Dragon Jagdtiger Porsche Production

james johnson
How many of those do you have to make???????????????????

Mike K
The instructions don't say how many are needed but I figure at least a hundred links per side...that's a total of five hundred pieces.

Lionel Marco
I can understand why you are reluctant to start the kit. I will do the same...

Kim Branders
This is why it is called a hobby. Many people around my call me crazy when I say modelling is a therapy but sometimes it's #####. I know. But keep up the good work.😉

Mike K
No more fear. When my current build is done I will tackle this one.

Martyn Fox
It can get a bit tedious with so many track links, I agree.Personally I prefer the good quality one piece tracks,which well painted can look just as good.

Hunter Cummins
Man now im scared tobuild it lol
You could always do it with ferlinden tracks lol
But im serious
You can because I have a reference photo 😄😄 you wanma see ??

james johnson
I was thinking about this subassembly today because my next German AFV (Jag V) has magic tracks..why they?re called magic is beyond me.
Okay, let?s say each side has 90 links. Out of that 90, about 30 will be your ground run; leaving 60 that will have to be glued together and fitted over the wheels before the glue dries???
Could be done. After you do the ground runs for both sides, 60 tracks, you should be pretty good at throwing these things down.
So you?ve finished the Mk IV D and this build is on the bench?
Looking forward to the pics, this AFV is coming up for me sometime soon.
JVJ

Mike K
I'll check it out Hunter but I'm sticking with these tracks. I think I can do it. My firefly had thre pices per link and like 96 links per side. I did those by measuring around the wheels to find the length, then I liad all the whole run down on masking tape against a straight edge. I applied the glue and let it set for 45 minutes to an hour. Then wrapped the tracks around and glued the ends together.
They turned out great so I'll just do the same with these.
James the Mk IV is from two years ago...I was just adding new albums to my profile. I'm going to start the Jagdtiger after I finish the KV-1 currently on my bench. 🙂

Gábor Bélik
I built the same kit. Beware If you glue the side skirts Than you Will have Hard time fitting the tracks If you biult in two halfs!

Mike K
Thanks for the warning Quichas, but I have decided not to use any of the skirts on this one.

james johnson
Greetings Mike! I just finished this kit about a month ago (pics soon) I counted 104 of the two larger links per side; hope this helps. The tracks were allot easier than I thought they would be, real good fit and and sturdier than the usual magic tracks.

Mike K
Well that's good to know James. Right now it's the photo-etch zimmerit that's a pain in the a$$. I might throw this on the back burner for a while.

james johnson
I've heard that about PE zim...........

Hunter Cummins
Hmmmmm
igot some etch zimm for my jagdpanzer
how do you add the stuff ??

Mike K
I've been using slow drying Loctite. But I wish there was something that dries even slower but holds as well. Something that gives me time to spread the glue around, add the parts together, then clean up any glue that oozes out.

william wise
I use 5min epoxy holds real nice and gives you some time to readjust and clean up excess before drying

Hunter Cummins
I use tamiya extra thin cement, it dries really slow
I have about a 8 minute working period

Mike K
Lord give me strength.

B
There are reasons why I don't do tanks and this is one of them. Lol.

John Van Kooten
I also use Tamiya Extra Thin.

1. Just a tiny drop in the holes of the track-link
2. Add the next track-link parts
3. Straighten the links by pushing them against the side of a rules or something similar
4. Goto 1 until finished with the first segment (I always do tracks in 3 or 4 segments -> top, bottom, back bend, front bend (last one optional, depends on track))

Once done let them dry for a few minutes. I usually let them dry for about 5 minutes.

The tracks will then be very flexible and you can easily bend them into shape and put them in place, without them breaking or anything. And you can continue bending them in shape for at least an hour after applying the first glue.

Once all segments are in place, on the wheels, glue them together to get the final one segment track. I usually leave one track un-glued so I can easily take the tracks off again for painting.
I almost always leave one track-link un-glued right below the fender on the sprocket -> it's hidden there and makes it easier to take the track off from the sprocket teeth.

Oh, one more tip: do the top run with the track sag last! That way you can easily adjust the number of required track-links to close the track. If you happen to need one more or one less track-link, you can adjust the track sag and make everything fit nicely.

I have never find Magic Tracks hard to do. Friuls are way more work compared to Magic Tracks and rubber tracks simply blow. I love Magic tracks! 🙂

B
I think the name "magic tracks" is misleading. They'd be magic if they put themselves together.

John Van Kooten
Well, they used to call them EZ Tracks but then the people that didn't like them complained that they weren't easy at all and that the name was misleading.

So I have a feeling Dragon decided to call them Magic Tracks because of those people. A case of sarcasm😉 which I think is both funny and fitting! 😄

Mike K
Well, to be fair, not all magic tracks are this bad as far as parts count is concerned. Surprisingly the clean up and assembly has been fairly quick and easy. I laid all the tracks out on masking tape and then I will glue them all at once. I'll keep you posted if anyone's interested.

