Jagdpanzer IV L/70 V. Sd.Kfz.162/1

Border Model 1/35

The Jagdpanzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 162, was a Germantank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer, literally "hunting tank") designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG
III). Guderian objected against the needless, in his eyes, diversion of
resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the StuG III was still
more than adequate for its role.

• Panzer IV/70 (A) (Sd.Kfz.162/1)

the other Pak 42 L/70 armed Jagdpanzer IV. In order to
send Pak 42 L/70 armed vehicles to the front as soon as possible, in
July 1944 Hitler ordered an interim solution to speed up
Nibelungenwerke's transition from Panzer IV production to Panzer IV/70
production. "A" stands for Alkett, a manufacturer of the StuG III, that was ordered to redesign the Jagdpanzer
IV superstructure to be mounted onto a standard Panzer IV chassis. The
Vomag design used a modified chassis permitting a very low silhouette.
Mounting the superstructure onto the original Panzer IV chassis required
additional vertical steel plates mounted onto the chassis to counter
height differences. The resulting vehicle was about 40 cm taller and
lacked the sharp edged nose of the Vomag variant. Only 278 were built by
Nibelungenwerke from August 1944 to March 1945.