Dragon (DML) 1/35th Tiger 1

Late Production (3 in 1)

reviewed by Neville Lord 

Kit Summary

The late production Tiger I is probably best known for its involvement in Normandy particularly with SSsPzAbt 101. The box art for this kit depicts the well known incident where such a Tiger I from this unit’s second company under the command of Michael Wittman destroyed a column of British armour at Villers Bocage. This model, the latest Tiger I from Dragon represents a late to final production Tiger I with the distinctive steel road wheels, choice of later style mantlets and the option to use the smaller rear idler. In keeping with Dragon’s earlier Tiger I, the kit also contains considerable ‘bonus’ parts such as several frets of photo etch, pre formed metal parts, brass ammunition and a metal barrel.

This model contains the parts and instructions to build the Tiger I in one of three suggested options:

• Tiger 1 Late Production which would represent a vehicle built circa April 1944

• Tiger 1 Final Production with 40mm roof with three pilze which were introduced in June 1944

• Tiger 1 Late Production (Command Version) which has the “crow’s foot” star command aerial.

In practice, by selectively using the varying optional parts the kit can be used to depict almost any (if not all) Tiger Is built as either a standard battle tank or command tank from March 1944 until production ended in August 1944.

CONTENTS:

As expected the layout follows that of Dragon’s Tiger I Initial, but contains significant new tooling. The new parts include the turret, hull tub, road wheels, final production turret roof, tracks and other features typical of late (and often mid) production Tiger Is, which are detailed later in the review. Some of the “bonus” parts are common with the earlier release, while others features such as the PE which now includes the mesh grilles for the engine deck, and the tank commander figure are new tooling. In total the Tiger contains in excess of 1,100 parts and I found it hard to readily fit them back in the box.

TURRET & GUN:

The turret is the later style with the side escape hatch and contains significant new tooling. Key features of the turret are:

• 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. The vertical casting marks exist near the escape hatch, but will be hidden by zimmerit on a finished model.

• A choice of two types of roof panels. One panel depicts the earlier style 40mm thick roof which was made from a single piece of armour plate and introduced in March 1944. The other is the final style introduced during June 1944, which had three pilze sockets to support a small crane and was made from two plates and hence has a join across the centre. As noted on Dragon’s instruction sheet, by removing the pilze from the ‘final’ roof a third variant can be made to depict a circa May 44 tank with a 40mm roof made from two panels without pilze.

• Two commander’s cupolas are provided; one with and one without the rain channels. A clear plastic sprue contains the periscopes on a ring shaped part, while other sprues provide much small detail such as the grab handle and MG mount (although no machine gun is included).

• The loader’s hatch and rear escape hatch both offer a choice of hinge detail and have considerable internal detail. A choice of three types of roof hatches is provided included the common cast type and a welded design. Some experts question if the third type (part F7 was fitted to production tanks even though its use was agreed to. The rear hatch can be built to open and shut. While very detailed and well researched, David Byrden has identified an opportunity to enhance the loader’s hatch (see David’s website).

• 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.

• Three mantlets are included; one has twin apertures for the binocular gun sight, while the other two have the single aperture for the monocular optics, but differ in the presence (standard version) or absence (command version) of a hole on the opposing side for the machine gun . The collar is a separate part and features recessed holes where the screw heads were.

• A choice of one piece turned metal or three piece plastic barrel tube without a visible join (the plastic pieces are cylinders which have hidden butt joins). As with the Dragon Tiger I ‘initial’ a spring is provided for those who wish to make the gun recoil.

• Two plastic muzzle brakes are supplied being the larger profile, which was fitted to most Tiger Is, and the smaller profile that was fitted to some tanks from April 1944 onwards.

HULL:

 The lower hull is based on a one piece tub which has detail on the underside appropriate for a ‘late’ and hence differs from the hull included in Dragon’s Tiger I ‘initial’. The visible face of the upper hull side armour are tooled using appliqué panels.

• The internal torsion bars have also been revised from the ‘initial’ and can be made to work, thus providing an articulated suspension. Alternatively the bars can be omitted and the outer suspension arms fitted directly onto the hull.

• Small 600mm rear idler as generally fitted to the Tiger I ‘late’ with a 40mm roof plate. The earlier larger idler is provided as a spare.

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

• Two sets of on-vehicle tools are provided of which one has the clamps molded on for easy of assembly and the other has no clamps and is intended to be used with the PE clamps.

• Two sets of tow cables are included. One set is all plastic with molded on brackets and the other is built from twisted metal and separate plastic cable ends etc.

• The upper hull has the turret ring guard which was a feature added in 1944.

ENGINE DECK:

The engine deck on this release contains significant extra detail compared to the Tamiya kits. 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 wooden deck over the fuel tanks, which was introduced in April 1944 is also included. 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 screen for the grilles are now included to complete the engine deck.

TRACKS:

Two types of tracks are included with this Tiger. As with the Tiger I Initial “Magic Tracks” (shown assembled in the photos) are provided for the running gear, although in this kit the links have chevrons on the outer face as typical of mid and late production versions. These are injection plastic tracks, which come loose in a plastic bag and for a quick assembly can be assembled without clean up. The links snapped together with reasonable grip (I could gently bend the connected unglued links without them falling apart) and a whole run can be assembled in minutes; before you apply glue to the assembled track run and fit them to the kit. The magic tracks have solid guide horns (a concession to production economics) rather than open guide horns and two injection marks on the inner faces. These marks are superficial and I found they could be swiftly scraped off using a hobby knife fitted with a rounded blade (in practice you would only need to remove the outer mark as the inner mark is hidden by the road wheels and guide horn).

