring 1945
• Unit Unknown, German Military, France, Late 1944
• sPzJgAbt 654, Alsace France, late 1944

 

 

 

Decals are printed in China in black and white plus a red Meng logo, and have adequate registration, sharpness and colour density for the task, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

 

Conclusion

I said the same thing about the G1 kit, and again will put up with the slightly fiddly tracks for the sake of the rest of it.  Superb detail and moulding, relatively simple construction (ignoring the track), and it's another Meng Jagdpanther.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of