I'm building Dragon King Tiger "Battle of the Bulge" boxing, the instructions say that the rain guard on the turret front (gunner's sight) and the left fuel vent pipe should be removed and so I removed them, at that point I didn't know that it was a fuel vent pipe, now I know that there were two, one at each side... I'd like to know if I did well on removing it, as I can't find pictures of Battle of the Bulge KT's with the pipe at the left side, but maybe it was just teared off and the mount remains. For now, I'll bend some brass wire for the right-side pipe. Thanks a lot in advance. Best regards.

José.

G'day Jose

The number of fuel tank vent pipes on a KT depended on when the beast was built. The original configuration was for one vent line, and applied to KTs built between April 1944 and mid October 1944. Four vent lines were introduced at the beginning of October 1944 and continued right up to the end of production. Extended fuel tank vent lines were introduced in mid October 1944 and likewise continued right up to the end of production.

Not all of the KTs used in the Ardennes were new construction, but I know that the famous "222" was It was issued to troops in mid to late November 1944 and had a service life of about three weeks.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Rob

You were most likely right in removing the rain guards, as they began to be installed in August 1944, but were not routinely seen until January 1945.

This and the information above is from the book "Superking" by David Parker, and is one of the best references ever for the King Tiger.

Regards

Rob