Many years ago I dismissed 1:72nd scale armour as too small to take seriously, calling them “palmtop panzers.” Well—even then I had a sneaking interest, as I’d seen some wonderful dioramas in the scale, but working so small evoked memories of Airfix OO/HO scale (87th ?) back in the 70s, and for a 1:35th scale modeller it was hard to imagine going back to the little guys.
But the wheel turns eventually, and I tackled a small scale armour kit for for a group build in the second quarter of 2024. I did some stash-diving and pulled out Dragon’s 1:72 Jagdtiger, and at once could appreciate that they had packed in much of the detail one expects to find in a larger kit. The mouldings were sharp and attractive, a photoetched fret was included for the engine deck grills, and assembly was generally straight forward.
Small scale equals a quick build—the main structure was done in no time. The painting was the big deal, really, as order of priority comes into play no matter the scale, and I found I was investing the model with all the same techniques as I would apply to the larger, standard size kit. This was especially true of the running gear, which was sprayed, clear-coated, shade/dirt coated on the back of the wheels, wash-detailed, then treated with graphite to simulate the resilient steel rims. The one-piece tracks were sprayed with a deep umber acrylic mix, drybrushed with metallic and finished with MiG pigment dust... In other words, all the same tricks that I would use at larger scale.
This kit is of the Henschell suspension type, with eight pairs of roadwheels arranged on double bogie units. The bogies were keyed for proper alignment but the fit was loose enough for the keyways not to be effective. I ended up push-fitting the bogies and idlers, then looping the connected tracks into place and meshing the drive sprockets into the tracks, then securing them to the final drives with a spot of superglue.
I chose a scheme from a Squadron volume, and only long after committing to it did I realise the vehicle in question had Porsche suspension—nine axles, like the King Tiger (P), not eight. Hey-ho, I’ll build this subject again at 1:35th scale and do it more justice!
If I have a specific criticism of this kit, it’s the alignment of the hull top and bottom. I must have tried twenty times to find their natural mate-up, but couldn’t. There are two internal pillars meant to mesh with receivers, and two mysterious screws which are not mentioned in the instructions but might have something to do with the pillars... As nearly as I could manage, I still needed to file away the top of one of the pillars to get the parts anywhere near fitting, and this left a fore-and-aft misalignment of about 1.5mm. The result was an “overbite” at the front of the hull, and a gap where the engine deck meets the transom (which I doctored with a strip of 010” plasticard. It’s not too noticeable at small scale, though in real life it would be a four-inch mismatch!
I sprayed Tamiya Acrylics overall, using the new-take shades, XF-87 and -88, which behaved very nicely. I lightened them at a ratio of three parts colour to one part white, to obtain a scale colour effect, as I was very conscious of how small the thing was going to be. After a little touching up to fix overspray, I overcoated with Microscale Flat, leaving a low lustre to accept the decals, which were then sealed the same way. Dragon provides two styles of balkenkreutzer and a large selection of turret numbers in both red and black, so you can get close no matter what subject you fancy.
As with 1:35th scale Dragon armour, you end up with loads of spare parts—a sprue of detail parts was clearly in common with other Tiger kits, and one ends up with hatches, tow cables, U-connectors, spare bow MG, AA MG, track plates and more.
Overall, I’d have to say I really enjoyed this kit, and it won’t be my last “palmtop panzer.” I must finish the Revell Pz. III I was referring to all those years ago, and I have several more Dragon kits, collected over twenty years back. It’s a good job I have them in the stash—I checked the price of small scale armour and you’re looking at $40 or more at hobby shop rates these days!
Photos were taken with my phone and processed through Irfanview. Still hoping to renew that studio lighting and get back to fully controlled miniature photography!
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