To help me get back into modelling I would like to build a 1/35 King Tiger with Henschel turret.
There seems to be a fair few to choose from, so which one would you all recommend?
I'm not too bothered about total accuracy or the correct number of rivets etc, I'm more interested in ease of clean up and build.
I would like to add photo etch and not use rubber band type tracks.

Thanks

Andy

Either of the Tamiya or Dragon offering are quite nice. The Dragon kit comes with an aluminum barrel and photo etch. Not 100% about the tracks though....Tamiya's kit is a nice easy build and looks the part when finished.

I have a few KTs that I'm wanting to build. I have two Tamiya's and one Dragon. The dragon kit is a 2005ish kit. It had all the goodies, PE, metal barrel and Mohican tracks. They can be a tad hard to find with all of that stuff in there. Some are a rebox I believe with the same kit number, without all the good stuff.

Obviously the Tamiya kits will be a breeze to build and are a bit cheaper.

Hi - Dragon is "King of the hill" - make many subversion of Königstiger - respective - all production variants. For me is number I - because make injection zimmerit - you needn´t any paste, putty or photo etch - simple is with Zimmerit straight from the box. Metal barrel have only few initial (1st) editions, i´m not sure when last releases have metal barrel. The same kit with Henschel Turm - but without Zimmerit coating was released as rebox under Zvezda label. (Is little cheapest). Tamiya is around twenty year old, but is relative cheap and in Battle of the Bulge - Ardeness 1944 you have gratis German motorcycle with rider and newly tooled figures of Commander and loader... and have rubber tracks... Eduard re-box in PP and Weekend edition Academy kit - but this is final production tank, from 1945... IMHO best offer is DML Tiger II Henschel with Zimmerit - this:http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/dml/kit_dml_6303.shtml

BTW: Meng announcement new tool KingTiger too - but this is all when i know... (I hope with full interior, im a big Tiger II fan, but another King Tiger - without interior - nooo, this is a bad idea...)

The Zvezda reboxes of Dragon's kit are good as well. They did delete the metal parts but the price is a lot less than the original for then same plastic parts.

Hi Andy, I'd put my vote in for the Tamiya King tiger, as long as you're not portraying a tiger in zimm. There are countless P.E. sets out there and if you're keeping the fenders on you may find the tracks are actually pretty good. The tamiya kit builds up very easily and with a few P.E. grills you could have it built in no time allowing you to have fun with the finish and weathering.
Just my .02 but as much as I love Dml kits they can easily bog down in a drawn out build.
Hope you have fun with whatever kit you pick up, the KT is a beautiful tank!
Eric.

Go Tamiya. If you're looking for ease of build it's the obvious answer. The only issue I would foresee is the mesh they have you cut for the grill. I would leave off the front grill parts with mesh. I did the exact same thing with a Porsche KT when I got in the hobby a few years ago.

Unless you start going into super detailing, the KT is a big and simple model to build. All of the popular kits build up in essentially the same way (except Academy) and most have very few fit issues. The real differences are in the detail, parts count and cost.

Dragon’s kits are simply the best of the bunch at the moment. Most come with individual track links, photo etch and a metal barrel as standard. The fit is good overall. The only downsides I can think of is the instructions are poor and there will be more clean up due to more parts. They are also the most expensive, usually costing around £40-£45. You also need to watch out for the recent reissues which have stripped out all the goodies.

The Zvezda kit is a good shout and can be had for less than £20. It is a re pop of an earlier Dragon kit, goes together well and comes with individual track links (although on sprues and will need a fair amount of clean up). The instructions are also a marked improvement over Dragon’s. Any aftermarket etch for the dragon kit will fit the Zvezda kit. There is no etch or metal parts included and the decals are not the best. Just be aware that Zvezda are well known for sink marks in their kits and this one is no exception. Strangely it seems to be mostly limited to the turret sprue. My kit had some on the turret roof and mantlet. Not hard to fix but something to be aware of.

