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My GB Tiger entry is Dragon kit 6253 This original 2005 boxing Dragon kit is one I’ve had in the stash for a number of years now so I am really looking forward to only my second ever Tiger I build! There have been a few re-releases since, but this is the original with a host of addition multimedia parts. It’s not all doom and gloom if photo-etch is a turn off as there are styrene alternatives. So, let’s pop open the box and inspect what is reputed to be one of the very best of what this manufacturer produced back in the day. It’s a comprehensive 3 in 1 package in which you can build three different Ausf E variants. A late, a late command vehicle and the final version. There are five frets of photo-etch including track guards, exhaust surrounds, engine grills, command tank aerial and multipart tool clamps to name just a few. There is an additional turned metal barrel and muzzle brake and five different ammunition shell types, metal tow hooks and tow cables and yes, there is a metal bucket. There are individual magic track links and the option to build working torsion suspension. There are plenty of options depicting the differences between late and final versions including two turret roof types and final type patterned steel wheels. The box is packed with almost every conceivable extra and was considered back when released, everything you could possibly need. Well, almost everything. Unlike later releases with far less parts and rubber band tracks this kit does NOT have any Zimmerit. Although the inclusion of Zimmerit anti magnetic paste ended in Sept 1944, production of the Tiger I ended in August, so all late and final builds would have received factory Zimmerit. Why this kit didn’t come with any moulded on I couldn’t say. I know Dragon did release kits with it on, but I’m not qualified to say how successful it was. It’s not a massive issue as aftermarket manufacturers released their own not long after the kits release. I’ve gone for a safe pair of hands with the ATAK specific set. This includes two pattern types for the turret and two resin mantlets and turret escape hatches. I’ve also got a set of Friul metal tracks to add some heft to the build. Knowing very little about the production history of these big cats I’ve turned to David Byrden who helped the manufacturer with technical assistance for this particular kit. Along with a comprehensive history and insight into Tiger I production his excellent website https://tiger1.info/vehicle.html also lists the majority of Tiger I 1/35 scale kits and lists any issues that each might have. For this kit there are no major problems, just a few pointers to solve instruction discrepancies, and some small additions and modifications. With the choice of three, the first logical step is to choose a variant. I’ve always been fascinated with the Normandy campaign, so I will be choosing a vehicle from one of the heavy tank battalions below. The Tigers that were operating in Normandy fought exclusively, as far as I know, in the British and Canadian sectors around Caen where the German armour was concentrated. Three German schwere Panzer Abteilung fought in Normandy and a few Tigers may (or may not) have been present in the Panzer Lehr Division. Not all of them where of the late type and many had been re-built so a litte further research to find a suitable candidate will be required s.SS-Pz.Abt. 101 had 45 Tiger I and reached Normandy on June 12, travelling from Beauvais near Paris. Michael Wittmann and the 1st and 2nd Companies famously fought in the well-known battle of Villers-Bocage on June 13. s.Pz.Abt. 503 was transferred to Normandy with 33 Tiger I and 12 Tiger II in early July. s.SS-Pz.Abt. 102 was transferred to Normandy with 45 Tiger I in early July. They were engaged in the bitter fighting for Hill 112. Tiger 232 of SS.Pz.Abt 101. Larger pattern zimmerit on the turret, monocular gunsight and a centrally mounted loaders hatch handle. An MG AA mount is also fixed to the cupola Beat up Tiger 111. Concave type sprocket, large idler wheel and offset muzzle brake Tiger 211 of SS.Pz.Abt 102 commanded by Martin Schroif, The second highest scoring Tiger commander with 161 credited victories Tiger 222 of Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 101 Towing Tiger 231 towards Caen on Route Nationale 175 out of Villers-Bocage. The next step was to decipher the infamously busy Dragon instructions. Credit to them they do break down the various differences for each of the three variants at each critical stage, but I still double checked that these were correctly picked out and made notes from the David Byrden website. CONSTRUCTION The first steps build up the running gear. The lower hull tub is a one-piece affair to which you first add the front tow hook extensions and individual torsion bars and inner wheels. After each torsion bar has been cleaned up, they fit snugly unglued through the hull, and the workable design means fixing the bar ends as instructed in the grooved slots to the small fixings added on the opposite wall. This system allows the suspension to compress and rebound as per the real thing and it works fairly* well. Although the instructions are not overly clear the track pin return plate is to be positioned slightly differently if the smaller idler is used. It fixes angled down