When you say “Tiger Aces” I’m sure that the first name that springs to most people’s minds ( those who have an interest in german Armour at least ) is Michael Whitmann, and whether or not it is his crew that Dragon have attempted to capture here I don’t know, as other than the fact that two wear an Iron Cross and three wear the Panzer Assault Badge there really isn’t anything that defines these as “Tiger Aces” other than the kit title.
This comes on one large, light grey sprue that holds the four and three quarter figures, as one has no legs below the knee. The Douglas Bader of Panzer Aces if you will. It is an older set so the mouldings aren’t as sharp as more contemporary sets in some areas, mainly the creases and folds in the clothing which to me are a little understated, but to the average observer would likely never be noticed. The faces look good with nicely defined features and individual expressions, and there is nice detail in the medals and badges moulded in place as well as the belt buckles and hands being well done. The moulds are nice and clean with only the usual mould seams to clean up and assembly is quick, simple and accurate using the assembly and painting guide printed on the reverse of the box.
There really isn’t a lot to these figures, one wears the leather Panzer jacket while the others all wear the typical Panzer Jacket and trousers meaning you can do them in black, camouflage or reed green to depict both tank crews and SPG or StuG crews. Three wear the overseas cap, one a field cap and the other a soft officer’s cap. All five get holstered pistols, four Luger P08s and one Sauer 38H. One holds a set of headphones though it includes no throat mike despite being included in the artwork and assembly instruction illustrations, so you’ll need to make that bit yourself. No other equipment or weapons is included.
To be honest I’m not really sure why this is entitled as it is, they are a decent enough set of Panzer crew that could be used on any type of German armour really. They’re not the most animated of sets but for a good set of a tank crew just sitting around between battles they are more than adequate.
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