The Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer represented what could be called  the "low" end of a "high-low" force mixture that the Germans developed in the latter half of World War II, with the "high" end being vehicles such as the Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger, and Panzer IV/70.  Designed to replace the plethora of open-topped 75mm-armed tank destroyers in use, over 2500 Hetzers were produced from April 1944 until May 1945, and Hetzers were produced for Switzerland after the war (as the G13). 

The armour museum at Camp Borden has one of the very few German Hetzers still in existence (most examples are ex-Swiss G13s, which differ in a number of details).  This is a very early production vehicle, chassis #321024; I suspect that this is the earliest Hetzer still in existence.  This vehicle was captured by Canadian troops somewhere in Northwestern Europe and shipped home for examination. 

The photo above was taken when the vehicle was on outside display in Worthington Park.  Note that the gun was jammed in recoil, and the extraordinarily rare Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind parked behind the Hetzer.  A big thanks to Ed Kubiak, our resident German armour expert, for his help with the captions, especially regarding the DML Hetzer kit.

The rear of the Hetzer shows several features of an early production version.  Noteworthy is the early exhaust arrangement, with perforated cover for the muffler.  The lack of inspection ports on the rear plate to either side of the main engine access hatch are also indicative of early production Hetzers.  The tow bar attachment is rare on early vehicles, and may be a field conversion.  One correction to be made to the DML Hetzer kits is the placement of the rear plate/hull side join seams, which are on the hull sides, as opposed to the rear.  Note the lack of a triangular fillet between the rear fenders and the hull.

More details of the tow bar attachment are visible in this photo taken while the vehicle was disassembled for restoration.  Details of the track tensioning device can also be seen; this assembly is quite basic in the DML Hetzer kits.

A tank destroyer on blocks!  It is interesting to see how the suspension hangs with no load, which allows us to see details of the leaf springs.  This vehicle has the early, non-reinforced leaf springs, lacking the center rib and scoop at the bottom.  Notice the early 32 bolt roadwheels; the later 16 bolt wheels are more common on Hetzers.

A very clear view of the return roller and mount; details of the roadwheels can also be seen.

A closeup of the final drive housings, showing the fine cast texture.  The towing hook attachment points are extensions of the hull side armour plate.  This one was replaced at some point; a fine weld seam can be seen running from top to bottom.  The shape of this replacement is somewhat suspect when compared to wartime photos.  The interlocking plates of the hull construction can also be seen.  Finally, the inner faces of the roadwheels are clearly visible, complete with rivet detail.

Here is the rear idler and track.  The idler is the earliest pattern, with 12 holes.  Later production vehicles have six-holed idlers, while the Swiss G13s are easily revealed by their four-holed idlers.

Some good details of the track can be seen, including the direction; note the slightly triangular shape of the track shoe, pointing upwards in this picture.  The DML kit track lacks this feature, as well as the angled webs in the centre of the track pad.  The DML track also has only two sections in the centre, as opposed to the three that can be seen here.  Friulmodelissimo's set ATL-15 is an accurate replacement.

This shot gives us a good view of the early gun mantlet and mount, perhaps the weakest part of the DML kit.  DML's part is incorrect, in that it does not have the bottom of the gun mount curving in a the bottom to close off the fighting compartment.  CMK's Hot Barrel kit #HB033 is not much of an improvement as far as the correct shape of the opening goes, but it does at least fill in the gap with resin.  The weld seams attaching the saukopf mantlet to the ball mount are an interesting detail.  The various textures of the mantlet and mount are noteworthy, as are the four bolts on the glacis plate under the mantlet.

Another view of the gun mantlet and mount, showing again the details of the ball mount for the gun itself.  The gun is traversed slightly to the left, but one can still see that the gun mount casting is slightly asymmetrical.  The machining marks in the glacis plate (visible under the driver's vision port) are interesting.