Jagdtiger
Manufacturer: ESCI Kit # 8014; ESCI/Revell # H2313; ESCI/Ertl # 8331; Humbrol # HK72209
One of ESCI's better kits, it was outstanding for its time, although with a couple of minor deficiencies.
Very similar to ESCI's King Tiger kit (now re-released by Italeri), this kit shares most of the same characteristics of that earlier model. Specifically, it is very well molded, extremely detailed, and with the notable exception of the length of the hull, it tends to be very accurate as well. The hull length discrepancy was introduced when they decided to use the same chassis as the King Tiger kit, when in reality, the Jagdtiger was slightly longer than the King Tiger. In this scale, the length difference should be about 4mm. According to the references I have listed below, all other dimensions for this model scale out very well.
Some other points of concern: the gun barrel is about 3mm too short, the road wheels are a little simplified, and the tracks are very poor. The road wheels are very well detailed, with excellent surface relief, and clean molding. But each pair of very slim wheels were molded as a single, double-wide wheel. Granted, with the side skirts on, this will hardly be noticable, but the new Revell kit has a finer suspension than this kit. Also, the sprocket wheels are a very early type (18-tooth), which was seen only on the prototype Henschel version, as well as the 11 Porsche vehicles.
I guess this needs a little background . . . there were two prototypes built: one with a suspension designed by Porsche, and one with a suspension designed by Henschel. The first ten production vehicles had the Porsche suspension, but then they switched to Henschel for the last [approximate] 75 vehicles (this kit depicts the Henschel version). The 18-tooth sprocket wheel was used on the two prototypes, and the Porsche vehicles. They switched to a later type of sprocket, with only nine teeth (basically, they cut off every other tooth) in September of 1944, which is also the same month that they switched to the Henschel suspension. So, were there any Henschel vehicles built with an 18-tooth sprocket, other than the prototype? Possibly. But I plan on cutting off every other tooth when I build my kit.
About the tracks: the vinyl tracks included in early releases of this kit are simply horrible.
The hard plastic, link-and-length tracks introduced in later versions are only slightly better. The exterior detail is acceptable, and the tracks will look more realistic when attached, but the inner surfaces are completely smooth, with no guide teeth, and no hinge detail. Perhaps if PART will soon produce etched brass tracks for use on the Revell King Tiger, they may be long enough for use on this kit as well.
But, as negative as this review sounds, there certainly are a lot of positives to this kit as well. The level of detail on everything is really quite good, and comparable with some of the best kits today. Bolt holes, weld lines, panel lines, hinges, separate periscope covers, etc.; all are molded very well. All of the hatches are molded open, including the rear fighting compartment hatch. One full, and two half-figures are included, and they look great. There are even some spare track links for the hull sides, which are much nicer than the tracks that go around the wheels. So, all in all, this is a very fine kit.
As far as markings are concerned, the kit came with the typical ESCI decal sheet, that being, several options, but with poor registration. The decals in my kits have degraded with age, and are not usable.
Basically, for a kit as old as this one is, it was a remarkably well done model for its day, and still holds up fairly well by today's higher standards. There are a few flaws, such as the length, which will be difficult, but not impossible, to overcome. But as several people have proven elsewhere in this site, this model can build up very well.
References:
| Back to ESCI Kit List | Back to Home Page |