Airfix A1355 Airfix JagdPanzer 38 Tonne Hetzer Early Version 1/35 Scale Model Kit

The Jagdpanzer 38 Sd. Kfz. 138/2, later known as Hetzer, was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. The project was inspired by the Romanian "Mareşal" tank destroyer. The Jagdpanzer 38 was intended to be more cost-effective than the much more ambitious Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger designs of the same period. Using a proven chassis, it avoided the mechanical problems of the larger armored vehicles. It was built on the Panzerkampfwagen 38(t)‘s widened and lengthened chassis with modified suspension (larger road-wheels from Praga TNH n. A prototype reconnaissance tank) and up-rated engine. The new engine was 160 PS Praga AC/2 6-cylinder engine controlled by Praga-Wilson gearbox, 5 forward and 1 reverse gear. Chassis was modified in order to accommodate larger gun and thicker armor than regular Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) tank. Its combat weight was 16 metric tons (versus 9. 8-tonnes for the Pz 38(t) and it could travel at maximum speed of some 42 km/h