Whilst I'm hot on research for Tiger I's atm, I want to ask a question about the side skirts.
Who makes the most accurate a/m sets to show the differences between the early 'kinked' design & the mid/late straight version? I suspect this is a small feature DML may have missed on their kits

There were 3 types of side skirt.

Dragon provided the correct type in their one and only kit that required it, the old Cyber Hobby #6286 "Tiger 1 Tunisia 1942/43".

Some commercial kits that require Type 1 or Type 2 skirts, actually contain Type 3. For example, Model Factory Hiro's "Early Tiger" and Rye Field Model's "Eastern Front Tiger".

No plastic kit contains Type 2 skirts as far as I know.

Of the plastic kits that contain Type 1 skirts, they all have some problem or other. Here they are:

Rye Field Model 5001: the lengths are slightly wrong, especially the front segment.
Cyber Hobby 6286: almost perfect lengths, but about 1mm off in the middle.
Tamiya 35227: lengths are slightly wrong, about 3mm off in the middle.

The forthcoming Dragon kit #6608 will contain newly tooled skirts that should be perfect.

David

Thanks David

I should add that Dragon's second forthcoming kit, #6328, may possibly contain Type 2 skirts.
That hasn't been decided yet.

David

Okay. That doesn't address the question as to which available AM sets correctly depict the different side skirts.

Shaun, I believe your question is worded in such a way that there is no direct answer. Are you looking for an AM set for the Type 1 and/or Type 2 kinked skirts, a set for the Type 3 straight version or all of the above?

The only set which represents PE Type 1 two piece kinked skirts is Aber 35A011. Joe Bakanovic's TMD offers resin Type 1 skirts for the RFM DAK kit (5001) as a separate update. You can also use them on Dragon Tigers after adjusting the location of the mounting blocks on the hull. Please visit David's excellent Tiger I website for more information on the Tiger I.

I don't believe that any AM manufacturer has a set for Type 2 kinked skirts in either resin or PE. You can always sand off the seam on the TMD parts in order to convert them into Type 2 skirts.

Voyager, Griffon and Aber all produce PE Type 3 skirts. Check their respective sites for available sets. There might be other manufacturers; but, I'm not sure on that. Google "1/35th scale photo etch Tiger I mudguards/side skirts" and see what comes up.

David, regarding 6328, which previous kit is this a rebox? There's no real info on it or what's going to be in the box. Is this the styrene version of KramMar's Delicious Mystery Appetizer?

It's not yet decided exactly what will be in the 6328 box. The basic idea is to address the less-famous less-successful Tigers of the 2nd Company, s.Pz.Abt. 501. That implies a very similar kit to 6608, but with spare tracks for the front, red digits and the Tiger logo in the decals.

But it's not decided whether it will cover Tiger 823 (new-tool thick mantlet required) or the Tigers with Type 2 skirts (including Tiger 712 now in Fort Benning) or Tigers with boxes attached to the turret bin (Tiger 813).

David