Tamiya

1/35 Panzerjager "Jagdtiger" Mid Production w/ Otto Carius

Kit Number: 35307

Reviewed by  Michael Delano, IPMS# 45465

MSRP: $91.00 Website: tamiyausa.com/ Additional Items included in build: Eduard Turned Aluminum Barrel: $12.00 Friulmodel Metal Track Link Set: $44.00 When I volunteered to review Tamiya's mid production Jagdtiger kit, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. My previous experience with Tamiya armor kits were the Tamiya kits of the 1970's that I had inherited over the years and in the 3 years since I have been back in the modeling hobby, I have built Dragon kits exclusively and thus fairly spoiled with all the bells and whistles that come with those kits. When I finally received this Tamiya kit in the mail and unboxed it, I was absolutely amazed. This was nothing like those Tamiya kits of the 70's I still have languishing in the top of my closet. Packed neatly in the box were 7 sprues of dark yellow plastic, a green sprue containing motorcycle parts, 2 brown sprues including link and length track, a photo etched fret including engine deck grilles and MG sights, and the trademark vinyl track lengths. Also included are 2 nice decal sheets - one for the motorcycle markings and another sheet of markings for the Jagdtiger itself. Painting instructions are included for 5 units:

Casemate No. 201 commanded by Lt. Otto Carius, 2nd Co., 512th Heavy Anti-Tank Bn. Iserlohn 1945. Casemate No. 234, 2nd Co. 653rd Heavy Anti-Tank Bn. Zeiskam, March 1945. Casemate No. X1 commanded by Lt. Albert Ernst, 1st Co. 512th Heavy Anti-Tank Bn. Iserlohn, April 1945. Casemate No. X2 1st Co. 512th Heavy Anti-Tank Bn. Iserlohn, April 1945. Casemate No. X7 1st Co. 512th Heavy Anti-Tank Bn. Iserlohn, April 1945. As an enhancement to the kit, I decided to use a set of Friulmodel track links as well as an Eduard aluminum barrel. It's important for me to note, however, that the only reason I used these additional details was because I happened to have them. This kit, by itself is superb and by no means are these particular add on details necessary. I began with this kit as I always do with armor. The unit was broken down into the major sub assemblies: Interior and main gun. Lower Hull and rear bulkhead. Upper Hull. Road wheels, sprockets, and idlers. Tracks. With the main gun, there was very little modification to the kit parts that needed to be done in order to utilize the Eduard barrel. The kit barrel comes in 2 halves and is a bit longer than the aluminum barrel. All that was necessary was to cut off the difference in length between the kit barrel and Eduard barrel. The Eduard barrel then fit very nicely into the barrel root from the kit.

Save for the tracks, all of the main sub assemblies were completed, the upper and lower hulls were mated along with the main gun. Everything primed with Mr. Surfacer and followed by a basecoat of Floquil Oxide Red. Once dry, the entire unit was given a basecoat of Gunze Dark Yellow. The camouflage pattern was done using Gunze Dark Green and Red Brown. Once dry, everything was shot with a coat of Future, allowed to dry, decals applied, and followed with another coat of Future to seal. With weathering, I experimented with a different method than I usually do. In most cases, I apply my oil washes by brush and use Q-Tips to go back and remove the excess. This time, I took the same oil washes and loaded them into my airbrush to apply to the model. In this case, it turned out to be a filter instead of a wash. For the most part, I was pleased with the outcome, but next time, I will probably use a more highly thinned oil mixture for more subtlety. With the main sub assemblies completed, I turned to my tracks. Regardless of what you might have heard, working with Friulmodel track links is quite simple. For the most part, there is little cleanup that needs to be done. The most tedious part is cutting all of the track pins. Once cut, it is as simple as joining two links together and firmly holding onto a track pin with tweezers to insert it. Once you get going, you can get an entire length of track assembled in about 30 minutes or so. With both track lengths complete, I gave them a coat of Krylon semi-gloss black enamel made for metal. I wanted to make sure that I got good paint coverage as well as a good grip of the paint to the metal links. I let the track lengths dry for about a week or so before I even touched them again. Once dry, they were given a coat of Floquil Oxide Red, followed by Tamiya Gun Metal. Once dry, each track length was given a generous oil wash and sealed with Testors Dullcote Lacquer. Overall, I was extremely pleased with this kit. There were no fit problems at all, the parts were very crisply molded, and the detail was excellent. The included figures, especially Otto Carius himself are very finely detailed and rival any Dragon figure I can find. Likewise, the included motorcycle is highly detailed and will make a nice stand alone display piece by itself. I would highly recommend this kit to anyone, with the only drawback being that at an MSRP of $91.00, it is a bit pricy!

Many thanks to Tamiya and IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this kit!