at the rear to operate effectively on the smaller idlers. David Byrden points out that the smaller idler wheel was introduced about a month before the thicker roof so its very unlikely that a larger idler would have been present on any vehicle represented by this kit. I would recommend leaving the idler axle unfixed until the tracks are added to get the perfect fitment. There are two sets of both inner and outer wheels with one set representing those fitted to the final version. There is also a choice of two sprockets. As far as I can tell there is zero difference to the outer face other than the spokes on one are concave and the other convex. Inner and middle sets of wheels dry fitted *as seen in the images below, full compression isn't that effective. The second image shows the whole structure lifting at the rear, so to display a fully compressed suspension you would either have to add extra weights into the hull or despense with the working system and simply fix them in place. However, individual wheels do articulate seperately well enough to display over slightly uneven ground. Two lower hull rear plates are included, with one representing the different fixings used on the command variant. Before adding any additional components the ATAK Zimmerit will first have to be added and any location holes it covers, opened up. Any damage is also best added at this stage. There is the option of one plastic or two types of metal tow shackles and pins. I understand the squarer shaped ones were fitted to the final tanks. David Byrden points out two small updates required in step 5. Firstly, the exhaust muffler top guard is supported on pins (parts C3) and these are orientated incorrectly. These are easily repositioned using the guide on his website. Secondly the adapter plate that is positioned between the exhaust sits on two small posts moulded to the rear lower hull plate. These are 1mm too long so reducing their size allows the plate to sit as intended. The exhaust shields are offered in both plastic and pre-formed photo-etch. Whatever medium you choose the shields were actually mounted to small square spacers. This is not a detail added to the rear plate. Again, these are easy enough to scratch build out of plastic card. The jack brackets are offered in both plastic and photo-etch. Late gun tank rear hull plate fitted I have read that Dragon deliberately moulded the hull with a slight warp in the hull tub as a design intended to allow for a snug fit with the hull roof and side plates. The rear plate is big enough and strong enough to force the hull sides into the proper alignment, but at the front it requires a little help to overcome the warp. Using the roof plate moulding as a template, positioning a length of sprue or wood or brass etc, cut down to the necessary size, will brace the lower hull to allow the perfect fitment of the roof plate moulding. Images below taken from David Byrden's webpage to illustrate Roof moulding and turret shell dry fitted to the lower hull showing how much the lower hull bows in at the front without any bracing

Evening All, The next project, still have a little to do on the Spartan but I started this one a few days ago. The Spartan will get finished probably this weekend so don't panic I bought this kit when it was first released and let a friend borrow it for a school project, needless to say I never saw the kit again and a few years later bought it again, this time with a view of building it. This one will get finished in the proper colours of the cold war so another Green and Back machine and none of the once so fashionable fad of desert cam. You never know I might give the crew some black coveralls this time around so I'm not accused of favouritism :-) So onto the build, nothing fancy yet just putting together the bulk of the Tamiya kit so far from the box. a little Mr Surfacer on some of the joins but nothing too serious. Blocked in the rear of the gun with plastic card, we don't want to be seeing the commander and loaders lower torso through the gun mantlet, A little more Mr Surfacer to cover a few sink marks. Carpet crawler holes are filled. The sponson undersides will get plastic card blockers as well. Gun Travel lock added. Gun Barrel done, just some clean up required of the two piece moulding, not a problem as it will probably get some cam around it. Please enjoy folks. Dan

I've grown out of the habit of building an armour subject alongside an aviation subject of late, and I've been dabbling with Sci-Fi too, thanks to Bandai, the internet and that pesky Madmonk, who tempted me to re-build my Millennium Falcon with added lighting Anyway - I was helping Caz's mum scan a photo of a relative sat on a tank in Germany in 1945, which turned out to be one of these beasts. It wasn't wearing anything fancy like Zimmerit, but it got me thinking about the one I have in the stash. That in turn got me thinking about the ET Model sets I had for it, and from there on it was just a matter of time before I was looking in the box and wondering what else I'd need. After some research (after a fashion), I decided I'd be better off with a metal barrel, and once I'd studied the track links, which were of the Magic Tracks individual link variety, I was tempted to pick up some metal tracks to save me from having to cut off two ejector pin marks from each link, which was