Just saw something looks to be NEW on the DragonUSAOnline site...

Dragon has just announced a 1/35 Jagdpanzer IV L/48 July 1944 w/ zimmerit kit DRA6369 "in the pipe"!

This would be a pretty new item in the D line-up - Dragon put out a kit of the JdPz IV L/48 (the version with the shorter 7.5cm gun w/ muzzle-brake as fitted (I think...) to some StuG III and IV) w/out the required zimmerit back in the later 1990's... This newly-announced kit looks to be a completely new-tooled item with the regulation zimmerit molded on.

Guys; I'll suggest that it's NOT "just another StuG / Panther / Tiger / Pz III / Pz IV - Ho-hum"! Dragon has actually come out with something somewhat new - It's not some one-off, rare thing, and it hasn't been up-to-date kitted before. I'm sure that many sprues will be borrowed from previous kits, but we should be seeing a new upper and lower hull, gun and mantle, at least, for this one!

The JagdPz IV L/48 was the first production version of this late-war tank-destroyer - and coming with zimmerit makes it potentially pretty close to a complete presentation of this type, I think.

WHEN we'll see it is a different question... Dragon says that it is already available in "March"

Looks like it will be pretty cool, by me, and I may actually buy one of these whenever it has settled down in price after some initial buying flurry!

Cheers!

Bob

Bob,

I have one on pre-order,but I did find this article.I'm no expert,but what do you think:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1424281393/Dragon+Jagdpanzer+l-48+6369+questions.

I like it except for the DS-Tracks.Mine is on it's way,delivery next week.

Man ..that's a real bummer .. all that and DS too...lol Kinda glad I didn't sell my Revel (Dragon) version..

The only thing putting me off is those bloody DS tracks.

Well... Looks like I'm quite the Johnny-come-lately on this, seeing as folks already have it WIP and in the post! Guess it sort of figures... I look in on the "/news and announcements" on model vendor sites pretty regularly... like about once every 4 - 5 months or so!

As to the possible gaffs mentioned in that thread over on the Missing-Lynx... some sound pretty disappointing. Here I expected that we would be seeing a pretty well-done kit - seems like there may be more issues than "should be", what with the reported gun-barrel problems (calling perhaps for an AM metal barrel to come in ) and issues around some fittings and maybe the wrong glacis-plate, etc.

I had read in the announcement blurb about the kit having DS tracks (blah ), but some folks like those, and I would plan on replacing them w/ a link set - Dragon has been more and more into the DS item and at this point I figure that will be a "scheduled added-cost" (and perhaps a force leading to less and fewer additions of new Dragon kits to my stash) - but I had not seen mention before of the supplied tracks actually being of lesser quality than other Dragon DS runs?

Sadly, there seems to be some greater amount of gaffs and mediocrity than I at first anticipated, but I'm glad these "gripes" have aired before I revved up too much excitement leading to buying it too fast! I haven't seen the kit myself, so will adopt a wait-n-see attitude... They do all appear fixable, but one may have to spend more than at first thought.

As some folks have already got onto it, I'm sure we'll be reading and learning more on this one fairly soon!

Bob

Hi Bob , if you think you are behind the curve mate how about this. Last night I began building a Tamiya jagdpanzer dated 1975.
Regards
Ian Buick

Ian;

Go for it! There's a certain time-warp effect in this hobby of ours for sure! And Tamiya's old efforts have figured in more than one relatively recent build of mine...

The old Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind... purchased back in, I think, 1973... Built in 2010! A pretty nice kit, BTW, albeit adding some Dragon tracks and sprockets and a few odds and bobs around (and a coat of DIY zimm...) helped it out a lot



And then there is my Horch "DAK FlaKwagen"... Tamiya truck and FlaK 38 kits, both bought back ca 1972 - 73... put together in... 2009 / 10!



Those old Tamiya kits build up quite OK with a little TLC!

But I think getting into some link tracks may be a good move for your project... the original kit rubberbands did not look good even back in '75!

Cheers!

Bob

I LIKE "DS" Tracks... ON US TRACKED VEHICLES... I managed to get "DS" Tracks to work, depicting "sagged" tracks on a couple of my DRAGON Tiger Is, using a technique that I've mentioned several times on this site. I'm NOT going to describe it again, since no one seems to want to comment upon it, express interest, or ask about specifics...

Look the "DS" Tracks over closely- I think you may find that they're not quite as bad as you think. HOWEVER- I DO think that DRAGON should have stuck with their "Magic Tracks" in their overly-repetitive German WWII vehicle kits...

Having said that, the "DS" Tracks work just fine on US TRACKED vehicles, pre-war up to today's, since MOST US vehicles use "live" tracks, which are supposed to be adjusted "as tightly as possible, without binding etc, etc", according to the pertinent US Tracked Vehicles Service Manuals. Two exceptions are the M113-series & related vehicles, and the AAVP-7-series & related vehicles, plus a few others...

As far as DRAGON's "DS" Tracks are concerned, you glue them together, paint them, and you're all set. You can even get away with "DS" Tracks on certain other German vehicles, such as a Panther fitted with a full set of "Schurzen"...

I'm NOT going to make a comment about "Yet another DRAGON Jagdpanzer"- whatever makes you German vehicle enthusiasts happy...

I'm not up on my Jagdpanzers, but isn't this latest DRAGON kit supposed to depict one of "the very last versions" of this vehicle? If indeed, this is the case, then I would think that there is some validity in releasing this kit for historical continuity's sake... I probably won't buy it, since I'm a US/ALLIED fan... In any case, you "German Treadheads" enjoy it!!!

Hi, Bob! GREAT-LOOKING Horch Typ 1 and the FLAK 38!!! Say what you will, the 1/35 TAMIYA Horch and their FLAK 38 have aged gracefully, even though there are some great newer kits that have come along since these...