Italeri 1/72
Sd.Kfz.173 Jagdpanther

Background

The Sd.Kfz.173 Jagdpanther was a heavy tank destroyer that was developed from the Panther tank chassis. Like the Sturmgeschutz and Marders that preceeded it, the Jagdpanther is designed for killing enemy tanks at range since the gun mount has very limited traverse capability.While the Jagdpanther has a lower profile than the Panther, the absense of a turret allowed for more space inside the crew compartment.

The Jagdpanther was armed with the PaK 43 88mm high velocity anti-tank gun and this lethal weapon was effective against virtually all armor on the battlefield at that time, including the T-34. Most of the production Jagdpanthers ended up on the eastern front to try to blunt the flow of Soviet armor pushing toward Germany.

The vehicle was powered by a 690 horsepower Maybach engine and was manned by a crew of five: commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, and driver.

The Kit

Italeri has released this nice rendition of the Sd.Kfz.173 Jagdpanther self-propelled anti-tank gun in 1/72 scale. Like most of the kits in this series, this kit is a reissue of the ESCI kit. This is a good thing as the ESCI kits were easy to build and had lots of details to work with.

The kit is molded in styrene and presented on three parts trees, two molded in desert yellow, one in silver. The kit has neither rubberband track nor individual track links. Instead, the ESCI kits would provide styrene track sections for as long as the track was straight, and individual track links where the tracks curve around the drive sprocket and return roller.

This kit provies a nice set of details including:

• Movable bow machine gun
• Movable main gun
• Positionable crew access hatches
• Optional armored side skirts
• Optional commander figure

Markings

Markings are provided for four different vehicles/color schemes. One is for number 303 of 654 sPzJagAbt, Rouen, France, late 1944; whilst the other three are from unknown units and wearing no hull numbers.

Conclusion

Here's another nice addition to the 1/72 collection whether you are a modeler or a war gamer. Recommended!

My sincere thanks to MRC for this review sample!