Italeri 15770 1/56 Sd.Kfz. 186 Jagdtiger Plastic Model Kit

 

The powerful Sd.Kfz. 186 “Jagdtiger” was built onto the elongated hull of the Tiger II heavy tank in the latter stages of the Second World War. Inside its mighty casemate was the 128 mm PaK 44 cannon, armed with shells that could pierce the armour of all opposing enemy tanks. This self-propelled ‘tank buster’ was deployed effectively and lethally against even the most recently introduced Soviet heavy tanks such as the IS-2. The Jagdtiger had a huge weight of almost 76 tons. The large cannon and heavy armour whilst effective, could not outweigh the poor manoeuvrability and low speeds of the vehicle in battle. The significant weight affected its reliability, and production volumes were also limited. However, the Jagdtiger  for its offensive capacity alone, ranks as the high point of German production of self-propelled tank destroyers during World War 2.