Introduction
The Jagdtiger was produced in small numbers, and was I believe the heaviest armoured vehicle to go into service during WWII. The vehicle was based on the King Tiger hull, but from memory was slightly longer. Its 128mm gun could take out any Allied armour well beyond the effective range of the Allies to return fire and the armour at the front of the vehicle basically made it impervious to any Allied weapons system of the period. The weakness of this vehicle were its unreliability due to weight, and this also caused issues getting the vehicle to where it was required, and so the vehicles that were produced more often than not either broke down or used their rounds and were destroyed by their crews.
Review
This offering from Hobby Boss is provided in a substantial cardboard tray, with a separate cardboard lid. Inside the tray is a portioned off area to protect certain parts of the model. The model parts are separately bagged, and in some cases further protected by foam wrapped around the more delicate aspects. The only moulding issue that I can detect, are the size of the gates between the sprue and the parts which will require care to prevent crush or tearing damage to the part.
The lower chassis of the model is a single piece moulding with a separate rear panel, and the part that makes this recognisable as a Henschel produce vehicle is the torsion bar suspension which has been provided in this release as a workable aspect. The overlapping road wheels that would have been a curse if they ever needed to be replaced are well replicated, and at this stage of the war were an all metal design, as rubber was becoming very hard to obtain. The drive wheel and idler wheel have also been well tackled, with the drive wheel having what I believe the correct 9 toothed sprocket as seen on the later model vehicles. I have checked the details against the nuts and bolts book and it is these images that lead me to believe that everything is correct. The tracks of this release are individual links, but the parts that may drive you to drink is that the guide horns have to be individually added to the links. On the plus side the tracks are accurate in form.
The rear plate of the lower hull again appears to be accurate in all respects, even providing the large side lugs on the armoured section protecting the exhaust where it enters the body. Track tensioners are present for use when adding new track pins. The brackets that support the jack are again well replicated as is the jack, but I will almost put money on it, that one was never used to do anything on this vehicle.
Moving to the engine deck, you have a separately applied panel which has enabled a good level of detail to be replicated. Hobby Boss has provided photo etch mesh to go over the intakes, but looking at vehicles in service it would appear that the oblong meshed screens were either very heavily damaged or left off completely in many cases. Lifting hooks and such are well replicated, and should result in a pleasing aspects of the model.
The case mate portion of the model has been moulded as a single piece, with panels needing to be added from the main gun section back over the roof. A look at the mouldings gives you some idea of the thickness of the armour at the front of the vehicle, as the mortice and tenon joints are accurately replicated at the front of the model and shows you the thickness of the front plate. The rear wall of the case mate does not replicate the mortice and tenon joint accurately as the joint is moulded detail on the rear plate. The doors on this rear plate have both interior and exterior detail and could be shown open if desired. Front crew hatches could be shown open or closed, and the bow machine gun has been well replicated with the correctly detailed barrel and good interior detail as well. Tools, cables and cleaning rods are all present, and while some photo etch bracketry is included it is not all tackled in this manner. The gun mount does have interior detail for the model, but this is minimal but does mean you can see something if the hatch is open. But this area also includes something I really do not like which is the main barrel moulded in 2 halves, and a replacement may be in my future. Detail wise on the exterior of the main gun I am happy with what is provided.
The roof of the case mate has been provided with clear periscope parts, separate periscope covers on the outside. The hatch can be shown open or closed, and if looking through the rear hatch of the model you get to see the detail on the inside of the roof including the vent that is centrally positioned and I presume was electrically operated.
Track guards are provided as a single piece each side, however the dimensions of the Jagdtiger means that vehicles in the field appear to have had these removed by the crews or ripped off during movements. The track hangers and spare links are included, the option of a rear engine deck mounted anti-aircraft machine gun is provided - but you would not catch me using it!! There is also an optional part that connects to the top side in the central area of the side case mate, but I do not know what this represents.
Hobby Boss has provided 4 potential finishes using a mix of 3 and 2 colour mixes, but has as usual provided no details on what the vehicles represent, and so I would look on line to decide how you wish to finish the model.
Conclusion
This offering from Hobby Boss is for the most part a pleasing release. When it comes to complaints the barrel of the main gun being in 2 halves is my biggest whinge and I also suspect that some modellers will not be happy with individual track links compounded by separate guide horns. I would also critique that the finishing options do not provide any details on what they represent. With those complaints out of the way, everything else appears to be good with the negatives highlighted not being a deal breaker.