Hunting Panther

Historical Background

In mid-1943, after experiencing combat with Red Army tanks, especially the T-34, the Germans introduced a new medium tank, the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther. The Panther, despite its inauspicious debut during the Battle of Kursk, have an excellent blend of firepower, mobility and protection and became the benchmark for other nations' tank designs and was regarded as one of the best tanks of World War 2. In August 1942, while the Panther tank was still in development, the Waffenamt decided to use its chassis and components to create a new sturmgeschutz armed with a newly developed long 88mm gun with Krupp being assigned to this project. The plans and technical documentation for this new vehicle was scheduled to be completed by January 1943 with full production starting in July 1943. In October 1942, the Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production, Albert Speer, decided that further development would be undertaken by Daimler-Benz with Krupp assisting with the armament and its mount.

In January 1943, Daimler-Benz finished a pre-final design of what is now called a 8.8cm Sturmgeschutz with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 172. Preparatory works continue until May 1943 when the final design was finished as the 8.8cm Pak 43/3 Panzerjager Panther with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 173. On the 24th of the same month, production was transferred to Muhlenbau-Industrie AG (MIAG) in Braunschweig because of shortage of space at Daimler-Benz's plant in Berlin. The prototype was presented before Adolf Hitler on 20th October 1943 at Arys in East Prussia and in November, Hitler bestowed a shorter name for the vehicle - Jagdpanther.  

The Jagdpanther was based on the standard Panther tank chassis with the glacis and side plates extended up to form a turretless, fixed casemate. The new superstructure housed a roomy fighting compartment with the main hatch located to the rear of the superstructure, which was used for crew entry/exit and also for ammunition loading, two other hatches were located on the roof.  The casemate was protected by 80mm of armour at the front and 60mm sides. The Jagdpanther weighed 46 tons and was powered by a Maybach HL230 P30 V-12 petrol engine with 690hp, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 46km/h. It was armed a long-barreled Pak 43/3 L71 88mm gun (the same gun fitted to the Tiger II). The gun mount allows the gun to be traversed to 11° on each side and elevation of +14° to -8°. Fitted with a Sfl.Z.F.1a gunsight, the gun was capable of destroying enemy tanks up to 3,000 meters away. A ball-mounted 7.92mm MG34 or MG42 machinegun was fitted to the right of the main armament. Ammunition capacity was 60 88mm rounds and 1,200 7.92mm rounds. Later in the war, a 90mm close-in weapon called Nahverteidigungswaffe, with 16 'grenades' was fitted. In addition, two MP40 submachineguns with 384 rounds were carried for personal crew protection.

Various modification were made during the production run such as different exhaust arrangements, flame suppressor mufflers, deletion of pistol ports and installation of a cooling fan for the interior heater. 'Small square'-pattern Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste was applied in factory for early-build Jagdpanthers but the practice was discontinued in September 1944. Generally speaking, there were two main variants of the Jagpanther - the early (G1) variant with a small, internally bolted main gun mantlet with modified Panther A engine deck and the late (G2) with a larger, externally bolted mantlet and a modified Panther G engine deck. However some G1 Jagdpanthers were also fitted with the large mantlet. Only 425 Jagdpanthers were built from January 1944 until the end of the war. It was originally planned to build up to 150 units per month but the highest number produced per month was just 72 in January 1945. The low number produced was the direct result of Allied bombing raids against the main MIAG and MNH (Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsischen-Hannover) factories, which caused much destruction and disruption.

Jagdpanthers were issued to independent heavy anti-tank battalions (schwere Panzerjager Abteilung) and also anti-tank battalions that form part of a Panzer Division. They were first issued to schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 559 and 654 and took part in the Battle of Normandy. On 30 July 1944, three Jagdpanthers from Abteilung 654 ambushed a squadron from the British 6th Guards Tank Brigade near Les Loges in Normandy. They managed to destroy 11 Churchills at the cost of abandoning two of their own number because of damaged tracks. The majority of the Jagdpanthers however served in the Eastern Front although in December 1944, many Eastern Front Jagdpanthers were transferred to the West to take part in Operation Wacht Am Rhein (the Battle of The Bulge). Small numbers of the Jagdpanther were used by the Waffen-SS, specifically with the 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, 9th SS-Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and the 10th SS-Panzer Division Frundsberg. The three SS-Panzer Divisions received one company each of Jagdpanthers and were used during Operation Frühlingserwachen where out of 42 issued, only 12 were operational at the end of the operation.

