Waffentrager Rheinmetall-Borsig 12.8cm Jagdtiger Rohr

Bold Division, 1/35 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Background

The Waffentrager Rheinmetall-Borsig 12.8cm Jagdtiger Rohr was a late-WWII German self-propelled gun design mounting the powerful 12.8cm Kanone 44 L/55 gun onto a dedicated body and modified Panzer 38(t) running gear.

The 12.8 cm Pak 44 was designed as a result of experiences on the Eastern front in 1943. The German Army came upon the Soviet 122 mm field guns and issued a requirement for a similar weapon. Development initially concentrated on a field gun known as the Kanone K 44. However, once heavier Soviet tanks such as the IS-2 started to appear, the design requirements were altered to include an anti-armour role.

The Pak 44 had short to medium-range performance similar to the 8.8 cm Pak 43, but the 12.8 cm Pak 44 better maintained its anti-tank performance over long to extreme-long ranges - 1,800–2,700 m (2,000–3,000 yd) and beyond - while also doubling as an effective field gun when firing high-explosive shells.

The Jagdtiger Rohr self-propelled gun was not produced, but it certainly makes an interesting subject!

FirstLook

Bold Division has released a comprehensive 1/35 scale full kit of the Waffentrager Rheinmetall-Borsig 12.8cm Jagdtiger Rohr.

The kit comprises 24 parts in laser-cut white plastic sheet, 73 parts in grey coloured resin, 82 parts in grey coloured injection moulded plastic, 212 parts in brown coloured injection moulded plastic (individual track links), one turned metal barrel, four lengths of plastic rod and instructions.

Everything you need to build the kit is in the sturdy cardboard box.

The basic hull is made up from laser cut plastic sheet.

The instructions note that these parts will need to be de-burred but they will only need a few minutes with a sanding stick to prepare them for assembly. These laser-cut parts don't have any locating pins or tabs, but the plastic looks thick enough to be structural after the application of liquid glue.

The 73 resin parts are mostly destined for the impressive gun breech and mount, as well as the one-piece track guards, travel lock and hull fittings.

The turret basket is cast as a single part including the upper mounting arms, ensuring correct alignment.

A gunshield is offered as an option.

Casting quality is excellent and there are no big casting blocks to worry about. Small parts are attached to narrow strips.

The driver's compartment is simply outfitted with a seat (nice spring detail on the rear of the backrest) and an instrument panel. The hatches for the driver's compartment may be posed open or closed. If posed open, you will probably want to add some detail to the inside of the hatches and inside the compartment.

Detail on the gun and its mount is very impressive.

Bold Division supplies a Notek light and jack mounts but you might like to source some more on-vehicle equipment (tools, jack, block etc) from an after-market souce or the spares box.

Bold Division has included the injection moulded running gear sprues from Amusing Hobby's Panzer 38(d) family. The main wheels are attached via four simple bogie trucks of two wheels each. The location of these on the plastic sheet lower hull sides will be quite positive thanks to laser-cut rectangular openings.

Amusing Hobby's individual track links are included too. There are 212 individual links moulded in brown coloured plastic.

Each link is attached to a small sprue via two attachment points. These are supposed to be workable but I test-fitted three links and they seemed to be very loose. I think I will be gluing my links together.

Four short lengths of plastic rod are also included.

One turned metal part is supplied for the 12.8cm barrel.

This is ready to use straight from the box and features deep rifling at the end of the barrel.

Illustrated instructions are supplied on five folded, double-sided A4 sheets. These include a full illustrated listing of the parts and 15 construction steps that are illustrated with helpfully captioned photos and drawings.

Conclusion

Bold Division’s 1/35 scale Waffentrager Rheinmetall-Borsig 12.8cm Jagdtiger Rohr is an impressive and comprehensive full kit of an esoteric subject.

Multimedia parts are used to their best advantage, with a blend of plastic sheet, crisp cast resin, turned metal and mainstream injection moulded plastic for the running gear and the tracks.

If you are an experienced modeller wanting to take the next step from a standard plastic model, this will be an engaging and interesting project.

Thanks to Bold Division for the sample www.bolddivision.de