For Tamiya Tiger I Mid/Late Updates - 1:35 ET Model

[Mike]

Tiger I Mid/Late Updates (for Tamiya)
1:35 ET Model

The Tamiya Tiger was initially released with an incorrect symmetrical turret, which was corrected in a re-tool quite a number of years ago now. Although it is not as complex as the later Dragon kits, it is still well regarded by most, and will build up into an impressive looking model with care and patience. These three sets from ET Model should help in that regard, and are suitable for a mid-to-late production Tiger, although as with anything Tiger related, production varied in the fine detail on a month-by-month basis, particularly toward the end of the war, when there was a clamour to produce more tanks quicker, as the Allies advanced on the factories.

Tiger I Mid/Late (E35-164)
This set covers the details of the turret and hull, and as such could be referred to as an exterior set. It arrives in ET Model's tough polythene bag, and the four Photo-Etch frets are mounted on a piece of black card, with a small bag of resin parts attached at the top.

The set includes a full set of shackles for the pioneer tools, completely replacing all of the soft moulded in detail with sharply detailed parts that represent the real thing in scale. He turret is detailed with lock shackles on the hatches, additional lashing points on the upper spare track location tabs, and a set of completely replaced lower tabs, for which you will need some 1.5mm rod to complete. The turret bin is given proper mounting lugs and supports, and the inside of the hatches are detailed with locking mechanisms, hinges and handles.

Moving to the upper hull, the single driving light is provided with a new bracket and adjustment details, while the jack-block is detailed with shackles and strengthening strips around it. The remaining pioneer tools are treated to new mountings, and the barrel cleaning rods have either new resin receptacles or folded PE bases, with a PE retaining strap and wingnut. The tow cables get a similar treatment, which improves detail immensely over the moulded in blocks of the kit parts. The mid-production barrel travel lock is supplied with a set of five chain parts to depict it relaxed and unused, and again some 0.4mm rod is needed to finish the job. The jack itself is retained by a complex set of straps, which are depicted faithfully in the new parts that are supplied with the set, and patience will definitely be needed to get everything lined up and working.

The exhausts have circular stop-ends on spacer rods, the kit parts for which are replaced with a PE part, with additional bolts and is finished off by a few lengths of 0.6mm rod. The protective exhaust shrouds are supplied as flat sheets that will need to be rolled to shape and attached to the rear bulkhead with the additional fasteners that are included. These parts were usually beaten up after a short period due to careless reversing and maintenance, so the scale thickness part is perfect for distressing them in a realistic way. Just remember to anneal it and allow it to air cool first, to ease the task. The final part of the set is a quartet of mesh to apply to the engine grilles on the rear deck. A ring sight for a machine gun or similar is included, but it isn't documented where it should go, although the commander's close-quarters MG34 or 42 would seem the most likely candidate.


Tiger I Mid/Late Engine Grille Mesh (EA35-088)
The engine grille meshes included in the set above are also available separately for the modeller on a budget, or not too concerned about the finer details. It also includes the ring sight mentioned.

Tiger I Mid/Late Fenders & Side-Skirts (EA35-090)
This set is perfect for the modeller that wants to depict their Tiger with more scale parts around the tracks, which often displayed either damaged or missing sections due to manoeuvres in battle, or general careless driving. It consists of two frets of PE plus a bag of small resin location lugs for the side-skirt parts, which are visible when they are not fitted to the hull.

The fenders are relatively complex, and have (potentially) working hinges that require lengths of 0.3mm rod (probably best made from brass or similar) to act as hinge pins, and have strengthening frames around the underside of all the edges. These attach in the same fashion as the real thing by a series of small hinges at the front of the hull, which are drilled and glued in place on the upper hull.

The side-skirts are each constructed from four sections, which are letter coded to ensure that they are correctly placed. They are folded from sheet with pre-weakened fold-lines, and have triangular supports at each end and in the middle. These can be bent or otherwise distressed to suit your intentions during the build process, and if any sections are left off, the resin attachment lugs can be placed on the side of the hull, remembering to leave off any zimmerit underneath where they should be. You could also argue that the area under the missing side-skirt sections could be painted in the dark red primer too, just to add a little colour to your build.

The rear fenders are built up in much the same way as the front, but with more substantial hinges between them and the hull, joined and possibly allowed to remain mobile by a length of 0.4mm rod.

This set requires some substantial folding, and as such isn't for the novice, but this could be said of a large number of the ET Model sets, but the quality of the end result is undeniable.

Available soon from White Ensign Models in the UK

Review Sample courtesy of