re: Vader’s Model Desk: Sd.Kfz 186 Panzerjäger VI Ausf. B “Jagdtiger”

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IS-7, I see it never made it to full production.

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An. Gotcha. Yeah. It was going to be the Soviet answer to the German Super Heavies. Would have been a beast had it been produced.

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In your opinion what was the best of the super big tanks, I know most never made the war so may be hard to answer.

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Good question. And you’re right, with the end of the war we never really got to see how it would have worked out. We do have a combat history really of only one, the Königstiger. And while it was a beast that could kill anything it encountered on the battlefield. But it wasn’t invulnerable, was unreliable, and was a nightmare to maintain and keep supplied. Overall, I’d rate it as a waste of scarce resources and an overall failure.

The IS-2, not technically a “super-heavy” could, thanks to its 122mm gun take on any German tank, including the Königstiger. But poor Soviet metallurgical methods left it with very hard, but brittle armor. Couple that weakness with (1) two piece main gun rounds that slowed reload times and (2) poor quality Soviet tank optics that limited its range, you see the IS-2 has severe limitations.

Really the only late war super-heavy I’d categorize as a somewhat success would be the American M-26 Pershing. It had good mobility, good armor, was relatively relatable, and its 90mm gun was adequate for the job. It saw limited action in the last weeks of WWII where it’s few encounters with German armor proved favorable for the Pershing and extensive use during the Korean War where it outclassed the T34/85.

I always enjoy these threads. Reminds me of my father and I building models together. He was really into building the WW2 ships. They had a ton of parts, and took us a lot of time to build.

Wish I still had them, great memories building those, and week long games of Axis & Allies with he and my brothers.

That’s cool. I’m glad you enjoy these threads. That’s why I do them.

Thank you.

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Perhaps the World War II Museum might be interested. It would be a great way to teach kids (and adults) about the war.

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I’m not sure if they’d be interested in my work. But it would be absolutely awesome if after I was gone generations of kids would see it on display at the WWII museum.