DByrden

I can see that the five Tiger kits all seem to be from Academy. The more recent Academy Tigers (Mid and Late) have been OK but not so as accurate as Rye Field or Dragon. However, with three Early Tigers in this lineup, we will probably be getting at least one of Academy's 1990s kits. At the Nurnberg show, Airfix presented one of these kits built up. It had decals that were never in any Academy kit. Obviously Airfix had commissioned somebody to design new decals for this one kit at least, and perhaps for all of these reboxes. It's with regret that I notice these new decals were for a slightly different Tiger version than what the kit provides. David

You wrote "Only one Tiger (P) was ever built to completion". Actually, ten of them were completed. The first eight were a match for this kit; the final two had a different turret. It was one of these two that served on the Eastern Front. Its turret had a side hatch and a different roof, and its hull had extra armour, so it can't be made from this kit. David

It's not true that this model has "full interior detail". It has no content in its engine compartment. It also has nothing under the turret floor, so if you make a diorama with the turret off, you expose a blank void. The Rye Field kits have a "full" interior but this is about a "half" interior. David

Curt; Externally it's accurate for Tiger 217, provided that you replace the tracks with "flat" tracks. There are a few small things to fix; remove the bolts by the hull MG; discard or replace the AA MG; don't use part D9. A couple of welds are out of place but your Zimmerit will cover them. Internally it's not so good. The problems from Rye Field's Early Tiger are still there (missing components). And now Rye Field have made an uneducated guess about what's inside a Mid Tiger; some parts from a Late, some parts from an Early. Unfortunately their guess is often wrong (e.g. they have the Early firewall with all the old controls that should be gone; they removed the structural beams from the roof but they should still be there). They also made some mistakes with the new parts, even though diagrams have been published. I have a page about Rye Field's Mid Tiger. David

After several people pointed out that the kit had the wrong tracks, Rye Field have dropped all mention of Otto Carius and the kit is now called "Tiger Middle Production". David

Here's a suggestion for taking the photos; use Google Maps or Google Earth to get realistic background photos. I don't think that Tiger 131 ever went near a sand dune. Flat scrubland yes, but also farms. With the other Tiger kit, Tamiya made a few accuracy mistakes. Serious ones, in fact. See comments about Tamiya 32529 Why are you painting it "desert yellow"? These Tunisian Tigers were all painted the same - like 131. David

RM5003 is not a "Tunisia" Tiger, according to Rye Field. It is an "East Front" Tiger. David

Under the fans it was just a gaping hole, so black I guess. David

That early/mid Tiger could be built as early as August 1943, so it's no surprise if it lacks Zimmerit. Tiger 212 dates from a couple of months later and therefore it should have got Zimmerit. David

Loader's hatch; handle missing?

Tiger 321 looks like a match for the kit ( except for the kit's errors, see http://tiger1.info/EN/HB82601-errors.html ) 007 was a Command Tiger of a later date, and in fact I think it had steel wheels. You would have to make a few changes for accuracy. David

It certainly looks that way, but I don't think the photo is clear enough to be sure. All I can say is that the Tiger was supposed to get Zimmerit, and the unit had other, similar Tigers with the covering applied. David

I assume that you mean Tamiya's 35202 or 35194 ? These represent Tigers from the end of the "Mid" period and they would always have Zimmerit. The paste was not used on some of the first Mids, but you would have to make quite a few changes to backdate the kit to that time. David

The first 3 Tigers (including "112" were transported on a ship. The others used Marinefährprahms. We have only about 4 photos of Tigers on these little ferries; http://tiger1.info/event-page/142-ferry-Reggio http://tiger1.info/event-page/142-Tunis-arrival does that book show more? David

It looks to me as if they painted over some damage on the tank. They certainly painted over the mantlet, where it took a hit, and a round cap was welded on. But, the original colour of the tank was the first Tropen scheme, which is greenish; and now they are using the paint from the second Tropen scheme, RAL 8020, which is a lighter sand pink; so all of the repairs are in a lighter colour. I think the entire left side around the driver's visor is now RAL 8020. David

"green" Tigers were actually wearing the original Tropen scheme. David