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 sPzJgAbt. 512, then deployed to Germany during early 1945. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 12-1/2-inches
Width: 4-3/4-inches
Height: 3-3/4-inches

Release Date: April 2012

Historical Account: "Bunker Busting" - On January 17th, 1945, two Jagdtigers used by XIV Corps engaged a bunker line in support of infantry near Auenheim. On January 18th, they attacked four secure bunkers at 1,000 meters. The armored cupola of one bunker burned out after two shots. A Sherman attacking in a counterthrust was set afire by explosive shells. The total combat included 46 explosive shells and 10 anti-tank shells with no losses to the Jagdtigers.

During April, s.Pz.Jg.Abt.512 saw quite a great deal of action. Especially on April 9th, 1945, where the 1st company managed to engage an Allied column of Sherman tanks and trucks from dug-down positions, and managed to destroy 11 tanks and over 30 soft skin vehicles, with some of the enemy tanks having been knocked out from a distance of more than 4,000 m away. The combat unit only lost one Jagdtiger in this incident as Allied ground attack P-47s appeared. During the next couple of days the 1st company managed to destroy a further five Sherman tanks before having to surrender at Iserlohn. Meanwhile the 2nd company still fought on, but with little result. On April 15th, 1945, the unit surrendered at Schillerplatz in Iserlohn without fighting.