Dear AFV’rs. I hope I don’t get killed for posting this, but I saw a nice photo in Schwere Panzer of the aft end of a Henschel Jagdtiger that had a bespoke heat shield welded on to protect troops being ferried around or grenadiers from burning themselves on the pipes. The photo I saw looked like it was tailor made. However, an internationally renowned modeler friend of mine thinks it was a fender off a JT just shoved between the bottom hull back plate and the exhausts . But the photo I saw looked like it was made in some un-bombed shop. I don’t have the page of SP book handy but it’s easy to find. I was going to pimp my Dragon Henschel with one I made out of a thin brass sheet, but if it’s only a fender the heck with it. Anyone?
Semper Fi
Dan
My opinion only - fenders are usually made from a heavier gauge than that. And might have a rolled edge. That looks very “unfenderlike” to me. As far as being made in a shop - possible, but it sure doesn’t look like it was formed in a sheet metal brake - the bends are not crisp enough. It looks more to me as if someone bent it over the edge of a table.
Nr 1 - 4 match up with the numbered areas in the image below.
Nr 5 could be a bolt hole
Nr 1 is narrower than nr 2 which hints at it being one of the rear plates
WTF? = Why does it look as if it has been camo-painted?
5. Bolts
4. Angled edge to close the gap caused by the skirts being bolted to some mounting plates
1, 2 & 3. Surfaces matching the angles and relative sizes in the first photo in this post.
The plates don’t look all that thick.
The bend between surface 1 and 2 looks rounded to my eyes.
Rounded bends, gap between hull and plates, the lower edge doesn’t look folded IMHO
Probably the same JagdTiger in another photo
Nr 1. Tight joints = no folded metal pushing the joint apart. Could have been cut away that last half inch or inch to facilitate overlap.
Nr 2. Mounting plates/bosses
Nr 3. Why oh why did exactly this part of the photo have to be blurry.
Nr 1. Looks relatively thin, no reason to cut away folded metal since this is the rearmost plate
Nr 2. Gap between skirt and hull side
Nr 3. Gap looks to be closed by the narrow strip (surface nr 4 in the first photo in this post)
Nr 4. Is the edge dented? A minor ‘fender bender’ incident?
Without my “graffiti”
We found a Tiger II, woo-hoo!
Tiger II or JagdTiger, same basic design of the side skirts
Go for it. Blame me if anyone complains 
I’m a jack-ass anyway so my hide is thick 
The plastic parts in a JT-kit would be too thick so I suggest bending a copy from some
brass sheet. An alternative, cheaper and softer material is thicker aluminum foil, can be salvaged from disposable aluminum food/baking/BBQ trays
This is a photo of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Jagdtiger. It is indeed a fender plate shoved behind the exhaust pipes, confirmed by Tom Jentz. Some modeler saw it at the museum and made up the heat shield story.
Thanks Uncle Heavy and 18 Bravo. I think it could go either way. It has enough hallmarks to be a fender, but it does look like it was bent in a brake and painted. Plus, wouldn’t a thin fender conduct heat way too fast? Excellent forensic work friends. Thanks
Dan Semper Fi
I’ve got some K&S thin brass sheet. Methinks I might try this, but you know what that means, right? Figures. D**n crew/grenadier figures! I could paint one but he’d look like a Russian partisan run over by a Konigstiger in an improvised fighting hole ditch.
Wonder why the photo was taken in such a way as to make it even debatable? That’s what we called a “field expedient” heat shield in the Marine Corps, but we’re getting rid of tanks because the infantry don’t need them, right? Wrong!
The soldiers could have dismounted and be outside the field of view.
Put some “luggage” at the back instead of figures and let it be protected from the heat.
I can’t paint figures either so I never bother.
If you can build the tank without heat shield or figures then it should be perfectly OK to build it with shield and without figures.
The soldiers can’t sit there 24/7, they have to dismount to eat, sleep, sh!t, take a leak, clear some Russian trenches …
Edit: See below, no need for soldiers but maybe some engineer with a camera and a measuring tape
It’s not a heat shield, it’s a fender. It was picked up off the ground and stuck there by one of the salvage crew. Look at the bottom right of the photo; you can see the APG registration number stenciled on the tank.
This?
Learned something today
Edit: I had fun finding all the “evidence” before @SSGToms slammed down the final word 
Yes, that. This photo was taken at APG.
OK, I’m a little late to this party; but yea, it’s a fender.
Ken
What a great analysis above. As often happens with me I left out one key word in my post: Factory
Still everything I said seems to be backed up by paska’s photo above. I’m pretty sure that’s a factory fender in that photo. The edge might not be quite rolled, but it has at east had a fold over the edge. And they’re very prominent on the ends. Not just for strength - no one who works with sheet metal liikes dealing with freshly cut edges that’ll slice you open like a pregnant sow belly. And I still think the gauge on the original photo is too thin, although Uncle Heavy’s photos seems to refute that. I suppose if your tank industry is going with fewer return rollers on certain tanks and AFV’s to save steel, you might as well use the thinnest sheet metal too, right? They look like they would easily tear off if they encountered tall reeds. So the shop “rebuilds” a missing fender, not quite up to the same standard as the original, but who cares if all you’re going to do is put it on a static display piece. After all, the Aberdeen folks are the ones who put a different engine deck on a tank just to have something to fill the void.
very MacGyveresque my friend
Almost been there
Almost got the scars
Got away with a caution from Destiny telling me that the next time …
I use to find that in early Apple Mac cases. Jobs really did not want anyone working on his products.
yes, i got that. My model mentor actually already made a King Tiger with that feature years ago. thanks