Kingtiger Tiger II Porsche Turret German Heavy Tank Dragon 1/35

It is a Dragon King Tiger with Zimmerit Coating. It is built from December 2013 to February 2014.

King Tiger is a required subject for WWII German tank fans. While not carried out modeling for a while, it’s getting cold these days. I began to make a different kit. I chose the Porsche gun turret type this time.

When a box is opened, the part is stuffed to the limit… Once it takes out of the box, it cannot return.

I thought this kit was released several years ago; at that time, was the instruction printed in color temporarily in those days? It looks excellent and is easy to assemble.

The wheels of a heavy tank are pretty large. Parts are gathered for each type and size, and the parting line and gate are flattened.

I checked whether the torsion bar spring is equal to the ground and parallel so that a wheel may fit on the ground surface.
(23-December-2013)

Gahhhh!! Two sets of the same parts groups were in this box, but group TA, TB, TC, and TD parts units were all missing in this box… It’s a Dragon Models mistake. It’s related to OVM: On Vehicle Materials, so maybe it’s not severe. Even so, no less than two times are the surprising probability of a missing item in succession by the last AFV Club’s Striker and this Dragon’s Tiger II.
When I asked Aoshima, the import agent, they said it had to be exchanged with Dragon directly. They have no spare parts, yes, I think so. Dragon has over 1,000 items in China and Hong Kong, and it’s not easy to handle this problem in Japan’s importers. But — I think Aoshima can become a contact point, at least.
(27-December-2013)

Besides the parts shortage, I’ll do what I can now. Its joint upper and chassis are very clean and not necessary to modify.

A caterpillar setup should have been completed before uniting the upper body and chassis. After uniting, a little bit difficult to attach the caterpillar. Please follow the instruction manual…
Caterpillar parts are arranged on a double-stick tape, and I pour adhesives on all the parts once and hold a moment for half-drying adhesives, then very speedy operation.

It’s a very much better condition of the proper side setup. Sometimes I find the belt caterpillar of vinyl in Dragon’s kit. I want to support Magic Track positively as myself, even if there is a risk of assembly mistakes and failure. If it says so, I would like Dragon to carry out the option, only Magic Track for sale, about USD10.00.
This work consumes large quantities of adhesives. If I cannot complete this work in one shot while preventing drying and fixing, supply more adhesives. Please be careful about thinner addiction.

I suffered trouble a little on the left side. I pressed down with a tissue and tried to become a natural caterpillar hanging down. I twisted to the wheels and somehow completed it. Once failed, adjustment is relatively tricky.
(27-December-2013)

Since the full fender use is changeless and not interesting, I decided to cut out the middle part.

On the right side is two fender panels removed, and a large part of the caterpillar is exposed. The section was trimmed, and it shows thinly.

The left side is out of one fender panel. The variation comes out, and it is interesting.

Dragon Models’ etched parts quality is very nice, and the atmosphere rises. There’s a gap in the rear armor. Rather than forgetting to paste it up, I need to stick it up later.

It became unnatural when the part was pasted up on the armoring of Zimmerit Coating. I corrected it with putty. It’s slightly exaggerated, but I think it will become natural after painting.
(30-December-2013)

I am starting the turret. You can see the inside of the high-explosive shells discharger. (The small pipe-shaped one in front of the square hatch)

About which shall be chosen between photo-etched parts and plastic parts, I think plastic is reasonable whether the portion is too thin and seems unnatural to use photo-etched parts. For example, a caterpillar hook is 0.2mm thin when it is an etching, multiplex 35 times; it is about 6.5 mm. It’s a poor impression of hanging a big tiger II caterpillar. Although it is each person’s judgment for all, sometimes priority may be given to easy and handy modeling.

This kit shows heavy observation and research on the gun turret rear hatch. The etching part was selectable for inside the hatch; it was not so visible, so I chose a plastic one. You realize the armor thickness and toughness of Tiger II.
(08-January-2014)

I used the photo-etched parts for the thicker wire clamp. It takes a lot of time for small photo-etched parts handling.

Shackle’s mold is excellent, and no need to use photo-etched parts. In support of the jack, I used plastic and etching mixed.

I removed the wire cutter and attached only the clamps for change. It looks like a live tank on the battlefield.

The hammer and the shovel, some parts are lacking in this box. Photo-etched parts are very effective for these parts and were worthy of work. I attached OVM’s Left-hand side as my favorite, omitting the thick wire, and only clamps are attached. Since the missing parts are not fatal and substitution parts are in this kit, somehow I could complete it.

The part of the light code, which is often recommended by the example of the model magazine’s additional work, it’s also contained in this kit, and we can work efficiently.

There is a pistol port on the rear hatch.

The hatch itself can be opened and closed.

Adrenaline comes out very well when putting a gun turret on the body. Became very much smart!

The attached metal barrel is accurate and easily makes straight-line compared to plastic parts.

The Porsche-type gun turret is roundish compared with the Henschel gun turret, and since the angle of inclination of 30 degrees side and the rear surface, they have an image that sticks to the ground. Although the height of the vehicles looks low, it is pretty high and huge.

