Tiger II

While lockdown has eased slightly this week, the war with C-19 has not gone away and neither has my build factory! Today, I had planned to bring you another medley of tracked vehicles but the material I dug out on the king of these seemed to demand its own entry. So, I’ll return with part 2 very soon. In the meantime, here’s a view and backstory on the King Tiger.

The Tiger II was Germany’s most expensive tank of the Second World War. It was unofficially known, to those who fought with them, as Königstiger (Bengal tiger), and by Allied troops, after a rather poor translation, the King Tiger. Porsche and Henschel were originally invited to design prototypes to carry the 88mm anti aircraft gun, which the Luftwaffe had so successfully used against Allied tanks. While Henschel finally won the contract, both the Porsche and Henschel turret designs were used in the production vehicles. An interesting factoid about the turrets is that they were actually both designed by Krupp, Porsche and Henschel designed the hulls, engines and running gear. The "Porsche turret" had a stylish rounded front that was both difficult and expensive to manufacture and which was also discovered to be less than effective; a well aimed shot could be fatally redirected via the rounded front into the gap between the turret and hull! The first fifty tanks were fitted with this early turret while the next 442 Tigers to run off the production line were fitted with the simplified, more thickly armoured and flat faced designed "Henschel turret", with no shot trap! 

The Tiger II first saw combat in July 1944, in the battle to hold back the tide of Allied advance following the Normandy D-day landings. In September 1944 Tiger IIs were sent east in a vain attempt to slow the relentless advance of Russian forces as they drove towards Berlin. While a very formidable weapon, the Tiger II was phenomenally expensive; costing $300,000 per vehicle compared to $30,000 for the Sherman, the Allies most prolific tank. In the end, while it was said to take at least 3 Shermans to knock out a Tiger II, the Allies won the battle of the tanks through the simple war of attrition. The Americans were able to mass produce so many Sherman tanks that in the end, the Germans were just unable to compete. 

Production of the Tiger II was severely hampered by air raids, in which it is estimated that over 50% of production was lost. It was also found to be unreliable; suffered from destructive oil leaks, under powered running gear and the lack of trained drivers caused many to become unserviceable. Combined with its thirsty engine and the severe fuel shortages of 1944, as the Germans lost control of their oilfields, many Tiger IIs were just abandoned having run out of fuel. If anyone has watched the 1960s film, The Battle of the Bulge, you'll know what I am talking about!

Airfix PzKw VI Ausf.B 'King Tiger', Normandy, 1944

My Tiger 2 model is supposed to be of  No. 113, from 503rd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion but my research points to tank No. 113 having been a member of the 101st Battalion, so it is this tank which inspires my backstory. 

After seeing some action in Normandy with their old Tiger Is, in August, 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion were re-equipped with 14 Tiger IIs, all with the production model turret (the "Henschel turret"). One of which was No. 104 on display at the Bovington Tank Museum.

Tiger II No. 113 in Beauvais, France. Late August 1944.

On the 3 September, my Tiger II, No. 113, was reported to be in combat with Task Force Lovelady of the US 3rd Armored Division when it was abandoned in Jemappes, Belgium. Its turret was left facing backwards supposedly towards the attacking American forces, just as the crew had left it when it ran out of fuel!

Note: I don’t know if Airfix have made an error in suggesting my tank is No. 113 or if this tank’s history was just less interesting and it disappeared without trace, but either way, modelling it with the "Porsche turret" is wrong for my backstory as the pictures of No. 113 clearly show it having the "Henschel turret"! Airfix don’t normally get these things wrong, and do usually pick on a source with a well known backstory, so this one is quite perplexing and perhaps requires more research ..

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The Model

Brand: Airfix

Title: Tiger Ausf.B 'King Tiger' Starter Set

Number: A55303

Scale: 1:76

Type: Full kit

Released: 2012 | Rebox (Model set)