HOBBYBOSS
84559 1:35 Pz.Kpfw.VI Sd.Kfz.182 Tiger II (Henschel 105mm)
In early October 1942, plans for
production of the VK 45.03 were reviewed.
Initially two designs were provided, one by Henschel and one by Porsche.
Both used a turret design from Krupp; the main differences were in the hull
design, transmission, and suspension.
The Henschel version used a
conventional hull design with sloped armor resembling the layout of the Panther
tank. It had a rear mounted engine and used nine overlapping road wheels per
side, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original
Tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather
than interleaved as in the Tiger.
Henschel won the contract, and all
Tiger IIs were produced by the firm. Two turret designs were used in production
vehicles. The initial design is sometimes misleadingly called the "Porsche
turret" due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for their
prototype. In fact, this turret was simply the initial Krupp design for both
prototypes. This turret had a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a
difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turret's left side, to accommodate
the commander's cupola. Fifty early turrets were mounted to Henschel's hull and
used in action. The more common "production" turret, sometimes called
the "Henschel" turret, was simplified with a flat face, no shot trap
(created by the curved face of the initial-type turret), less-steeply sloped
sides, and no bulge for the commander's cupola.
The track system used on the Tiger
II chassis was a unique one, which used alternating "contact shoe"
and "connector" links—the contact shoe link had a pair of transverse
metal bars that contacted the ground, while the connector links had no contact
with the ground.
The Tiger II was developed late in the war
and made in relatively small numbers. Like all German tanks, it had a gasoline
engine. However, this same engine powered the much lighter Panther and Tiger I
tanks. The Tiger II was under-powered, like many other heavy tanks of World War
II, and consumed a lot of fuel which was already in short supply.
Item Type Plastic Model
Armor Kit
Model Dimension Length: 322.9mm Width:
107.3mm
Total Plastic Parts 880+
Total Sprues
25 sprues , upper hull , lower hull and turret
Photo Etched Parts 1 piece
More Features
Refined detail
Multi-slide molded lower hull,
turret
Individual tracks
Photo etched parts included