King Tiger Tank

Tamiya quality shows even on a early kit. Everything went together perfect. I kept the loaders hatch open and add a extra crew member. Plus I added extra 88mm shells in the turret storage. I kept the rear hatch on the turret open to help see the shell storage. I also left the color all dark yellow as it would have been out of the factory. Then high lighted the details on the tank. I didn't want to hide the detail with dark colors. My next tiger I will add camouflage. The only con I can give the kit is has no loader and 88mm shells for the storage racks in the turret. Keep having fun.

This was an awesome kit to build and I enjoyed every second of it. The detail was close to as defined as dragon kits are, and the fit of everything was great. The back piece to the chassis was the only part I needed to add putty to after assembling. The interior detail was more than what I was expecting. It is enough to leave all the hatches open if you choose, and would be a great start if you want to buy after market interior parts to really display the inside. I don't really like the rubber band style of tracks, but because the top of the tracks are covered they ended up looking fine. The decals were nice and stuck very well with the help of decal solution. In addition, the instructions were clear and provided a lot of information. I ended up buying photo etch grill covers because the mesh they provide just does not look good to me. Along with that, I bought a metal barrel to replace the two piece plastic one from the kit. This was a great kit, the only thing that could make it better is if tamiya could replace the mesh with PE grill covers. Personally, if the cost went up just a bit for PE Grill covers I think it would be worth it.

I built this kit years ago and found it to be a huge tank compared to the other German and US tanks as in real life. I'm sure that the size was a real shock to all. The kit I recall was easily assembled with little or no mold problems and fit. The detailing was good for the time with lots of extra possibilities as the kit is expandable. I detailed my kit with Zimmerit Anti- mine coating by using a trick I read about in a scale model magazine, I used the raised edges of diner napkins glued with Super-glue applied to the surfaces that would be typically coated. The tank really adds to any collection of armor!