King Tiger, Konigstiger, Royal Tiger, Tiger II, call it what you want, is there anything more symbolic of the German forces in the Second World War than the Tiger tank. Surrounded in myths and legend to the point where every second tank that bore a balkankreuz became a Tiger tank, the Tiger was never really the wonder weapon that history remembers it as. Given time it may have been, time to fix the flaws, time to give it more power and reliability, time to allow it to live up to the legend. But whatever it was, it is, and always has been, a favourite subject of modellers. In this review I’m not going to address the historical accuracies as many people don’t care, and those who do buy the Dragon kits anyway. It becomes easy to fall into the trap of becoming a Tiger Nut who agonizes over whether or not every hinge is 3mm off centre or not, and I don’t wish to go down that road, so I’ll limit this review to what comes in the box, how it builds up, and how it scrubs up at the end.
This kit comes in a large tray and lid style box and contains six dark yellow sprues, the hull tub and upper body, both also moulded in dark yellow, and one black sprue that contains individual track links. Also included is two single length vinyl tracks, a sheet of decals, and a bag which contains a long bolt and nut, four vinyl polycaps, and a section of vinyl mesh.
The mouldings are the typical Tamiya quality which is to say that they are very good with no flash, and minimal clean up of mould seams. There are some injector marks to deal with but nothing that should detract from the kit overall. The detail is nice and sharp. It can be a little over simplified in places as is the Tamiya way, with some pieces being a little heavier than ideal but overall the finish is very good. The instructions are clear and easy to follow making assembly very easy.
The chassis consists of a single piece hull tub with individual parts for the suspension arms, which allows them to be easily articulated if desired to show the wheels passing over uneven surfaces. The tub has good detailing including the underside covers and the bumpstops. The roadwheels are each held on with separate hubs while the idlers and sprockets contain polycaps which allow them to be pushed into place and pulled off again, which makes removing the tracks for painting very easy. Again they all have very nice, sharp detail. The tracks, as mentioned, are single length vinyl “rubber band” style. Although they do look quite good they do lack the proper guide horns, being too short, and they lack the edge definition that you get with individual link tracks.
The upper hull is moulded as a single piece which when joined to the lower hull avoids one problem that afflicts many Tamiya kits, that being that this kit does not have open sponsons. The detailing is very nice and includes a three piece MG ball, periscopes for the driver and radio operator and seaparate hatches for the driver and radio operator, though these include no inner surface detail and if left in the open position there is no interior to be seen.
The hull includes some decent weld beads around the edges and small, recessed locator points for the mounting of the hull equipment so if you opt to leave any of this off, or change to AM parts these will need to be filled. The tools are nicely done with moulded on clamps that could use a little fine detailing in the way of latches but are otherwise good. The cables are moulded plastic with all the mounting straps and cleaning rods also moulded as the same part.
Also included is a full sprue of individual track links, to be used as additional armour, togther with some slightly heavily moulded track hangers for mounting them to the sides of the turret.
The engine deck , grills and fan housings are moulded as part of the one piece upper hull. There is a separate engine hatch that can be positioned open if desired, although there is no real interior detail on it and four faint injector marks, plus of course no engine to be seen inside. A small sheet of vinyl mesh is included with which to form the wire mesh covers for the intke grills. This looks okay but the photo-etched sets look a lot better and can be picked up quite cheaply.
The turret is also one piece and includes the commander’s cupola moulded on, though the vision slots are left open. Like the upper hull this includes the major weld beads around the top edges. The commander’s hatch, loader’s hatch, and rear escape hatch can all be positioned open if wanted, though only the loader’s hatch includes internal detail, which is rather basic. There is a rudimentary interior for the turret which at least means if these are positioned open there is something inside to see. There is a choice between two styles of ventilator cover plus an optional MG34 with an anti-aircraft ring and mount.
A turret interior of sorts is provided in the form of the a reasonable representation of the gun breech, the loader’s and commander’s seats ( commander’s lower seat only ), and the shell racks in the rear of the turret. The shell racks are a bit thick and heavy and the gun breech and other detail is by no means highly detailed, nor comprehensive, but is sufficient for any “through the open hatch” views if this is built with the hatches open and figures in them.
Decals are provided for two vehicles, both used in the Ardennes during the operation that became best known as “The Battle of the Bulge”. One is for tank number 008 of the 501st Heavy Tank Battalion, the other for tank number 555 of the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion. The paint schemes for these two vehicles is also given, both being variations of what is commonly called the “ambush” scheme.
The motorbike can be a little confusing if you don’t read the instructions carefully as there are actually two full bike bodies and wheels but only one set of parts to go on like the seat, handle bars, exhaust etc, so you need to use some parts from one sprue and the rest from another. It does make up into a very nice rendition of the DKW NZ 350, though a few of the parts are a little heavy and could use thinning down. You’ll also need to add your own battery and wiring. The other area that needs addressing are the panier bags which are hollow with no back so you can see into them from the opposite side of the bike if no back is added.
Four figures are included with this kit, three tank crewmen and one motorcycle rider. The box only indicates three figures being included, and the instructions only deal with three. This is because the three indicated figures are included specifically for this kit, the fourth figure is the commander figure that comes with the King Tiger in its standalone version without the motorcyclist and the other two figures.
The original commander figure has a little flashing to remove but his face is well done as is the moulded on throat mike and wires. The uniform,with a winter parka and soft officers cap, is also very well done. The three new figures are very well done, each having a nicely defined face with an individual expression. The uniform details are also very well done with the only point of improvement really being that the figure designed to be standing in the open hatch has no instep detail on his boots, with them being flat soled intead. Though if he were positioned in the hatch this wouldn’t be seen. No personal equipment or weapons are included other than three holstered P08 Lugers and a set of headphones, for which you will need to add your own wires.
Let me just cut straight to the chase and say that if you are looking for the most accurate, most detailed King Tger then this isn’t it, and you want to be looking at the Dragon kits and be prepared to pay three figures easily. If however you want a very tidy kit that is easy to build, won’t cause any frustrations, and in the end results in a model representation of the King Tiger that will impress any layman then this is definitely the one to be getting. The moulds are clean and easy to work with, the instructions clear and easy to follow, and the small points like the oversimplification of some of the detail will only be picked up by AMS sufferers. So if you just want a nice looking King Tiger that only has to impress yourself, then here it is.
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