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Crew hatches taken from 1.35th TAMIYA Tiger I and Panther tank kits, both were custom fitted onto hull roof. Side stowage box (scrapped with XACTO knife to mimic wear), spare wheel and mount from 1.35th TAMIYA Stug IV kit. Personnel water canisters glued to soldering wire and wrapped around wheel storage bracket. Black multi-tube rods on hull side is gun barrel cleaner, for excessive soot build-up exist inside gun barrel after successive firings, thus it has to be scrapped to preserve gun accuracy. To mimic collision damage on front fenders, its flaps were cut off, edges thinned with DREMEL drill tool, edges gently heated over candle, then pencil's rubber end used to deform the plastic section.
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Inset 1 : Panzer crews uniforms painted Waffen-SS Oak Leaf Autumn"A" pattern camouflage via enamel paints of TESTOR Military Brown, Military Brown mixed with Black, Military Brown mixed with White to give gentle hue effect. Used small sharp tipped paint brush and alot of patience to transcribe the pattern. Photo depicts actual SS Oak Leaf Autumn dapple jump suit worn by German armor crews. SS-Eichenlaubmuster, autumn-winter variant - www.kamouflage.net
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Rollover : ( Rollover JPG link ) | Frontal Erstazjadgpanzer view, showing its Infra-red equipment, tall hull design provided sufficient crew spacing, but high silhouette also gave its more prominence on battlefield. One famous German Infra-red night-time battle was short-lived Panzer Division Clauswitz, formed from elements of 106th Panzer-Brigade Feldherrnhalle. Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_Corps_Feldherrnhalle
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Clauswitz division created on 6 April 1945, destroyed 21 April 1945 at Fallersleben-Germany near Hannover, surrendered 8 May 1945. In that short span between April 21st and May 8th, surviving Clauswitz units attempted northward retreat across Weser-Elbe Canal (also called Mittellandkanal and Ems-weser-elbe Canal), but bridge crossing blocked by US armor column. German tanks armed with infra-red scopes simply plotted locations of dugged-in US tanks, and laid down night time barrage. Americans were astonished as each of their tanks were hit, panic ensued and they executed immediate withdraw. Germans crossed the canal without further challenge and retreated towards Danish border. Midland Canal - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittellandkanal
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Inset 2 : Jagdpanther was a premier German tank destroyer, built on Panther tank chassis with slope ballistic armor, sufficient crew spacing, large boggie wheels, and powerful 8.8cm PAK43/3 gun. This was not a hasty tank conversion, but based on frontline combat experience. Although quite feared by Allied armor crews, only about 380 Jagdpanthers were produced due to disruption from by Allied bombing of German armament industries. Note that some write German word for "Hunter" as Jadg, while others write Jagd, either way conveys the tank destroyer concept. Panzerjäger V Jagdpanther - www.achtungpanzer.com/pz15.htm
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Photo depicts knocked-out Jagdpanther, sunken deep into soft ground, burnt to annealed metal appearance, small hull potmarks probably from someone practicing with small caliber anti-tank rifle (which was totally useless against Jagdpanther's thick hull even in close range).
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Inset 3 : One famous event involving Jadgtigers was Rhur Pocket battles in western Germany where bulk of German forces of over 300,000 men were trapped by Allied troops. US originally planned to seal pocket and wait out the war. However, after repeated counter-attacks by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppen (ad-hoc battle groups of different units formed for specific localized military objective) to break out of encirclement, US directed multiple incursions into pocket to break-up and isolate German units. US 8th Armored Division & Rhur Pocket Battles - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_8th_Armored_Division
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However, area around Iserlohn controlled by 512th Panzer Abteilung/2nd Company Jadgtigers consistently repelled all US incursions. Nevertheless, its unit commander Albert Ernst (panzer ace himself from Ostfront battles) by circumstances became defacto senior military official in that area. With war coming to an end, he decided on protecting city civilians and accumulating refugees, thus entered surrender negotiations with US forces, and saved town from ultimate destruction. Photo depicts famed surrender ceremony at Iserlohn town plaza on 16 April 1945. Ernst's brought his three surviving Jadgtigers laden with Panzertruppen and foliage to rousing German crowd.
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