already irritating me (as well as not going that well) within four links of the test. There's also the fact that if I'd used the plastic tracks I'd have to paint them to mimic dirty metal, when I could just have dirty metal if I used some of the Ultimate Track Burnishing fluid. I've pinched a figure from somewhere, so will probably have the commander poking his head out of the hatch to add a little interest, and to use up all the fancy PE and springs provided for the hatch covers. This is the final list of guff: Dragon kit 6589 ET Model Basic Set E35-122 ET Model Fenders E35-067 Griffon Barrel with bonus PE ammo box & decals Friul tracks RB Models Kwk 42 75mm turned shells Quite a list, and I should add that although the ET Model sets are for the Dragon kit, they're patterned to the earlier 6397 issue, which shares a lot of parts save for the newer tooled ZImmerit coated external panels. I've already come across one or two bits that are slightly different, but not so much that they'll render the set useless. At worst I foresee a few bits left on the fret at the end. It'll be my first time doing a fender set, so wish me luck! Work started with the wheels, which had to have their seams sanded off to make the rubber tyres smooth. No sooner had I done that, than I took to them with a triangular file, wrecking all that cleaned-up "rubber". I sanded the roughness off with a sanding sponge to give some of it a worn damaged look, and also took a few chunks out of the tubular idler wheels, just to simulate a few dings. The return rollers are supplied in a batch of six, next to each other in the sprues, with two pieces per wheel. Guess what though - there are eight stand-offs for the idlers, so I'm two short. If anyone has some spare in their parts bin, I'd be grateful of a couple, or I'm going to have to use some of a different design & pretend they were battle damaged. Have I been thick & misunderstood, or did Dragon really supply two less return rollers than I need? Can I have two more of these return rollers please Mr Dragon? I substituted the kit jack-block with a piece of obeche, cut to shape. Meh The exhaust was built up, had the moulded-in straps removed and a coating of stippled Mr Surfacer applied to give it a rougher texture. I also reamed out the exit, which was horrifically thick. The PE parts were added, and it's been put in place using friction to hold it there, so I can get at it later to paint it. The rear deck was built up with little in the way of drama, but I've left off most of the PE for now, as there's quite a lot that might be damaged during construction, especially those delicate little tie-downs for the pioneer tools. There are two PE baffles under the deck vents, but you'd never know they were there unless they catch the light. Gun straight with the roof off, exposing the breech detail & sighting gubbins (technical term). With roof, and the gun traversed to the right as the gunner would see it. Note the position of the periscope. not where the hole in the cover is! With the new barrel having arrived yesterday, I built up the gun breech, which is included in its entirety (as far as that goes) although the rest of the hull is empty apart from a few roof mounted bits and a radio pack on the rear bulkhead. Some careful painting should show off the top-most edges without too much effort, as I'm going to leave the top hatches open for the commander, and a glimpse into the dark interior. I've not attached the roof yet for that reason, that and because there is a lot of work to do on it to install all the PE for the hinges, which I'll do on another day when I'm not feeling quite so clumsy. Same goes for the fenders. The breech & barrel were mated with some CA, then the Saukopf was slid down the barrel and attached to the end of the breech with liquid glue, and is currently being held centrally in the shroud by some small slips of fine grade wet'n'dry. The mantlet is in two parts, and clips together over the end of the breech before getting glued to the glacis. There's a stereoscopic driver's vision port to the left, and a faired over coax MG mount to the right, the reason for which I did know once, but have since forgotten. The clear gunsight periscope sticks out the top of the roof in a long curved slot, which is covered up by a sliding armoured panel so it can keep the exposure of the crew to a minimum when the hatches are down and the lead is flying. Dragon didn't think to replicate this in the kit, so if you're going to traverse the barrel off-centre, you will need to fabricate a new cover with a repositioned hole to match the position of the periscope top. There's still plenty to do, and I haven't even given the colour scheme a moment's thought yet. it's not my strongest point with AFVs, and I've never yet modelled a specific vehicle. I'd have liked to replicate the one in the pic, but for the fact I don't have the correct kit, couldn't see much of the thing for the sheer weight of Tommies on the top of it, and I'd have had to wreck it by simulating a shell penetration at fender height on the bulkhead between the engine & crew compartment. It's difficult to tell conclusively, but there looks to have been a fire. Why haven't I posted a copy of the pic here? Because I've been asked not to, as it's part of a private collection that I'm going to have to see more of after this