JagdTiger..

[smuts]

Hi guys, just looked at my Dragon JagdTiger & the instructions state zimmerit needs to be applied, I thought no tanks had zimmerit coating after Sept 44

the few photo's I've got seem to be of clean zimm free hulls.

Andy.

[Paul Brickles]

Zimmerit was discontinued from factory application on 9 September 1944 and from field application on 7 October 1944. This was due to baseless concerns that projectile impacts could set it on fire. These proved false, but the order was never rescinded. Applying and drying the paste added days to the production of each vehicle,which was unacceptable as there was a shortage of tanks.

There would still be vehicles in the field that would still have the zimm applied

Paul

[Tigerausfb]

Andy,

I assume you have the Dragon boxing of the 'Porsche' suspension Jagdtiger? If not then there's no need for Zimmerit as none of the Henschels had it applied.

Andy

Edit: Ooops..I should read the subject heading ....but 'Porsches' (e.g the one in the Tank Museum) do need zimmerit

Edited July 28, 2009 by Tigerausfb

[Tigerausfb]

Just giving the question a little more thought this afternoon after my shoddy dash-back-to-work rushed answer at lunchtime, I'm guessing you don't want the hassle of applying zimmerit. If you want the option then possibly three of the eleven Porsche JTs had no zimmerit. The 'Porsche' prototype chassis 305001 was bare as possibly was chassis 305005 but maybe 305012 is the option for you??

305005 had issues with the armour being defective and was never issued. I don't think there's any photos of it either so no telling if it was Zimm'ed up

305001 is seen here (pic from the Tank Museum)

Later it was equipped and camo'd but whether it saw action is uncertain.

But you'll need a 9 tooth sprocket instead of the normal 'Porsche' 18 tooth, transport track and you'll need to make it a command version.

Now chassis 305012 was destroyed by its crew after a transmission failure after being strafed by P-47s

This one has 18 tooth sprocket and the later travel lock.

Andy

[Seahawk]

Just giving the question a little more thought this afternoon after my shoddy dash-back-to-work rushed answer at lunchtime, I'm guessing you don't want the hassle of applying zimmerit. If you want the option then possibly three of the eleven Porsche JTs had no zimmerit. The 'Porsche' prototype chassis 305001 was bare as possibly was chassis 305005 but maybe 305012 is the option for you??

305005 had issues with the armour being defective and was never issued. I don't think there's any photos of it either so no telling if it was Zimm'ed up

305001 is seen here (pic from the Tank Museum)

Later it was equipped and camo'd but whether it saw action is uncertain.

But you'll need a 9 tooth sprocket instead of the normal 'Porsche' 18 tooth, transport track and you'll need to make it a command version.

Now chassis 305012 was destroyed by its crew after a transmission failure after being strafed by P-47s

This one has 18 tooth sprocket and the later travel lock.

Andy

Andy.

Can't speak for smuts but thanks very much for this info. I'd returned my Dragon 1/72 Jagdtiger to the stash because it looked like the only options were either with Zimmerit or just trials vehicles. Do you have, or can you point us toward, any more pics of 305012, esp as "314"? Is that the ambush scheme?

Thanks again.

Nick

[Tigerausfb]

Nick, sure.

This is a US Signal Corps shot taken around March 1945 in the Morsbronn area of France near Hagenau. You might note there's another JT up on the hill, which is the trashed '332'.

This is an in-service shot of '314'. There's a couple more in-service shots of '314' with s.Pz.Jg.653 but they're quite poor for modelling purposes.

The demarcations look to have a harder edge to them compared say to the pic above. I'm not sure if it's the full light on dark 'ambush' scheme though??

Pics of '314' and the other porsche JTs are in Andrew Deveys 'Jagdtiger: Vol.2 Operational History, the Schiffer softcover 'Elefant, Jagdtiger, Sturmtiger' and the very expensive 'Combat History of Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653'.

Cheers _ Andy

[Mike]

Cool pics... the things an armour modeller has to consider!

Oh, if you do decide to Zimerrit your JT, Cavalier do sets of resin Zimm specific to certain kits... looks pretty good

[Tigerausfb]

Cool pics... the things an armour modeller has to consider!

Hi Mike, 'tis very true! And compounded, in this instance, as there were only 11 built with this sort of suspension and they were all photographed bar the one I mentioned above. Interesting vehicles though, completely useless as an offensive weapon but sitting defensively on the strategic high ground with that extremely powerful 128mm gun like a long range sniper, I imagine pretty devastating to advancing Allied armour. Until the 9th Air Force show up of course !

Here's some footage of one of the Porsche suspensioned vehicles in action, this vehicle's now at Bovington.

[Mike]

Seeing as my AFV guru Dan's not around at the moment All hail the mighty Daddow... what's the difference between the Porsche suspension & the production units - I guess Henschel?

[Tigerausfb]

The 'Porsche' suspension was a paired wheel unit on a longitudinal torsion bar acting as the spring (4 wheels total per unit, four units per side) while the Henschel was a single swinging arm carrying two wheels sprung with torsion bars transversely across the hull (a la Tiger, Tiger Ausf.B, Panther etc)...as always pics would save a thousand words The idea was that the Porsche suspension was easier for maintenance as you would undo a few bolts and remove a complete suspension unit as opposed the the Henschel where various road wheels have to be removed with the use of a jack. If you watch the video you can see a complete unit has gone AWOL from the Bovington Porsche JT.

Andy

[Mike]

Thanks Andy... I did wonder where the middle wheel stations were