Photo features from Vinnie Branigan

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- Vinnie Branigan

6416: Tiger I Late Production ‘Alfred Kurzmaul’

1/35 injection plastic kit with multimedia accessories and decals

Schwere PanzerAbteilung 503, (heavy tank unit 503), received some of the first Tiger Is equipped with the distinctive steel road wheels. These tanks were used on the Eastern Front and many saw action with Kampfgruppe Mittermeister around Tarnopol. Photos of these tanks, which were built in early 1944, reveal that they had a distinctive mix of features, and thus differ from other Tiger I with the steel road wheels. These Tigers had the cast cupola, two-plate turret roof with a ventilation fan above the breech, larger rear idler and a lower hull that did not have cutouts above where the holes for the towing shackles.

This new release for Dragon Expo 07 (US) depicts one of the Tiger I late that were issued to schwere PanzerAbteilung 503 in early 1944. The kit specifically depicts tank ‘123’ of which Alfred Kurzmaul was a crewmember.

As expected this kit is based on Dragon’s recent and well received Tiger I releases and includes enhancements made on the just released Dragon Tiger I late 3 in 1, while having a new sprue containing parts for a Tiger I built circa January 1944. In particular this kit has the Dragon Styrene tracks with open guide-horns built into the one-piece tracks.

The six page gatefold instruction sheet shows each step using black, white and blue line drawings. In total this kit has over 600 parts. This kit features considerable crisp injection tooling, often using it for small detail when earlier releases may have used PE parts. As expected it provides a solid basis for super detailing.

TURRET

The turret has features typical of those made in late 1943 to February 1944 and thus differs from those included in the Tiger I Late 3 in 1which has turret roofs typical of Tigers produced from March 1944 onwards. Features include:

New tooling for the turret roof (single plastic part) that depicts a roof that was made from two armor plates and had a weld join parallel to the mantlet. This roof plate was 25 mm thick and had the ventilator above the breech and a lip around the recessed hole for the gunner’s hatch.

Choice of two caps for the roof ventilator (one with a handle and one with screw holes. Two loaders hatches are included of which one has a hard edge and the other a rounded edge for the outer lip. Both hatches have internal detail such as the locking mechanism. All crew hatches, including the turret side escape hatch can be modeled open or closed. The side hatch can be made workable and will tilt down to the engine deck.

1. o A one-piece asymmetric turret shell with a side escape hatch. This piece has fine weld seams around several plate joins and the vision ports.

2. o The separate commander’s cupola is slide-molded and has clear plastic ring shaped insert for the periscopes. Other optics are also made from clear plastic. The ring around the base of the cupola is crisply detailed with the weld marks.

3. o A basic partial turret interior is provided containing the gun breech, spent shell basket and two crew seats. With the thin turret sidewalls there is potential for modellers to add extra detail.

4. o The mantlet has twin apertures for the binocular gun sight. The mantlet collar is a separate part and features recessed holes where the screw heads were.

5. o The barrel is a three-piece plastic barrel tube without a visible join (the pieces are cylinders which have hidden butt joins). The muzzle brake has the larger profile appropriate for an early 1944 Tiger. A spring is provided for those who wish to make the gun recoil.

6. o The spare tracks on the turret are two part injection plastic links that must be removed from the sprue. These links have a separate part the open guide horns and no sink marks. They are secured by angled brackets.

7. o Optional PE parts are also provided for the hasps on the turret stowage bins with six parts per hasp and lock pair, as well as the levers on the cupola periscopes.

HULL

Photos reveal that Kurzmaul’s Tiger like some others issued to schwere PanzerAbteilung 503, in early 1944 did not have cutouts above the holes for the towing shackles. This kit’s lower hull is new tooling, which has this feature and varying enhancements to the belly plate including several circular hatches now being fitted to recesses, enhanced bolt head detail and improved weld seams. The visible faces of the upper hull side armour are tooled using applique panels.

A new rear plate has mounting points for the deleted travel lock, which are depicted with PE. The diamond shaped starter plate on the rear hull can be placed either high or low on the plate.

Other hull features include:

1. o Choice of two outer road wheel designs, which differ in the arrangement of the bolts near the hub.

2. o The exhaust shrouds are injection plastic and have the gap between them and the rear plate. This gap resulted from the shrouds been mounted on a set of square attachment points.

3. o Internal torsion bars, which can be made to work to provide an articulated suspension or omitted with the outer suspension arms fitted directly onto the hull.

4. o Large 700mm rear idler, which is one of this Tiger’s distinguishing features, as most steel wheeled Tigers had the later 600mm rear idler.

5. o The on-vehicle tools have PE clamps provided (and no need to remove plastic clamps). A preformed semi-circular support for the spade head is also provided.

6. o Two sets of tow cables are included. One set is plastic with molded on brackets and the other is built from twisted metal, separate plastic cable ends and photo etch brackets.

7. o Hull MG with internal detail including the spent shell case, and trigger mechanism.

8. o Spare tracks on the front glacis, which are like those on the turret.

9. o A pre-bent piece of metal is provided for the cable powering the Bosch headlight on the upper glacis.

The Dragon Styrene tracks have open guide-horns built into the one-piece tracks and are ease to use. The tracks are packed with a cardboard stiffener to ensure they reach the modeler in mint condition. The level of casting on these tacks is the best I recall seeing on one-piece tracks. The tracks have crisp chevrons on the outer faces, open guide horns, under cut detail where the outer teeth on the drive sprocket fitted and inconspicuous sink marks.

ENGINE DECK

The engine deck is very well detailed. All visible parts below the four air vents such as the fuel tank, radiator, fans and ducting are included, some ducting and frames being made of PE, while the plastic parts are crisp. The rear grilles can be positioned in the raised position to better display the interior detail. The hatch to the Maybach engine can be modeled open (but you will need to find your own aftermarket engine block). Preformed PE mesh screens (with the edges bent downwards) for the engine deck grilles are included.

DECALS

A new decal sheet by Cartograf contains markings for the Tiger of schwere PanzerAbteilung 503 that Kurzmaul was a crew member of in the Spring of 1944. This tank had turret number black 123 and Balkan Crosses. Photos confirm that it had a dark yellow base with brown overspray as per the box art. Like other Tigers produced in early 1944 it had factory applied zimmerit. The kit does not include zimmerit, however given the Tiger’s relatively flat large panels, it is one of the easier kits to apply zimmerit to using putty and a zimmerit tool. Alternatively several aftermarket resin zimmerit sets are available for the Dragon Tiger I.

RECOMMENDATION

The Tiger I late Alfred Kurzmaul offers a crisp and accurate rendition of a Tiger I produced in early 1944. It provides an interesting option for the many modellers interested in late war Panzers as it has picked up the distinguishing features of the first Tiger Is fitted with the steel wheels. The inclusion of one-piece tracks with integrated open guide horns and the photo etch adds to its appeal. Definitely recommended.

KEY REFERENCE

‘Germany’s Tiger Tank: DW to Tiger I: Design, Production and Modifications’, by Tom Jentz and Hilary Doyle

- Neville Lord