Tiger I Mid Production w/Zimmerit

Takom 1:35 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Summary

B a c k g r o u n d

The Tiger I was a German heavy tank of World War II that entered service in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm (3.5 in) KwK 36 gun (derived from the 8.8 cm Flak 36, the famous "eighty-eight" feared by Allied troops).

1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944. After August 1944, production of the Tiger I was phased out in favour of the Tiger II.

While the Tiger I has been called an outstanding design for its time, it has also been criticised for being overengineered, and for using expensive materials and labour-intensive production methods. In the early period, the Tiger was prone to transmission and track failures. It was expensive to maintain, but otherwise generally mechanically reliable. It was difficult to transport and vulnerable to immobilisation when mud, ice, and snow froze between its overlapping and interleaved Schachtellaufwerk-pattern road wheels, often jamming them solid.

The tank was given its nickname "Tiger" by the Ministry for Armament and Ammunition on 7 August 1941. The Roman numeral was added after the Tiger II entered production. It was classified with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 182. The tank was later re-designated as Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung E (abbreviated as Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. E) in March 1943, with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 181.

Today, only nine Tiger I tanks survive in museums and private collections worldwide. As of 2021, Tiger 131, captured during the North African campaign, at the UK's Tank Museum is the only example restored to running order.*

F i r s t L o o k

Takom's 1:35 scale Tiger I Mid Production w/Zimmerit was released in 2023.

I bought it in the hope that this kit would follow the same philosophy as the Takom Blitz Panther Ausf. G reviewed here some weeks ago, with respectable detail but a modest parts count, simple link-and-length tracks and fast buildability. Sadly, I was out of luck.

Takom's 1:35 scale Tiger I Mid Production comprises a whopping 1,069 grey plastic parts, 12 clear parts, six photo-etched parts, turned metal gun barrel, copper wire, two metal needles and markings for four vehicles.

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Thumbnail panels:

Surface textures are well done. The most obvious feature is the zimmerit moulded straight onto the plastic parts.

The lower hull is presented as a tub with the sides, lower rear and floor moulded as one.

Engine fans and radiators are supplied. You will be able to pose the rear engine grilles to view the fans. There is the possibility of catching glimpses of the radiators behind the moulded-closed forward engine deck grilles.

Swing arms and axles are separate parts. These are keyed to ensure all the wheels will be flat on the ground.

Road wheels are moulded as one piece each incorporating the main wheels and the tyres.

The tracks are designed with separate guide teeth - two per link.

The guide teeth are moulded in lengths to match the track lengths. If you are careful, you should be able to glue the guide teeth to the inside of the tracks and cut them off after the glue has thoroughly set. Do make sure that you apply glue to every guild tooth or you will be crawling on the ground with a pen light in hand!

Takom supplies two plastic jigs to assist in accurately wrapping individual links around the drive sprockets and back to the front of the long upper and lower lengths.

The upper hull is made up from separate panels. The radio operator's machine gun assembly looks gret but you won't see much of it when the hullis sealed up.

Photo-etched parts are supplied for the engine deck grilles and buckle handles.

On-vehicle tools and equipment have latches moulded in place. They look very good.

A length of nice soft braided copper wire will represent the tow cable. The finer tow cable is a plastic moulded part.

It would appear that the hull and turret crew hatches may be posed either open or closed, and perhaps, with care, may even be workable.

A clear sprue is supplied. This offers vision blocks and episcopes.

The gun breech and Commander's turret mounted machine gun look great. Commander's and loader's eats are offered inside the turret.

Spare track links may be added to the side of the turret.

The side shell hatch is a separate part and may also be posed open.

Two parts are supplied so that the gun travel lock may be open or closed.

Takom has thoughtfully supplied an accessory sprue that includes gun muzzle covers for the 88mm and hull machine guns, a ladder, a sun shade for the Commander's hatch, a box of fruit and vegetables, two buckets, helmets and more.

Takom also provides a lovely full-length turned metal gun barrel.

Markings are provided for four late-war vehicles.

All four are finished in sprayed schemes of Dark Yellow, Red Brown and Dark Green.

C o n c l u s i o n

Takom's 1:35 scale Tiger I Mid Production w/Zimmerit is a nice kit. It features fine surface textures, convincing zimmerit depiction moulded straight onto the plastic, a high level of detail straight from the box, lots of useful options and effective use of multimedia.

I was hoping that this kit would follow the same philosophy as the Takom Blitz Panther Ausf. G reviewed here some weeks ago with respectable detail but a modest parts count, simple link-and-length tracks and fast buildability but, sadly, no such luck.

With more than 1,000 plastic parts, this is no weekend build. The kit does feature link and length tracks but with their separate guide teeth, the two full runs are made up from nearly 650 parts.

Even so, this is a well detailed kit and should look great with a suitable investment of time and care.

Recommended.

Purchased by the Reviewer from BNA Model World