Kanonenjagdpanzer E60

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

While surfing the 'net I came across this:

While I was familiar with Model Collect’s line of what-if German WW II armor kits, I never really fancied any until this one. I had not heard about the E60 line of tanks, only the E10, E25, E50, E75, and E100. The intent of the E series of tanks was to standardize components to be shared across all the different classes of tanks to ease production.

So anyway, the E60 KJP looked to me like a cross between an E10 and a Jagdpanther. So a click of the kepad and three weeks later, the kit showed up. At first glance it looked like a modern injection molded armor kit, with link and length tracks, sundry German OVM equipment, and dozens of road wheels.

But closer inspection revealed some unusual things. For example the upper hull has got to hold some kind of record for largest sprue gate in the world:

That is a SERIOUSLY big and chunky sprue gate. A razor saw is a must to get this thing off without taking a chunk out of the rear deck!

I also noticed the suspension beams have ridiculously short axles, just stubs really:

See those “buttons”? That’s all the contact surface you get when attaching the wheels. I wonder what was going through the designers’ heads when they chose to do that? Needless to say, they will get drilled out to take proper axles.

One thing I have become spoiled for is the inclusion of PE for at least engine screens. But the kit does not have any:

Those fans as well as rectangular grilles would look better with screens. Maybe an aftermarket company will oblige.

Details are a bit simplified and chunky here and there. In particular, the grab handles look more like candy bars left by the crew. Also, stuff like the air intakes are molded in place, but that is not really too bad.

I have jokingly complained about kits with German jacks comprising 11 parts or more, but this kit has a single piece jack with mounting brackets:

Also, the kit was designed similarly to the real E series, in that Model Collect uses common sprues across several kits. There are two full sets of road wheels and sprockets. Perusing through the instructions, I noticed most of the OVM equipment was not called to be used. But of course, you can use them, as I most certainly will.

But enough of my grousing, this looks like a relatively easy build of a really unusual tank!

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2

That looks cool! I can see the E10/Jagdpanther look. Though for some reason I was thinking giant mutant Hetzer…

Looks like a nice kit except for those weird super short axles and the strange grab handles.

And best of all since it’s a paper panzer you can paint her however you want (of course within reason!)

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sprue gate bigger than that!

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I think I’ll bag it and keep it in the old modeling drawer. [:D]

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Interesting kit you have here G. My first thought when I saw the kit was that it was some sort of mutant jagdpanther. Looking forward to seeing more.

6

That’s an interesting kit. I’ve thought about purchasing another kit from that same line then decided paper panzers aren’t really my thing. Those sprue gates remind me of those early Eastern European kits from the early millennium.

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So I have started to take a closer look, and I can say that this is no Tamiya/DML/Trumpeter kit! I think the biggest difference is simplification, followed by not-so-good engineering and parts fit.

So here is the sprue gate that was removed from the rear of the engine deck:

Holy bazongas, it is big.

I started adding some cast texture to the mantlet by slobbing on some thick Tamiya liquid cement, followed by random stippling using an old toothbrush.

The hull is missing a lot of the interlocking armor plate edges that is such a prevalent feature of German heavies. And there are no torch cut marks on the ones that are present. So I started scratching some in using an Xacto blade:

Now I have to make the missing interlocking plate detail missing everywhere else.

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Oooooooo! I like where this is going!

Nice touch with the TET stippling!

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Heh-heh, I will not be making any promises on how far I will take detailing this beast! [:D]

The separate engine deck sets onto the rear hull, but it lacks spacers to keep the deck from bowing. It also means the large engine access hatch will fall in unless it is shimmed to proper height.

Well, that will be easy enough to fix. The “candy bar” grab handles are being removed.

There is a honking big gap between the cupola and its base, so much so that there is no glue contact surface. Again, not a hard fix - a strip of styrene will make it right. But this illlustrates the careless engineering of the kit.

So anyway, I am trying to decide if I will use the kit’s rear engine deck side armor plates. With the plates off, the tank looks like a low-rider Jagdpanther. With them on, it looks like a Jadgpanzer IV.

I am leaning towards the low-rider Jagdpanther, as I find it “sexier”.

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The stubs on the suspension arms were removed and 2mm plastic rod was used to make proper axles to hang the road wheels.

But the drive sprockets interfere with the suspension rail!

Okay, I don’t plan on driving all over the carpet, but this is just another little example of the lazy engineering in the kit. And the idler tensioning arms, part E5, were clipped off the sprues before I got the kit!

Daaaaaang. That is really off-putting! I honestly thought I must have removed them, but the photos I took of the sprues fresh out of the baggies confirmed that the parts were already not there. This is not an insurmountable problem, but it is annoying and now I have to make replacements. [6]

The gunner’s periscope was not provided, even though its curved armored slot was molded to the hull roof. More laziness! I just used a sprue with a right angle and drilled it out to make the lens aperture.

The main gun’s attachment to the mantlet is inexusably loose and tenuous, both regular and CA glue failing to provide a secure bond. I will drill out the mounting stub in the mantlet and add a piece of plastic tubing to keep the barrel from falling off. It does look cool with that uber long barrel though.

The subject is really cool, and the molding is pretty good, but the little details fall way short of contemporary armor kits.

11

So this is basically the same as a limited run aircraft kit?

It’s interesting, in more ways than one.

Enjoying following along, thanks for posting this Real G!

12

Gamera,

The kit is like a regular long-run injection molded kit, but it is just full of lazy shortcuts. We as modelers are fortunate to not have a lot of “limited run” armor kits. I can tolerate the aircraft, but would not look forward to heavy parts cleanup and poor fitting panels on a tank kit.

Oh well, as they say in my neck of the woods, “Eh, I big boy so I no cry”.

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Making some very good progress RG and those improvements are really helping out. Don’t think I’ve ever seen sprue gates that big before.

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Well? You finish? Sorry i know this is a zombie thread but I was thinking of buying it? No thanks! Too many great kits out there to finish somebody else’s lame product with poor design. Hard pass for me

15

Yeah it is a lame product due to the lazy shortcuts. Zombie thread indeed! I still have the unfinished kit and will get back on it when the feeling returns.

What really sucks is that if a novice builder tried to tackle this kit, they would be very disappointed.

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Life is too short to waste time on poor kits. I doubt you’ll revisit it because there are just so many companies introducing new good kits. You saved me money and I thank you. Have a great Holiday season

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I wouldn’t be too sure about abandoning the model, as most of the problems have been solved. It will stand out in my armor collection for sure.

Yes, it is better to spend time on good quality kits, but sometimes the howling mad, barking bad kits can be fun and flex your modeling skills.

But yeah, I don’t recommend this kit to anyone.