Sd.Kfz.186 Jagdtiger (Takom, 1/35)

[flakmonkey]

A bargain purchase in MCC's new year clearance sale.



Comparisons between this and the identically priced Tamiya kit are inevitable, suffice it to say that both are accurate renditions of the original, and the choice is essentially between the Tamiya's ease of build or the Takom kit's superior fine detail.

Some of the Tamiya boxings do feature rubber band tracks, so if you dislike those things it's best to check before parting with any money. The Takom has link and length tracks, and building them is a breeze thanks to the inclusion of a pair of assembly jigs which are also used to align the roadwheel spindles.



Like the Tamiya kit, the gun is poseable for elevation and traverse. This is from Takom's "Blitz" range, and as such is designed for a quick build. Sure enough, it didn't take very long to get the chassis together.



Blitz or not, there is still some very finely wrought detail to be had in the large and sturdy box. The gun muzzle, for example, is rifled. There are also some lovely little wingnuts on the retaining brackets for the jack and the tow hitches on the back panel.



The injection moulded towing cables are a delight, and it's difficult to see how a worthwhile improvement could be made here by using metal cables.



The spare track hangers on the casemate sides, incidentally, work as actual hangers which require no cement to mount the links, so the modeler can remove and replace spare links as an amusing diversion. Also my inner 12 year old finds the working ball mount for the bow MG34 a source of great joy.



There is PE supplied for the engine deck grilles, which I have put in a safe place and now for the life of me I can't find it. I may resort to digging out the Eduard set intended for the Dragon kit.

I'm in no rush to finish this one, it's really a time filler as I wait for Sherman parts to arrive next week.

[Clashcityrocker]

Some nice detail on those parts.

Nigel

[iggie]

The casting texture looks very good indeed

[Cardinal]

Jagdtiger! Love this tank, though I don’t think I’d ever need it for a wargame, far too armored. Very interested to see your progress, even if it is nothing major you plan to work on.

[B4en]

Lord. lord, another monster! Where do you put them all? Looks like an excellent kit.

[flakmonkey]

Thank you for looking.

Construction is complete apart from the radio antenna, spare track links and the MG42 on the engine deck pillar mount. This meant that the model was ready for paint. A coat of Rustoleum surface primer was sprayed, and once dry I went over that with straight matt black and the AK Interactive marbling template. That was again left to dry as I dug out the camo colours for the late war hinterhalt scheme; Dunkelgelb, RAL 6003 Olivgrun, and RAL 8017 Schokobraun. In the event I felt the Schokobraun was too dark in tone and so that was substituted with NATO brown which has a far more appropriate tonal "crush" between the other colours. All colours are Mig Ammo, airbrushed freehand. A cut down 3/0 brush was used for the dots. These were never uniform in shape or size so don't worry yourself too much over that. In fact, to my eye, models that have painstaking circular dots on a hinterhalt scheme look oddly toy like. Remember this was applied by brush in the field by the crews, who were probably far more concerned about the fuel gauge reading than achieving uniform dots.

That was left to dry, assisted by a radiator, decals were applied, and the model was sealed with a coat of Hycote matt clear. A pin wash of brownish black and a fade/ filter coat of pale tan oils carried in odourless thinner was applied over that. The fade coat is, I think, really important on these three tone schemes as they tie the shades together quite convincingly.









That has now dried overnight and the model is now ready for a protective coat of the the Hycote clear, which is a good base for the weathering, which is the next job.

[wokka]

I'm not normally into tanks but this has turned out so well, it has to be commented on.

[ShaunW]

That was quick and it looks great.

[general rocket]

Looking really good

[David Silver]

Excellent work, that looks like a really nice kit. Where would we be if it wasn't for our radiator driers?

[Cardinal]

Looks very nice. The kill marks are a nice addition to.

[flakmonkey]

Thanks all for looking in.

Weathering is now complete and all of the final small items have been attached, so this one is now finished.











The weathering was built up over a layer of oil paint streaking, using Mig Ammo washables and pigments. The washable colours in particular make weathering quite easy, and I especially like the washable rust, which I used for all of the rust streaking.

This has been a quick and enjoyable build, and the kit itself is excellent. The only problem of note is that the mounting ears on the gun tube that attach to the saukopf mantlet are a little too far back and do not properly meet up with the mantlet. This is very easily fixed with a couple of sheet styrene packers. At first I thought I had done something wrong, but then found that others have noted the same issue.

That does not detract from the kit in any significant way, and it is worth considering if you want to build a Jagdtiger. It's not unreasonably priced given the quality of the kit, the ability to build either early or late Henschel production versions from the same boxing, the inclusion of six marking options, and of course the working ball mount for the bow MG34

[ShaunW]

That is really excellent. Built quickly and built well. Quite a rare combination.

[JamesPerrin]

Just started reading this thread to see how far you’d got in 6 days…. Ok you’re trying to keep me on my toes aren’t you!? Good grief man where do find the time? Top notch work and the busy scheme works well on such a large subject.

[Clashcityrocker]

I can feel the ground shaking from here1

Nigel