The Kit

Tamiya's 1996 Jagdpanther was a new tool kit, replacing the 1960s-vintage original, and used Tamiya's then-new Panther G mould as basis. The parts are spread among six tan-coloured sprues, lower hull half from the Panther G kit, one-piece upper hull, two sprues of separate-link tracks from their Panther track set, a pair of glueable vinyl/rubberised plastic tracks, a length of copper wire plus the de rigeur polycaps, decals and instruction sheet. The parts are well-moulded and have excellent details. There is no PE included although Tamiya did mention their separately available PE set for the engine grilles. The belt-type tracks generally have good detail although the guide teeth are moulded as a solid piece instead of hollow. While nice, it can't beat separate-link type tracks, especially workable ones, to replicate the drape of the real thing. And I am quite at a loss as to why Tamiya use plastic instead of the usual string to replicate the tow cables. The decals provide marking options for three vehicles : '131' and '102' from schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 560 during the Battle of the Bulge and '121' from an unknown unit.  

Construction

As usual. construction began with the lower hull. Tamiya suggests that the rear hull panel be temporarily attached to the lower hull shell with cellophane tapes. I however decided to cement them together. The torsion bars were next in line; although Tamiya reminded the modeller about the alignment of the bars, the fit of them to the hull was very good and aligned well. As the Panther's road wheels also used the Schachtellaufwerk arrangement, the wheels were painted first. While the parts for the middle wheels were mated together, all the wheels were off the hull at this time. Going to the rear of the hull, I added the storage boxes and the towing eyes. As for the exhausts Tamiya provided two types, marked as May-December 1944 or December 1944 onwards production types. As I was thinking of building the 560 Abteilung machine during the Battle of The Bulge, I chose the former as it was more plausible

The upper hull assembly started by cementing all the optical equipment (sadly not moulded in clear plastic) to the roof. Also added were Parts D13 and D14 which act as stiffeners while two holes were drilled into the engine deck. The upper hull was then cemented to the lower hull before i proceed any further. I then added all the stuff on the hull, but instead of following the steps suggested by Tamiya, I end up cementing the engine grilles first, followed by the various hatches and ports, periscope guards and the tool mounts (but not including the tools). The hull MG barrel was also left off at this time. Tamiya also provided the crew compartment heater module, but again, it was not expressly stated whether it was applicable to the markings in the kit. I end up using the normal grille. Like many of their kits of the same vintage, Tamiya have the engine grille covers as a separately available item; good thing the local Tamiya distributor have them in stock. The schurzen mounts was then cemented to the hull. I however intended not to use the schurzen plates. The gun was the last to be assembled prior to painting. It consists of breech assembly (which also formed the vast majority of the interior 'detail'), the barrel assembly (beware of seams if you are not careful) and the mantlet.

Painting and Decaling

By the time the Jagdpanther entered service, German Panzers were mainly painted a tricolour of Dunkelgelb (Dark Yellow),  Olivgrün (Olive Green) and Rotbraun (Red Brown). I used Tamiya's XF-60, XF-58 dan XF-64 respectively. The decals were then applied and afterwards the model then received a filter layer of XF-57 Buff. This was followed by a pinwash of the usual black/brown mix.  The 'metal' parts of the tools were painted XF-56 Metallic Grey, which then received an application of Tamiya Weathering Master Rust/Soot while the wooden parts were painted XF-64. The jack block was painted XF-60 overall and received an XF-64 wash. The tracks were painted XF-1 Flat Black and then washed with AK Interactive's Track Wash. The track cleats were dry-brushed silver.

Finishing

Finishing works started at the bottom where the wheels were put into their places. The tracks would have to wait for a while. The tools were also cemented into place. The supplied copper wire was wound and placed on the right side of the superstructure. Actually I was baffled as to its function, but later I realise that the copper wire was supposed to be the track-change cable. However Tamiya only provided the 'cable' but not the end shackles. As stated before, the tow cable is plastic and would look very artificial if used as they were. Rummaging through my spares box, I found leftover strings from previous projects, I cut the shackles off, drill holes and insert the string. They look better than what came in the box, although I think I cut the strings a bit too long The towing cables were painted silver after which I washed them with AK Interactive's Track Wash. Before adding the tracks, the lower hull and the tracks themselves received an application of Mig Productions European Dust (despite the description that this particular vehicle took part in the Battle of The Bulge, with the implied muddy and snowy conditions)

Conclusion

What else can I say? Another excellent kit from Tamiya. The parts fit well with no problems encountered. The only shortcomings I found in this kit are the lack of PE parts, some simplification of parts, the one-piece tracks and that tow and track-repair cables. Despite the size (the Jagdpanther is a fairly large vehicle), I finished building them at a faster rate than the norm. The ease of build is of course the main factor, plus the fact that the vehicle is turretless also played a part!