Urban Gardini
The only true Magic tracks is the ones that Tamiya have to their M3/5 Stuart, M8 GMC and M3 Lee/Grant tanks in 1:35. Those tracks is magical...

John Van Kooten
Nicely done! Seems like you have a good, tight fit of the zimmerit on the corners of the vehicle! 👍 👍

The only (small) problem with the PE pieces is that the zimmerit isn't going high enough up the sides of the superstructure. The zimmerit should go up until just above the top hook of the spare tracks. But like I said, it's not a big issue, really.

Can't wait to see more progress pictures! 🙂 👍

Mike K
Thanks john.
There were two options for the height of the zimmerit. I opted for the lower...for no other reason than I thought it looked better. Not sure how accurate it is though.
I don't think I'll be using etch zim in the future. Resin zim seems a better option. Or make my own.

Mike Kryza
👍

John Van Kooten
Mike, if you liked that look better, than that's how it should be 👍 it is not accurate but that does not matter (at all) as far as I'm concerned 🙂 I am just like you. I simply build it the way I like it, historically accurate or not. I'm not the "rivet counter" type 🙂 and I truly like what you have done so far! 👍

Personally, I either do my own zimmerit with putty and zimm tools (from Trumpeter, in my case), or no zimm at all. And to be honest, the latter is what I usually do 😄

I feel I haven't got enough control over the other types of zimmerit (PE and resin) in terms of creating damaged areas and/or modifying the look of certain areas.

Other than that, if I really want a model with zimmerit, I will try to get one (from stash or shop) that has the zimm molded in the model itself. That way I can just build the model and not worry about it 🙂

Hunter Cummins
And the funny thing is that the jagdtiger pottrayed here doesnt even need to have zimmerit lol

John Van Kooten
No way? Yeah? Are you sure? 😛 😉 😄 lol

Hunter Cummins
John, im definatly sure! 😉 😛 lol

Jan Hazes
That looks like an awesome kit.

Mike K
I bought this kit two years ago and references I found then stated that ALL Porsche Jagdtigers had zimm. which is why I bought the etch zimm. Of course I realize now that this is incorrect. It seems that at least half of them did have zimm though. And, as I haven't yet decided which Jagdtiger to portray, how would we know if it needs zimm or not? My configuration severely limits my choices, but configurations can be altered, some more easily than others. But if it turns out that I can't build a JT that actually existed then I will just make this a generic non-descript representation, because, you know, I'm don't drive myself crazy over historical accuracies. And I certainly don't go all "lol smiley face smiley face" at other peoples mistakes.

Mike K
Yes Jan it is an awesome kit. I'd recommend it. The assembly of the tracks wasn't nearly as tedious as I thought it would be. And if you opt to not add zimmerit then it's a thoroughly enjoyable build.

John Van Kooten
Uhm.. the smiley faces were an "inside joke" between Hunter and me because I have done a lot of research on Jagdtiger Porches to help him out on his Jagdtiger Porsche project. I'm sorry if it came across as if we were making fun of you because we definitely weren't. I am not one to make fun of someone but instead go out of my way to help...

I did that investigation exactly because of what you said: almost everyone always states that a Jagdtiger Porsche MUST have zimmerit. But that just isn't the case. There are well documented examples of JT Porsches without zimmerit in actual combat.

here's the link to the research I have done concerning Porsche Jagdtiger without zimmerit: The Neglected Kit Resurrection Groupbuild | Album by JohnVK (1:35)

Hope it helps.

Mike K
I appreciate the help John, but what I need is info on JT(P) WITH zimmerit....for obvious reasons.

Jan Hazes
Well John seems like you have your work cut out for you again. Get searching ... 😉 🙂

Hunter Cummins
Google search jagdtiger and you will see plenty of them and most of the time you can make out the tank numbers

Mike K
Already did Hunter...I found nothing to match my JT. Time for plan B.

Hunter Cummins
Sounds good my man 🙂

Es-haq Khosravi
Great job!

John Van Kooten
What info are you looking for, exactly? Maybe I can help?

Yes Jan, I'll get to it😉 hahaha! As soon as I know what I should be looking for 👍

Mike K
I can't seem to find one like mine with the lower zimm and only four sets of spare track hangers. It also looks like there were different gun locks. You don't have to go out of your way John. I'm content to just build a generic version.

Clifford Keesler
Nice.

Mike K
Thanks Cliff. I had to go with a fictional vehicle because of my lack of research. But...it is what it is. I'm happy with it though.

Clifford Keesler
That's what modeling is all about.

Gábor Bélik
Great finish! Great job with the tracks.

Fabian D.
Nicely done Mike! 👍

H K
Nice one 👍

Patrik Spett
Exellent. I like how you attached the towcable to the shackle.

Alberto Bianchi
Very nice, bravo. 👍

Hunter Cummins
Beautiful mike!!

Mike K
Thanks guys. 🙂

Jan Hazes
Excellent result.