Hi all,

A little while ago I picked up Takoms 'Blitz' kit of the Jagdtiger, kit number 8001. I brought it on a whim, at a hobby shop out of town. Turned out to be a great pick, the quality is excellent.

I am thinking of building the model configured for rail transport. Which leads me to having a few questions......

If it makes a difference I am building the kit up in its 'early' configuration.

1) Can anyone clarify the type of tracks used for Transport? From what I can see, the Jagdtiger uses 94 links per side (92 on the Kingtiger). Is the correct tracks to use "Gg 26/660/300". I see Masterclub makes two version of "Gg/26/660/300" one version is 'early' one version is 'late', but im not sure what the differences are, or what period each covers?!?

2) I have read that Tiger II Transport Tracks were referred to as "SSyms red" and were painted red? as opposed to Tiger I transport tracks which were painted green? Is there any truth to this?

3) When the vehicle was loaded onto rail wagon, would the vehicle have been tied down to the wagon at all? or was the thing so heavy it wasnt at risk of shifting?

4) Does anyone have any reference pictures of a Jagdtiger on a rail wagon? Looking to see possibly any tie down configuration, and indication of how/where the skirts and standard tracks were stowed for transit.

Thanks in advance for all the help! I plan on starting a blog and sharing progress photos of the kit to date, I have made a start and am enjoying the kit itself. Very well done by Takom!!

On Tiger transport tracks, one or two links out of every ten was painted red so they could be easily distinguished from battle tracks. Presumably, the red paint would wear away from contact surfaces, and it's doubtful it was ever touched up.
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I don't know about any special practice done just for the Jagdtiger, but if you study photos of German tanks on flatbed rail cars during the War, you'll see that they typically did NOT tie anything down.

They did often use wooden chocks shoved into the tracks though! I wouldn't think they would need to even bother with that, especially if the tank was parked on the railcar in gear with all the weight, the tracks, the huge contact pressure, etc...

Anyway, google some photos and you'll see the tire chocks being used for rail transport.

Hi David
Can't answer any of your questions unfortunately, but a picture of JT's awaiting transport was just posted here - http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=8111&sid=eca3e662d761629916fca348bb5c9041 -

Mal

David,

I'm not an JTiger expert in any way, but I do hope that these 2 pictures (and their captions) from Spielberger/Doyle/Jentz's book "Heavy Jagdpanzer" give some answers to couple of your questions:



HTH,
Take care,

Thanks for the assistance. That is interesting about identifying the transport tracks with red paint, I was not aware of that. I understand Tiger I Transport tracks were marked green as opposed to red for Tiger II.

I am not having much joy finding some aftermarket transport tracks however! The only item I can find listed as Gg24/660/300 is a discontinued plastic aftermarket track supplied by DML. Im not sure of quality, but they dont sound particular good, and arent in produciton any longer anyhow.

There are however tracks marked Gg26/660/300, offered by Masterclub (kit MTL35094 or MTL35093). Does anyone know if the difference between Gg24 and Gg26 is significant (of interest what does the 24 or 26 refer to?).


Thanks!

By the way Angel, thanks for the two posted photos. I was looking for a while at the 'hole' in the rear end of the bottom photograph, before I decided it must be a blemish on the photo rather than a near perfect hole in the actual tank itself?!!?