The other type of tracks is 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 intended to be the spare tracks on the front glacis and turret where the limitations of the other tracks would have shown.

PHOTO ETCH:

One of the most noticeable features of this kit is the amount of PE included, being five frets of varying size and 14 pre-shaped pieces. In aggregate these parts provide a comparable amount of detail to many aftermarket sets. Key features include:

• Optional PE parts for the front fenders, star of the command aerial, brackets on the tools (a plastic bending template is include), hasps on the turret stowage bins and front glacis. In all these cases alternative injection plastic parts are provided or the detail is molded on the plastic.

• 8 pre-formed side skirts and rear exhaust shrouds. These parts have raised detail and do not require bending and again optional plastic parts are offered. Raised detail

• 4 pre-formed screens for the engine deck grilles, which is a feature that is not included in the Tiger I “Initial”. The sides have been bent to shape.

• A Photo etch fret contains 24 assorted end pieces for the shells.

‘BONUS’ ACCESSORIES:

A diverse range of accessories is packaged with the Tiger including:

• Clear plastic parts for the periscopes/vision blocks

• 6 brass shells (2 each of High Explosive, practice HE and AP)

• 6 brass spent shells

• 6 plastic shells and 2 injection plastic wooden ammunition boxes with internal detail, which can be modeled either open or closed which are from the 88mm Flak 36.

• 1 assembled brass bucket with articulated handle

• 8 metal U-shaped tow hooks

• Brass cylinder for the star-antenna (this is for command tank option)

• Brass tube for the spare radio antenna rod

• A styrene “New Generation” tank commander figure. This officer sports an officer’s service cap with the creased appearance on the sides indicative of having worn it with headphones. He is wearing a panzer jacket with a collared shirt and Iron Cross underneath. The jacket is of a later design as evident by the lack of piping on the edge of the lapels (dropped from July 1942). The jacket has a cut, which was more typical of the Waffen SS (e.g. rounded front closure, lack of rear seam), as well as the double runes on the lapels. A choice of PE or plastic rank shoulder boards is provided indicating the rank of Hauptsturmfuhrer (captain), which was the rank Wittman held at Villers Bocage. Smal lPE parts are also offered for the cap badges, iron cross, and two awards worn on the chest of which one has a tiny swastika in reverse and the other is the Panzer-kampfabzeichen (tank battle badge. The ankle length boots are separate parts and have the hobnails.

ASSEMBLY NOTES:

I found the fit of key parts such as the hull, engine deck and turret was favourable. As some of the PE parts including the mesh screens are sticky taped to the box they are packed, it is important to be carefully removing the tape to avoid bending the PE; I found it best to hold the PE firm in the black box, while removing the tape and to then remove it from the box. If assembled using all optional features such as PE side fenders and interior detail such as the fuel tanks, this kit will be rewarding for experienced modellers and those wishing a large project. Many other modelers may elect to use some of the injection plastic options and to overlook some interior detail. This flexibility in how much challenge the Tiger offers ensures it has broad appeal and is suitable for intermediate modellers.

All late production Tiger Is had factory applied zimmerit paste to counter magnetic charges. The kit does not include zimmerit. A quick check suggests that after market resin sets for the Tamiya/Academy kits will work reasonably well on this kit, although the hinge for the rear escape hatch will often need to be trimmed (of the Atak sets #35013 should be easier due to its flexible resin panel for the hull rear); and I have little doubt that dedicated sets will be produced for this kit. With the Tiger’s relatively flat large panel, it is one of the easier kits to apply zimmerit using putty and a zimmerit tool.

The instruction sheet is a 10 page foldout format with the steps depicted using black, white and blue line drawings. While clearly presented, given the number of options in building this kit, I am studying the instructions carefully.

DECALS:

An 18cm x 12cm decal sheet by Cartograf is included. This sheet includes unit insignia for schwere SS-PanzerAbteilung 101 (heavy tank unit 101) which was attached to Leibstandarte, and schwere Wehrmacht PzAbt 508 which served in Italy in 1944. Numerous turret numbers are included in 9 different combinations of colour, size and font type, allowing modeler to depict a good number of different vehicles from these units. Given the numerous published photos of Tiger’s from these units, this will allow modelers considerable flexibility in painting and marking specific vehicles. The decals include markings for several tanks used by Michael Wittman including his last tank white “007” (command tank, photos of the turret show the hinge for the loaders hatch had been grinded to allow for a turret ring implying it a late version), “205” which was his Tiger when in command of the second company of sSS-PzAbt 101 in Normandy and ‘212” (or “222” depending on your references) which he used at Villers Bocage.

RECOMMENDATION:

With the inclusion of the engine deck grilles, additional PE, and improvements to several features, Dragon has taken the Tiger I “late” a step further than the Tiger I “Initial”. The kit is comprehensive and excellent value in terms of the detail and accessories included, while also being flexibility both in terms of the range of production dates it can be built as and also the choice of plastic or metal as the medium for many features. Highly recommended.

Key Reference

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

FRUATL06 Tiger I/Sturmtiger  (Fruil Tracks)

OSV005 Tiger I Heavy Tank (Osprey Book)

SB1038-0        Tiger Tanks D.W. to Tiger I (Schiffer book key reference)

DML6252 PzKpfw VI E Tiger I sPzAbt502 Leningrad 43 (related kit referred to in review)

DML6253 SdKfz 181 Tiger I Late Production (3 in 1) (kit reviewed)

Models and Accessories: