During the development of the Tiger(P) and Tiger(H), Hitler had agitated for a turret design which would be large enough to mount the 8.8cm KwK L/71 gun. This had not materialized and on September 22nd, 1942, it was decided that the StuG with 200mm frontal armor and the long 8.8cm gun should be immediately designed, with the Tiger(P) as the basis, and part of the Tiger(P) production diverted for the vehicle. Alkett was to design and produce the Ferdinand, with Niebelungenwerke supplying the completed chassis. Despite the shortage of suspension parts and lack of test runs, on February 6th, 1943, Hitler ordered that 90 Ferdinands be supplied to the front as quickly as possible by all available means. This resulted in the order for Niebelungenwerke to complete the Sturmgeschutz Ferdinand instead of Alkett. All 90 were completed by the end of May 1943, in time for use in the summer offensive at Kursk.

This particular 1:72 scale Ferdinand with zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste was attached to 1.Kompanie, schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, then fighting at Orel, Russia during the summer of 1943. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 5-inches
Width: 2-1/4-inches

Release Date: June 2005

Historical Account: The 653rd Heavy Panzerjager Battalion (Schwere Panzerjager-Abteilung 653.) was a tank destroyer unit of the Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with Ferdinand and later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945.

The battalion was formed on March 31st, 1943, by the redesignation of the 197th Sturmgeschutz Battalion. The 197th was an assault gun battalion which had been formed in 1940, later seeing service during the Invasion of Yugoslavia and on the Eastern Front. The 653rd was initially equipped with Ferdinand tank destroyers; the Ferdinand was a heavy tank destroyer built on chassis originally intended for the VK4501 variant of the Tiger I, mounting a powerful 88 mm gun.

It was assigned to the XXXXI Panzer Corps, and fought at the Battle of Kursk in August, and around Nikopol during the Battle of the Dnieper. After heavy losses in Ukraine, the battalion was withdrawn to Vienna to refit. The 1st Company received 11 new Elefants - the new name for the added defensive hull-machine gun mount armed version of the Ferdinand - and was sent south to Italy where it fought at the Battle of Anzio in February 1944. The 2nd and 3rd companies were equipped with 30 new vehicles in April and sent to the Eastern Front, where they were attached to the XXIV Panzer Corps.

By August, the 2nd and 3rd were reduced to twelve vehicles between them; these were withdrawn to refit in Krakow, where they were combined into the 2nd Company. It remained on the Eastern Front, as part of 17th Army, and was redesignated the 614th Heavy Panzerjager Company. It would see out the rest of the war fighting the Soviet Army, with two Elefants surviving until the Battle of Berlin in May 1945.