Monday, November 22, 2010

Jagpanther





Here are some image's of Tamiya's 1/35 scale SdKfz 173 Jagpanther. From Wikipedia "The Jagdpanther (German: "hunting panther") was a tank destroyer built by Nazi Germany during World War II based on the chassis of the Panther tank. It entered service late in the war (1944) and saw service on the Eastern and Western fronts. Many military historians consider the Jagdpanther to be one of the best tank destroyers of the war due to the combination of the 8.8 cm KwK 43 of the Tiger II and the proven Panther chassis.

A total of 415 Jagdpanthers were produced from January 1944 by three manufacturers. MIAG produced 270 from January 1944 until the end. Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover (MNH) produced 112 from November 1944. Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf (MBA) produced 37 vehicles from December 1944. They equipped heavy antitank battalions and served mainly on the Eastern Front, although significant numbers were concentrated in the west for the Ardennes Offensive. They were first encountered in the west in very small numbers late in the Battle of Normandy, where the German 654 schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung ("654th Heavy Antitank Battalion") deployed about 12 Jagdpanthers against British units.

Three surviving Jagdpanthers have been restored to running condition. Two German museums Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster and Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung (WTS) at Koblenz have one running Jagdpanther each. The SDKFZ Foundation in the UK has restored one Jagdpanther to running condition, using two wrecked Jagdpanthers to complete one. The other wreck will also be restored.

4 comments:

  1. It looks like a mean machine. It carries over to the model as well.
    good job!

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  2. That is a really nice model. I am thinking of getting back into the hobby with either the Tamiya version or a Dragon Models jPanther. Who knows lol.

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