Whilst at the MAFVA Nationals in July and fired by the success my dismembered Tiger II model had in the competitions, I purchased an old Fujimi Jagdtiger kit as a future project.
I can
remember this kit being reviewed in Military Modelling as a kid, and the (then)
excitement it caused as it had a “Full interior”!
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The kit with the ammo racks still in place. There were a lot of "Sink" holes in the outer surface - hence the filler. I eventually decided to dispense with them and sawed them off. |
I now now
that the original moulds belonged to Nitto and the model was released in the
early 1970’s. Over the years it has been reboxed several times and “upgraded”
with various extras like cast white metal spare track links and link-and-length
injection moulded track to replace the vinyl offerings.
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The start of the simple fuel tank build |
My kit had
the latter but not the former and was reduced from £9.99 to £8 from a visiting trader.
Now it’s a long
time since I built anything other than a fast build, wargaming type kit and
this one presents a few challenges!
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The radiator fans simulated here by the addition of a sequin |
Kits from
the 1970’s were very different to what we get today. The fit of parts was
by-and-large pretty good. The moulding was, again, pretty good with hardly any
flash. However, the instructions were not the best. Nor was the location of
parts. Some of the bigger issues were -
- There were a lot of "Sink" holes and ejector pin marks
- It not being clear that the link-and-length tracks were “Handed” so would only fit on one side or the other.
- There being probably 1 (or maybe 2) too few links each side to properly fit around the running gear
- Many of the smaller parts had location pins moulded on, but no corresponding holes in the hull to locate them.
- Biggest of all, the rudimentary interior detail was far from complete and was also inaccurate.
However, I persevered and the model itself build into an overall impressive AFV. I didn't take enough pictures though. Most of the pictures are from the finishing stages, so I apologise.
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Addition of some left-over 88mm round from the 1/56 Tiger II |
As there
was just an engine block for the rear, I scratch built the partitions and fuel
tanks etc. so I could display the hull with the upper armour separated. I also
choose to remove the ammunition racks that came moulded to the lower hull sides
as they would block the view if the interior. At this point I realized that at
best, I would only be able to present an impression of what the interior should
look like, so I added some surplus 1/56 88mm rounds left over from the Rubicon
Tiger II to simulate the Jagdtiger’s ammo storage. Not strictly correct as they
were single piece round whereas the real thing should be two pieces. However,
they look the part.
The Gunner’s
seat was missing, but easily recreated using spare parts from one of the sprues
that clearly was intended for both the Jagdtiger and Tiger II. Also missing was
the drive shaft running to the front differentials. This was easily replaced
with a length of sprue.
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Additional crew seats and drive shaft added to the hull floor |
The kit
came with two basic standing crew figures. One I reconfigured into a seated
position to act as gunner. The other, the commander, is stood on his seat as if
looking out of his cupola.
The driver,
co-driver and loader were cast metal figures I found at the show from Wee
Friends (The manufacturing side of Friendship Models). This consisted of a set
of two full German tank crew figures (one standing, one seated) and a half
figure. All had one separate arm to be attached. Not the finest of sculpts, but
serviceable and as if by magic, the seated and half figures fitted the driver
& co-driver’s positions perfectly!! The other figure would stand in the
fighting compartment as the loader – I need to find another figure as I’ve just
found out the real crew was 6!!
The upper
hull was really well detailed. Better than many 1/56th examples! All
the stowage was separately moulded and all the hatches could be open or closed.
I decided
to give the model an Ambush Scheme finish so started by spraying it overall in
Dunkelgelb. This was shaded with a coat of brown wash followed by a heavy
dry-brush of Dunkelgelb + White.
When dry
this was over-sprayed with Olivegrun and Rotbrun patches. Then the darker patches
received Dunkelgelb dots and the Dunkelgelb areas, Olivegrun & Rotbrun dots.
The decals
were applied before, the shadows were picked out using Dark Tone wash. Then,
when dry, everything was dry brushed with Iraqi Sand before a final matt
varnish.
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The extreme left-hand figure was reconfigured into a seated pose to act as the gunner. |
The interior
was mostly painted white with shading from Dark Tone Wash. The figures were
painted using GW Contrast paints.
The display
base was to be similar to that used on my Tiger II. A simple two-layer design
was drawn up in 3D Builder and printed out on my printer. This was assembled
with super glue and then sprayed gloss black before adding the ground texture.
The name plate was printed out and laminated before being added with
double-sided tape.
So, there you
go. A troublesome little model, but one that, I think, has built into a really
nice representation of the real thing. If I’ve learnt anything it is that older
kits can still deliver good, finished models, but don’t expect them to go together
as easily as something manufactured today!
Awesome result Tim. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ben. Satisfying to see it finished, but there were a couple of moments I nearly gave up!!
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