SDV Models

1/87 JagdPzr 38t Hetzer

Kit Number: 87-017

Reviewed by  Jack Kennedy, IPMS# 12511

MSRP: $13.50 I have always been a fan of the 38t Hetzer tank. It is built on a 38t Czech chassis and produced in many variants. This may have been the first of the low profile tanks to be produced. SDV, a Czech Republic-based company, have produced this model of the early version Hetzer in 1/87 scale. To me this is a different scale since I am used to doing armor in 1/72 or 1/76. Even though this is a departure from the norm, it is very welcome especially for the HO railroad builders. They are in the same scale. The kit is molded in eight dark green sprues and one photo etched sprue. The first thing I noticed was all the fine detail on the tiny parts. Assembly was straightforward and very easy with perfect fit on all the parts. One must be careful in the assembly since some of the parts are extremely tiny and could get lost. The tracks and inner wheels are molded as one to ease assembly. The outer wheels are glued to this and the whole assembly is glued to the hull. This ensures perfect alignment of the wheels to the tracks and is surely a big help. As far as the tracks are concerned, they do not have a correct tread pattern and were a disappointment. This fault may be overcome with some mud and weathering. All the accessories such as the tools, tow cables and spare tracks are separate attachments. This is where care comes in handy to avoid the tiny parts from flying off into space. Once all the parts are attached, the painting may begin. I chose to paint my Hetzer in sand with green and armor dark red splinter camouflage. I hand-painted the splinter camo over the Model Master Acrylic. After this was dry I painted the details such as the tracks in Steel with a wash of rust and a dry brushing of silver. I painted the tools, etc. at this time. After all this was set, I gave the entire vehicle a wash of black and dark brown. All that was left to do was add the photo etched skirts that were painted the same as the tank itself. I might like to note that the side skirts were photo etched by Eduard, another Czech producer of fine kits. The fit of the skirts was perfect. The decal sheet consists of many numbers and German crosses in different patterns and sizes. They went on flawlessly without any setting solution. I really had a ball building this little gem. The only faults I could find were the track detail and the fact that the instructions were very poor, consisting of blow up drawings and nothing in English. Perhaps a translation would help in internationals sales. The photos of the real Hetzer were also poor and didn't add a lot to the build process. Overall I would highly recommend this kit since it was such fun to build and so simple. It really looks terrific as a stand alone and would be great in a railroad diorama. I wish to thank IPMS/USA and SDV for allowing me to review this kit.

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