-
Close-up on Tiger driver and radio operator/bow machine gunner positons. Headlight wire made from electrical wiring superglued onto surface. Layer of black paint wash highlights surface detail. Stylized-S shield marking is for ficticious Panzer Regiment Schneider (decal came from 1.48th Fujimi German Bf-109G fighter plane kit).
-
American postwar pysche is focused exclusively on the Tiger as main German armor adversary. In reality, there were even more powerful WW2 German tanks produced, most notably the King Tiger (also called Tiger II) armed with 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun and 180mm frontal armor. Contrasted with Tiger I armed with 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 gun and 100mm frontal armor. Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II Ausf. B - www.achtungpanzer.com/pz5.htm
-
Longer gun barrel of King Tiger means greater gas compressibility, hence propelling tank shell velocity over greater distances. Nevertheless, a physical limit does exist since long gun barrel produce excessive yaws after firing, while continuous gun firing would generate excess heat warping the barrel. Tank gun - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_gun
-
Inset 1 : King Tiger, its crew, and supporting German grenadiers gathered in Budapest-Hungary late-1944 to defend city from approaching Soviet armies. Note tank sloped ballistic armor to deflect enemy shells away from hull. In WW2, three European capitols were utterly destroyed in street battles, namely Warsaw-Poland August 1944, Budapest-Hungary Februaury 1945, Berlin-Germany April 1945. Battle of Budapest 1945 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Budapest
-
Rollover : tank side view, early plastic models molded surface details onto model parts (such as the side tow cable), current model manufacturers like Japan's TAMIYA, China's Dragon/DML, Italy's ITALERI, and US REVELL/MONOGRAM cast these items as separate detailed parts for more realistic portrayal. Bolted circular plate next to number 223 is a pistol port, enabled inside crew to use their firearms when enemy climbs onboard the vehicle.
-
Inset 2 : close-up of knocked-out King Tiger showing its ballistic superstructure qualities. Turret hinges is for track storage, thus also served as defacto applique armor. Tank with unique late-war camouflage patterns of african yellow, forest green, and interlaced circular forest green patterns. (Rollover) Note digitally blurred-out image of white swastika on front hull, probably painted by enthusiastic American GIs eager for propaganda photo, this caption was called "Octopus Tiger" (alluding to tentacles of Nazi regime). Late-war German tanks no longer carried divisional or tactical insignia since its combat service expectancy averaged about 4 weeks, at best it carried only German Balkenkreuz national markings.
-
Concerning late-war German armor camouflage, there was debate back in 1970s that by 1944-1945 timeframe, Germans reverted to using Panzer Grey as their base camouflage based on black-white combat photos. However, 1980s research into German Bundes archives gave evidence that only forest green base color was used (since majority of combat was now inside the heavily forested areas of the Reich). Neverthelss, Panzer Grey was such an iconic color than virtually every fake Tiger tank produced for Hollywood movies carried dark grey paint scheme.
-
Other Tiger tank websites listed below :
-
Despite fake Tigers used in Hollywood movies, they at least use authentic German military marching songs to set the era, tone, and nuance. For example, 1960s-era movie "Battle of the Bulge" depicting Dec. 1944 German Ardennes Offensive incorporated PANZERLIED (Armor Song) into the movie, its MP3 format listed below :
-
Additional German folk and military lyrics : A 20,000 Volkslieder, German and other Folksongs - ingeb.org/Volksong.html
-
Inset 3 : two American GIs inspecting abandoned Tiger II, giving rough tank size comparison. Vehicle disabled when front right sprocket was hit, cracked track linkages, thus probably impaired its steering during combat, hence its crew evacuated. Sociological note, in WW1 US servicemen were nicknamed Doughboys (due to their appetite for bread and doughnuts), but WW2 this nicknamed changed to Dogface (rough and tough soldiers able to endure any hardship). Dogface Soldiers - www.dogfacesoldiers.org/info/dogface.htm
|