Early in 1943, orders were given to design a heavy, self-propelled anti-tank gun, which would mate a 12.8cm gun with a Tiger II chassis. On October 20th, 1943 a wooden mock-up of the enormous vehicle was shown to the OKH planners who authorized that a prototype be finished by April 1944. Two Jagdtigers were built with the Porsche-designed longitudinal torsion-bar suspension. During field testing, this arrangement proved entirely unsatisfactory, which further delayed production of the tank destroyer. The initial series was set at 150 vehicles, but an order issued in October 1944 stipulated that when these had been completed, production capacity was to be switched over to the Panther. This mandate was reversed in January 1945, and assembly of the Jagdtiger was to be resumed as fast as possible. By March 1945, only 77 examples were produced, all assigned to either Panzerjagerabteilung 653 or schwere Panzerabteilung 512.

Pictured here is a 1:32 scale replica of a German Sd. Kfz. 186 Jagdpanzer IV Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer which was attached to Kampfgruppe Goggler, 3/schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, then deployed to Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany during March 1945. Comes with removable Maybach V-12 HL 230 P30 engine. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 12-1/2-inches
Width: 4-1/2-inches

Release Date: February 2020

The Jagdtiger, however, was heavy and cumbersome, suffered from mechanical breakdowns, and was never fielded in sufficient numbers to be very effective. Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653 fought the advancing U.S. Army in March and April 1945, in the area south of Mannheim, from Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, past Speyer, to Heidelberg, and then retreated to southern Bavaria toward Austria. While few of their vehicles were knocked out by enemy action, several broke down, or had to be abandoned and blown up by their crews.