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Some time ago I picked up a rather sad tamiya jagdpanther.



I wasnt really sure how to go with it but at least wanted to get it running. The idler arm had snapped so that was the first order of business. I was able to get one of the last parts bags from modellbau Seidel. The design of the idler adjust is pretty sensible allowing me to remove the barrel holding the snapped part of the arm and tap it out.

The next bit was reattaching the road wheels which had fallen off, unfortunately I'm missing one of the faces, hoping I have a replacement in one of my spares boxes!

With this it was time for a quick test:



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With the jagdpanther shown to be mechanically sound it was time to decide what to do with it.

I didn't have a crew heater so that limited me to an earlier version. After looking around on the web and looking through panzer tracts I decided to build the
command version depicted in the line drawings. There will be a little artistic licence taken but I'm trying to get it fairly. accurate

I was lucky to obtain a large amount of Aber and schumo upgrades off eBay shortly after I bought the jagdpanther. I'll be combining these with scratch built details and parts left off a 45 Berlin panther turm a friend built.

First order of business was adding the skirts. These are etch brass off the trumpeter kit. They're thinner than the impact ones I've used but this probably makes them closer to scale and should you wish to depict damage, dents etc it's easier to do. They and the etch mounts are easily assembled and when everything's glued together seems pretty robust.







Next are the excellent schumo track and tow cable holders. On this I've also added fine brass chains to the pins






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The chains are soldered to the pins whilst on the sprues, as this offers a heat sink and makes the process much easier!



Finally I'm using spare tracks from the trumpeter kit. These fit perfectly and have a much more scale appearance than the RC ones.

It's always nice to have all the hatches functional, something lacking on the original. To this end I've added a schumo opening rear hatch and am working to make the shell ejection port open. Stock the ports a stick on piece and the hole it sticks to is semi circular. I've bored this out and flattened it with putty. I managed to use the original piece with careful cutting and pinning the hatch is functional











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Here are some of the trumpeter odds and ends I'm hoping to make use off in the build.

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A nice little diversion that will feature on the build are the Aber fire extinguisher and the barrel cleaning rod and antenna holders. I've done a few of these over the years and I think am finally learning that having proper tools (tweezers) and putting a light key on the brass surfaces being glued make life a lot easier. Also making these up in a well lit area with a hard floor (my dining room) is vastly preferable to my garage with its sarlac concrete floor and questionable lighting!

Another thing to note is the wire Aber supply is not the 0.3mm required but thicker. To the extent that if you use it on the flaps and clasps it wont work. Luckily I have a little fine wire left in my stash.

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The barrel cleaning rod and antenna holder is an interesting piece to assemble, the end caps are made from a disc and a flat piece bent around it. These would in hindsight have been easier to solder as there's not a large area for the glue to grip.

The hardest part of this was undoubtedly the flaps which hold on the end caps. I did build these functional but they're far too delicate for an RC model so they get some fine CA to add a little strength.

A top tip for making the clamps is to run the brass wire through the holes whilst it's on the etch fret. This will save a lot of time and rude words later!

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What great detail work! I am following...admiring...happily jealous. Thank you!

Hey Tom,

No longer a 'sad' example. Beautiful brass and other working going on, Tom. Glad to see another Hugill masterpiece in the making.

Best,

Ralph

tomhugill wrote:A nice little diversion that will feature on the build are the Aber fire extinguisher and the barrel cleaning rod and antenna holders. I've done a few of these over the years and I think am finally learning that having proper tools (tweezers) and putting a light key on the brass surfaces being glued make life a lot easier. Also making these up in a well lit area with a hard floor (my dining room) is vastly preferable to my garage with its sarlac concrete floor and questionable lighting!

Another thing to note is the wire Aber supply is not the 0.3mm required but thicker. To the extent that if you use it on the flaps and clasps it wont work. Luckily I have a little fine wire left in my stash.

Looks good - I built the little Aber fire extinguisher for my Tiger 1. It’s a great addition - but it nearly drove me insane! I’ll stick to things I can actually see from here on...

Turning into gold