1/35 scale Tamiya King Tiger Tank ( Tiger II )

[73north]

This is my 1/35 scale Tamiya King Tiger Tank , kit number 35164 - for the Eastern Front, February 1945.

 

The GD Epaulette is original and 100% Genuine Wartime - to the GrossDeutschland - my favourite German Army Division 

 

History
The German King Tiger Tank was introduced in early 1944 and was the most powerful tank during World War 2.  With its powerful 88mm gun and an almost impenetrable front armour, it was one of the most feared weapons of the war.  Up to the end of the war, the allies had not introduced any effective means to counter the threat.  The Tiger II combined the heavy armour of the Tiger I with the sloped armour of the Panther.  The design followed the same concept as the Tiger I, but was intended to be even more formidable.  The very heavy armour and powerful long-range 88mm gun gave the Tiger II the advantage against virtually all opposing tanks.

Construction
The Tamiya kit was supplemented with many after-market items and scratchbuilt details. 

The main additions were:

Eduard photo-etched detail set for the King Tiger

Aber turned aluminium 88mm barrel for King Tiger item no. 35L-15

Fruil Model all-metal tracks for Tiger II ( made in Hungary - Highly recommended !! ) 

Echelon Decal set number AXT 351001

Zimmerit applied using an out-of-production Aftermarket set that used resin sheets on sticky paper that I applied using epoxy resin glue on the Tamiya King Tiger .

Scratchbuilt details included the following:

The track changing cable is fine electrical cable with the plastic insulating cover removed.

One end of the bare wire strands was clamped in a pin vice, while the other end was twisted until the desired effect was achieved.

The headlight cable was replicated using fine solder.

 

All hatch handles were replaced with copper wire. The Commander's hatch pivot guard was added from plastic card.

I used the KingTiger II FruilModel all-metal tracks which you assemble using a special jig supplied, and assembled each track individually, link by link, linking with brass wire, until you have two sets of tracks, you can adjust them to have a realistic sag as well, plus you can scratch the paint showing some metal to come through and they just look great - easy to assemble if you take your time and use a good reference source to make sure you have them facing the right way!

The Fruil spare track links were used, with holes drilled through the interlocking teeth.  Several were pinned with brass wire for variety.

 

The crank handle guide ring hanging from the bottom of the right exhaust cover was fabricated from drilled plastic rod.

The radio antenna is shaped brass wire.  Gun cleaning rods are aftermarket brass rod. 

 

The King Tiger II kit Exhausts were replaced by using out-of-production Moskit Hollow metal Exhausts found on eBay. 

The Kingtiger, like other Panzers had the distinctive zimmerit coating applied in the factory.  Zimmerit was designed to defeat magnetic antitank charges, and resulted in the tanks having a rippled texture on the covered surfaces.  This rippling reduced the contact area for the magnetic mines to adhere to and when combined with the tank’s vibrations made it hard for the charges to adhere to the tank.  On the Kingtiger the zimmerit had a pattern of closely spaced horizontal ridges.

 

The Zimmerit was applied using an out-of-production Aftermarket set which had them printed in very highly detailed plastic or resin sheets onto sticky paper with strong glue fixing them to the tank - I can’t remember which manufacturer made them, but they have been a wise investment and were dead easy to apply, and I didn‘t have to cut them either ( don’t use photo-etch zimmerit, it never looks right - too perfect looking ! )

 

Painting, Markings and Weathering
All camouflage colours were applied with the Testor Aztek A470 airbrush.

Tamiya paints were used:

XF-64 Red Brown

XF-59 Desert Yellow mixed with XF-2 Flat White mixed 50:50

Equal parts XF-13 JA Green, XF-65 Field Grey and Gunze-Sangyo H312 Green

The wooden handles of the tools were painted XF-59 Desert Yellow.

Weathering
The entire model was sprayed with Tamiya acrylic X-22 Clear Gloss.  When dry, a thin wash of Tamiya enamel X-18 Semi Gloss Black 60% to XF-64 Red Brown 40% was applied.

Mud was added using Faber-Castell Pastel Chalk (9286-179), powdered and mixed with Mineral Turpentine.  The resulting slurry was painted onto the tracks and the wheels , I used “ green-line “ grass for the Diorama , and the angled Brass Name Plate ID Holder was made by AMTEC Industries , 1 West End Units, "Charles field", St. Boswells to my own design.

 

Note - that I originally thought to buy a ' Dragon ' King Tiger for my Model - 

 If you're thinking of buying a King Tiger in the future think long and hard about what you want from a kit and balance up what they offer you for the money. Lets face it there are enough out there to choose from now. For me , the Dragon King Tiger has a retail price around the £50 mark in the UK and I know that if I paid that much for it I would be both angry and disappointed.

As a kit it's nothing special in regard to features. It's a pretty basic King Tiger . 

With the Tamiya kit at least you know it will fit together properly , and I stress that adding the aftermarket Fruil tracks  , Brass Barrel . resin Zimmerit , Moslit Exhausts and etch set

you get a lovely looking model , that is a joy to build and also is accurate - and user-friendly .
 

David Walker

 

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by 73north

[M3talpig]

Typical ....it's always the heavy tanks that drive across the grass.....how rude 

Lovely build looks very menacing as it should.....and the base looks great showing it's weight nicely on the ground work 70 tons will definitely ruin the gardeners day... 

[Lawrence Tierney]

Id love to see the tank alone against a plain background. 

[73north]

I will post some more pics like that tomorrow - thanks 

[Andimal]

Superb King Tiger. Quality job on the camo and weathering. I'm thinking of purchasing the Tamiya King Tiger or Tamiya Panzer IV Ausf H for my next build however after seeing this I'm leaning more towards King Tiger.

[73north]

Thank you , you would have thought that the Dragon King Tiger was ' the one ' to go for ' but the fact is that you get just as good a model without loads and loads of tiny parts 

and its  too complicated -

the Tamiya kit to go for is the 1993 Edition or anything later - do your research on Scalemates - before buying the Model Box 

I obviously highly recommend you invest in a photo-etch , a Brass Barrel for the 88mm and if you can afford it , the brass MG 34 gun

with Moskit Tracks being far ,far superiors to the kit tracks -

I tried ModelKasten tracks , but found the metal ones far more realistic with the real ' sag ' effect 

Edited May 9, 2020 by 73north