[wmosner]

Originally Posted by DirtyACE

For those of you who are curious about the black and white photo that chascbv posted of the Nashorn. I've seen the same photo on another forum. It is from a Russian book about tanks. You can't see it in this photo but there is a caption that was in the book which describes the situation. The caption reads:

"The bridge turned out to be a bit flimsy. A "Nashorn" from the 3rd company of the 88th battalion took a dive into the river. It is easy to recognize this self-propelled gun belonging to 3./s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 88 by the image of a heart, which is the symbol of the battalion. This photo was taken in Western Ukraine."

I posted that photo here: Is Ixo worth the money way back in April.

[DirtyACE]

Thanks wmosner, I remember now.

[chascbv]

Here it is, the second Su-100 by Dragon, and it is every bit as good as the first version, again with those incredibly realistic, conforming tracks. Not much to say on this accurate replica, except... Buy it!

This second Su-100 by Dragon represents a vehicle with the inscription "20 years of Soviet Uzbekistan" that fought among the ranks of the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps during January 1945. The first, whitewashed Su-100 by this manufacturer brought memories of Operation Konrad I, a failed German attempt to relieve the besieged city of Budapest. The Germans made a second attempt, and then a third attempt - Operations Konrad II and Konrad III.

Konrad III was launched from the South on January 17, and was intended to encircle ten Soviet divisions using IV.SS-Panzerkorps and III.Panzerkorps. The fighting was desperate and extremely tough on both sides, and despite heavy losses to swampy ground, Soviet guns and hunters, and mine fields, the German spearheads managed to capture Budapest airport. However, the cost had been too high, and the Soviets fought hard for every inch of ground. German troops were exhausted, and the Soviets mobilized one of their elite units in reserve, namely the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps, and within this unit was our Su-100. Even though the Germans held their ground almost heroically, the brave counteroffensive by the Red Army managed to totally neutralize the attackers' momentum. Operation Konrad had finally stalled and died in some sort of stalemate between two titans, but fatigue and supply issues, with no proper rearguard, eventually forced the surviving German units to withdraw. Budapest would not be saved.

It looks like the "2" in tactical number "23" is not complete on the port side (it is on the starboard side!); I could not find a picture of the actual vehicle to confirm whether this is correct or a fault. Any clues, Berkut76? Other members?

[chascbv]

Eilendorf is a village by the German city of Aachen; it was taken by the US Army in September 1944. I./PzRgt 24 had been attached to 116.Panzer Division to reinforce PzRgt 16 at the time of the fighting in and around Aachen, which took place in September-October of that year.

What do we get with this Cyber Hobby release? What we get is a fairly standard Dragon model (standard strengths and weaknesses) in a standard Dragon box; for the extra price we are given a collector's card, notwithstanding.

The model itself is a very accurate Panther with steel road wheels, albeit of a mixed early-late type - the vehicle has no mantlet chin (early) but is fitted with flame damper exhausts (late) and a raised fan housing on the rear deck (late). This combination of features is definitely incorrect for the alleged unit and period of time. According to sources only "one" Panther with steel wheels (only 24 such vehicles were produced!) fought with PzRgt 24 at Aachen, and that vehicle could not possibly be fitted with these late-type exhausts, which were introduced in January 1945. While the lack of a late mantlet is correct (chins were added starting October 1944), the presence of a raised fan housing on the rear deck is again out of place, as this feature was also introduced from October 1944 onwards.

The Panther photographed at Aachen definitely had plenty of track links around the turret (not included in the model), and an early rear deck without the raised fan tower (new heater system) on the left side (see photo); given the poor quality of the picture nothing can be said on its camo scheme or tactical number (if any).

So Dragon's model is definitely not right for the claimed unit and period; however it most accurately represents a late Panther (yes, some late models still received chinless mantlets well into 1945) somewhere in Germany, sometime during 1945.

[MoMo]

Out of curiosity, chascbv, how much are they charging for the Cyber Hobby Panthers ? We don't see much of them on this side of the pond !

Thanks for the background.

MoMo

[chascbv]

Originally Posted by MoMo

Out of curiosity, chascbv, how much are they charging for the Cyber Hobby Panthers ? We don't see much of them on this side of the pond !

Thanks for the background.

MoMo

Hello, MoMo. I got mine from an Ebay retailer in the UK for 21.95 GBP.

[MoMo]

chascbv

Well, if it's a rarer version/paint-job, then I guess it's o.k. to charge that much. However, as previous correspondants have remarked on other threads you do expect a little more for double the price such as tins, cards, some figures, etc..

cheers, chascbv,

MoMo

[DirtyACE]

Found out something the other day about the Jagdtiger with tactical number X8 (DRR60110). Apparently it was one of three vehicles (X1, X2, X8) that surrendered to the American forces in Iserlohn in April 1945. The company (or what was left of it) was under the command of Albert Ernst, a Hornisse/Nashorn ace. Just a little piece of info to fill in some blanks since Dragon provides barely any info and sometimes it's not even correct.

Here's also a pretty cool video of a jagdtiger plus some footage from the surrender I mentioned above. I have personally never seen any actual video of jagdtigers until this one. I was pretty surprised by the mobility of this tank. It really contrasts to what I have read about it in many books and websites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhd7PD8EG

[chascbv]

For those of you who never get tired of German Tigers Dragon has just released a new big cat for your shelves. This time we get a late "early" model, that is, a nearly mid-production version, with zimmerit.

The tank has all the correct features for the version it attempts to represent - early cupola, air filters, early headlamps, late turret track links, etc. Also, from the pictures published so far it seems that the tracks are a better fit when compared to earlier renditions, as their sag closely (and accurately) follows the running gear contours. However, two things persist that Dragon should have corrected by now: the deletion of the cable on the left flank upon the addition of zimmerit, and the oversimplified, unsightly sprocket.

The model represents a vehicle in sPzAbt 502 during the spring of 1944. It was then that these "late earlies" were received by the battalion when the 2nd and 3rd companies were reformed in France, and none of them carried zimmerit. The photo enclosed is the only one depicting tank "302" that I know of, and it clearly shows that the vehicle had no zimmerit at the time it was photographed. Is this an error then? Not necessarily, as most of these vehicles had a coat of zimmerit applied in the field by maintenance personnel once in Russia, and "302" could perhaps be included in this group. What is wrong is the tactical number, which should be red instead of black (the battalion had used black numbers prior to 1944, but these were then changed to red with a white outline).

Our model was waiting sometime in June 1944 for the upcoming Soviet summer offensive near Ostrow, and was then taken by train to Daugavpils (Dünaburg) in Latvia during July. A long series of defensive battles would be fought against the rising tide of Soviet armies until the end of the war.

[chascbv]

Originally Posted by DirtyACE

Found out something the other day about the Jagdtiger with tactical number X8 (DRR60110). Apparently it was one of three vehicles (X1, X2, X8) that surrendered to the American forces in Iserlohn in April 1945. The company (or what was left of it) was under the command of Albert Ernst, a Hornisse/Nashorn ace. Just a little piece of info to fill in some blanks since Dragon provides barely any info and sometimes it's not even correct.

Here's also a pretty cool video of a jagdtiger plus some footage from the surrender I mentioned above. I have personally never seen any actual video of jagdtigers until this one. I was pretty surprised by the mobility of this tank. It really contrasts to what I have read about it in many books and websites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhd7PD8EG

Thanks for providing this link, DirtyACE. However, the link does not seem to work... I get the message "The url contained a malformed video id." I can't wait to see a Jagdtiger moving around, I've never seen one before!