I can’t really recommend the Tamiya kit. The good points are it is easy to build, low parts count, decals are good and the instructions are the best of the bunch. The fabled amazing fit really isn’t that much better than the competition, although it is better than any of the others. The tracks are only fit for the bin. Not because they are bands but because they are much too thin. They look awful compared to individual links and do not portray the huge tracks of the Tiger II well. There are no metal or etch parts included. The cost is a real sticking point too. It retail’s for the best part of £30 in the UK. Add in the individual links and you are at the cost of a Dragon kit before you even consider the photo etch.

I can’t really comment of the Academy kit as I have never built it. From what I’ve seen it looks decent and has some interesting marking options. It comes with link and length tracks and some etch. The lower hull and wheels are more complicated than the other kits. Seems to retail around the same price as the Tamiya Kit.

I would recommend the Dragon kits. If you intend on using etch and individual links, spending more time on clean up will be worth it in the end. Yes, Tamiya’s kit will go together faster and easier but you will spend more upgrading it than you would just buying a Dragon kit. Why bother when you can get a kit that has everything you need in one box. The Zvezda kit, with some effort and some etched grills, is the cheapest way to a good looking Tiger II model.

Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to reply. Seems that Dragon or Tamiya is the way to go.

I'll be visiting a couple of model shows soon so I'll see if I can take a look in the boxes and make my mind up from there.

Thanks again to you all.

Andy

Hi Andy, I just finished building the Dragon KT # 6303 with Zimmerit and metal barrel. I added a Royal models upgrade set that I had kicking around. It builds up into a very nice representation of a KT. I have also built the Tamiya one, # 35252 and builds up quick, but you will need an upgrade PE set to make it complete. I used the rubber tracks on it but placed it in the Ardennes mud so it passes ok. Hope this helps Andy, and good luck finding a suitable kit. Regards....Dale

I like Dragon # 6254 comes with a bunch of nice tank riders.Some PE and Magic Tracks.

Hi

I would go with the Zvezda kit as mentioned before. It is in essence Dragon's old kit, 6208.

I'd not recommend the Dragon 6303 as the zimmerit coating is poorly depicted, far too heavy and prominent. It was one of Dragon's early attempts at moulded on zimmerit and it shows. It also needs some of it removed to allow fitment of parts.

Whilst the Dragon 6254 is a good kit recommending it at this point in time isn't a good idea as it's been out of production for some time and when it does come up for sale of Ebay etc. hits silly money.

I'd go Zvezda 3601. Check out reviews etc.
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/732799-zvezda-3601-panzerkampfwagen-vi-tiger-ii-kingtiger It's widely available and at a reasonable price to build out the box or as a basis for a little extra added. It can be modeled without zimmerit or with for accuracy.

Alan

Thanks for the additional replies, much appreciated.

Andy

i've built two Tamyia KTs and the kit is just great, looks good and doesnt have any major flaws, the only drawback is that its a little bit not up to nowadays standards. Ugly rubber tracks are simply useless and the lack of PE doesnt work in the kits flavor either. A great kit but needs some aftermarket.

Currently waiting in line for me is a Tamiya Ardennes Front KT with Friul tracks, Aber metal barrel, and a full PE upgrade set, grills included. Going to be a nice, long build.

I have several of the Tamiya kits, I thing they are just fine. My best one has Fruil metal tracks on it, the only way to do a King Tiger up right. Plastic tracks just do not have the heft to look right.
Ken.

Plastic tracks, depending on the kit, can be made to look really good as well. In terms of the KT, ATL-16 is just impressive.

I'm not sure my skills are up to dealing with metal tracks just yet, they look very fiddly to deal with.

All you need for the metal tracks is a small hobby drill, to clean up he track pivot holes, and then just insert the wire that comes with them. That's pretty much it. Large tracks, like those of the KT, don't even require super glue, the wire stays in place on its own.

In that case, I may have a look at them. Thanks for the information.

No problem! The tracks are really quite solid, you'll see if you try them they seem more intimidating than they really are.