Revell 1/72
Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger I Ausf.E

Background

As a superior answer to the Soviet T-34 and armored battle tanks introduced in 1942, the armored fighting vehicle Pz.Kpfw. VI “Tiger” was continually improved while it was in production. Among other things, the vehicles were equipped with a new commander’s cupola with a machine-gun and the later series, from January 1944, had rubber-saving steel road wheels.

The armor was up to 100 mm thick and it’s penetrating long-range 8.8 cm tank-cannon, the 36L/56, gave it a legendary reputation in combat. Driven by a water-cooled V-12 Maybach HL 230 P45, 694 horsepower petrol engine, the Tiger – with a combat weight of 56,000 kg had a maximum speed of 38 km/h. It had a crew of five.

The Kit

The box is a departure from a couple of other Revell of Germany 1/72nd kits I recently reviewed, by having a tray and lid type box…instead of the end-opening kind of the others. I am no big fan of the end-opening type box. Things tend to fall out, past the end flaps, and get lost, notoriously, usually the decal sheet. I prefer the tray and lid type.

The box art is a bit misleading. It shows a commander figure in the roof cupola and the Tiger covered with zimmerit. There are no crew figures in the kit and the surface of the parts is smooth. There are a couple of photos of the finished model on a side panel. However, the shot of the rear of the tank shows the fiefel type air cleaners. I don’t know where the modeler got those parts for this picture, but they are not in the kit. The kit is rated as a 3. This means that it is a more demanding model with gluing and painting of up to approximately 100 parts.

Inside the box is a sealed cello bag that holds 5 trees of light tan parts. After reviewing 3 of Revell of Germany’s 1/72nd scale AFV kits, I find that this light tan seems to be their preferred styrene color for these kits.

The small decal sheet and the instructions complete the kit’s contents.

The instructions consist of three pages that are folded in the center and inserted into each other to form a 6 page unstapled booklet.

The 1st page of the instructions begins with a black and white repeat of the box art. This is followed by the history of the Tiger in German and English. At the bottom of the page is addresses for contact with Revell in various countries.

Pages 2 and 3 have SECURTIY TEXT in many languages, including English.

Page 4 has READ BEFORE YOU START instructions in these same multiple languages. This is followed by some small drawings showing how to cut parts off the trees, hold them and paint them.

Page 5 begins with international assembly symbol explanations, followed by a paint listing of colors suggested for decorating the kit (in the multiple languages again).

Page 6 begins with the parts trees illustrations, followed by the first assembly step drawing.

Pages 7 thru 10 give the rest of the assembly steps, for a grand total of 16 steps.

Page 11 gives a five-view illustration of a painting and marking scheme for the Schwere Panzerabtielung 503, France, July 1944. Red turret number 312 outlined in white. It is a camouflage pattern of matt sandy yellow, matt red brown and matt sea green.

Page 12 gives a second 5-view illustration of a painting and marking scheme for the Schwere Panzerabtielung 506, Eastern Front, Summer, 1944. Turret number red 2 outlined in white. There is a group logo that goes on the back of the turret.

The 1st large light tan parts tree holds: link and length type tracks, the rear hull plate, exhaust pipes, front driver’s plate, fender end sections etc. Parts are numbered 6, 13 to 24, 26 and 27. (69 parts) One of the parts is X’d out on the parts tree drawings as being excess and not needed to complete the model.

The parts trees are not alphabetized. This seems to run through all the Revell 1/72nd scale kits. Only part numbers are used.

The 2nd large light tan parts tree holds: the hull roof, hull bottom and sides, tow cables and some grab handles (10 parts). Parts are numbered 1 to 3, 25, 31, 32 and 53.

The 3rd large light tan parts tree holds: the main gun barrel, turret parts, drive sprockets and rubber tired road wheels. However, these road wheels are X’d out on the parts tree drawings as being excess. There are all steel road wheels provided on another sprue. Parts are numbered 5 to 8, 10 to 12, 33 to 37 to 42, 54 and 55. (52 parts).

The 4th light tan tree is smaller. It holds: a turret side piece, cupola parts, machine gun mount, machine gun, hatch cover, fender end pieces, rear deck panel etc. Parts are numbered 59 to 69 (11 parts).

The 5th light tan tree is the smallest. It holds: the steel road wheels. Numbered 56 to 58. (24 parts).

The small decal sheet, with a tissue to protect it’s face against scratching and the instructions complete the kit’s contents.

Conclusions

This is a neat little kit of a popular German AFV subject. It is too bad that it does not have the zimmerit molded into it that is shown on the box art, nor the commander figure shown there either. There is no interior detail provided too. However, what detail is there is very nice for this small scale. Recommended.