First, 50 tanks produced used the Porsche turret type, and the latter, a more significant number, and the primary type is the Henschel turret type.
I want to make one figure on the body of the Tiger II to emphasize the tank size.

A cup of coffee after assembly completion is nice! This kit is molded Zimmerit Coating so that it can be brought to assembly completion fairly easily and fast.
(11-January-2014)

Dragon Models tank crew with Hornet resin head. It’s been a long time since I last used the Hornet headset; the quality is superb.

I blew the surfacer; it’s almost the same color as plastic; I added matte white a little to distinguish it from the plastic.
(26-January-2014)

Next step, I blew shadow on the edge and dent area.

Painted khaki green. The last time I painted KV-1 Ehkranami, I had trial and error to make the original green, but it’s the same as khaki green…
Next is a red-brown and dark yellow camouflage painting.
(28-January-2014)

My painting camouflage has been since Matilda making; it’s been a long time. At first, I blew a red-brown. A finish state is not known yet.

The Gun turret was the same pattern. I blew with feeling somehow regularity and irregular pattern mixed with balance.

It’s quite a good touch. After dark yellow is added, it’s a feeling that the whole looks nice. The lines of dark yellow are changed thickness irregularly. I needed splendid concentration for this camouflage pattern drawing. Although it’s difficult, after finishing, there’s satisfaction.
(01-February-2014)

Today’s Tokyo is the heaviest snow for the first time in 10 years; I just finished up my Tiger II inside a warm house and updated my homepage.

The front armor was a thickness of no less than 150mm. And it was inclination armoring; the defense effect was stronger than Tiger I.

The Tiger II factory frequently suffered from bombing by the Allied Forces; manufacturer did not follow the production plan.

According to the instruction manual, marking is the 503 heavy tank battalion around Mailly le Camp (between Paris and the Belgium border) in France in 1944.

To give a 3D effect of mud, I used the Tamiya Diorama Texture Paint. I suppose more fine-grained is better, maybe.

As indicated in the making, some parts are not contained; I’m disappointed. But see, like this photo, some parts are not etching included, but they are of almost satisfactory quality.

The back of the hatch is white, chipping with rust.

The upper part made weathering moderate and much more dirty weathering on the chassis. This time, dry brushing is not performed.

The antenna was changed to the metal wire; it’s the correct answer. If it’s lengthened plastic runner, it may be easily damaged while assembling and painting.

It was about 70t weight, the engine of Tiger II was used the same one of Panter, It’s insufficient in respect of mobile power. Firepower and mobile power balance were not good and operated with incredible difficulty. It’s extremely low mileage, and only 200m of liters move on the road in the best conditions. This Tiger II has 860 liters of fuel carried.

I painted the periscope in green and finished gloss. There are eight on the gun turrets and two on the body. Sadly, they are hardly visible.

It’s hard to paint the threefold structure wheels. However, this is the big feature of some German tanks in the Second World War; appearance is smart.

The wheels are made of steel, and the place where the caterpillar touches the wheels would be metallic, and I finished it with the gunmetal dry brushing. It isn’t easy to paint parts.

I filled mud moderately in the hollow of a caterpillar, and the part which hit a road surface was finished with metallic color. I suppose it’s good accents.

I used the dark iron Tamiya enamel color. It’s quite a good color, just like the caterpillar base color. However, I did weathering much performed with washing and mudding and almost disappeared based on a painting.

The paint of camouflage uniform of a green-peas pattern, painted first with the flat earth of Tamiya mixed a little with black and white.

Next is a larger dot in Khaki green, and the dot of color mixed fresh and buff. The last color is Tamiya enamel XF-14 Japanese Aircraft Grey with black and white. Very tough work!

The sight of its back also applied camouflage paint. I used the camouflage decal a long time ago. This time I could paint with a brush, and I made it.

A figure and King Tiger’s size are realizable compared to a Zippo. As for this angle and distance, this crew’s best-looking shot, I suppose.

These officer insignias are decals. Although I used the army marking without considering anything, the Nazi SS corps used the same shoulder insignias; it seemed no problem. Tiger II has arranged almost SS heavy tank battalion except for the exception at the first stage, so I’m slightly anxious about miss matching to historical fact.

I usually finish airbrush or dry brushing by the black or brown to the tip of the gun barrel. I refrained from excessive depiction and only performed chipping and washing.

I referred to many battlefield photographs of Tiger II, almost after being damaged, dead tanks taken by the Allied Forces, and I felt slightly sad. Individually, I like the photograph in a military operations.

This time, I had a reasonable conclusion about the camouflage pattern of a tank and tank officer, and I was delighted. Recently I painted detailed camouflage uniform lots and had a sore eye….. This is the famous German tank; on the whole, it’s powerful and cool looking. It is difficult to store the tank with the long gun barrel on my shelves. Since the Henschel gun turret, Tiger II had been made for about ten years. I want to challenge that soon.
(08-February-2014)