Hi guys,

I'm building one of the Dragon's King Tiger with the Porsche turret and something doesn't look right. Since Dragon has been updating their previous kits, I had the chance to compare the instructions with the older kit and they are different. I'm using kit 6848 and I already noticed there are ommissions in the manual.

While building the gun, I noticed this doesn't look right (it's a KT in Normandy):



The instructions tell me I should glue the barrel directly to part K10:



The earlier version of this kit indicates parts H7 and H8 should be added. The manual of my kit does not indicate these parts, but they are also NOT on the "Do not use" list.



Is it possible to get any input?

Thanks in advance.

Have you tried to put H8 part? If it matches and look right with it,this should be the way to go... ;-)

The zimmerited mantlet is a complete new part from the one of the old mould, but in your builing looks like is still missing part H8 ...

Here are several KT's with Porsche turrets look at the barrels and notice there are a couple different guns:
https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-ii-france-1-porsche-turret/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-porsche-turret-19/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-ii-france-2-porsche-turret/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-porsche-turret/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-32/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-porsche-turret-with-zimmerit/

Here are some Henschel KT's

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-99/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-101/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-6/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-2-tank-79/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/tiger-ii-and-russian-officer/

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/germany/tanks-2-3/tiger2/konigstiger-crew-and-zimmerit/

Here it is. Part H8 didn't fit, but H7 did. It looks much closer to the photos Patrick kindly linked.

My other doubt is that in the original kit, Dragon tells us to use one type of barrel and in this kit the other kind. I couldn't find photos from the real tank (114) so I'll just use the barrel the instructions tell me to use (but won't glue it just yet).

I've found this image of #114 of s.Pz.Abt.503 a while ago for my Takom King Tiger. It may be of interest?

7a8765d07b25da3842ecad52602cd4bc by Darren Greenwood, on Flickr

Hi Darren,

it helped a lot. I searched for more photos and realised Dragon made a mess of this kit's manual. For this particular tank, the other barrel on the sprues should be used, not this one, but they only mentioned it on the old kit instructions. The "updated" kit doesn't mention one type of barrel for the KT in Normandy and another for the KT in Hungary.

Here's a photo of tank 114 in Normandy, where the 114 is clearly visible.



Also, and I only realised this now, even the boxart shows another type of barrel...



Fortunately, I still haven't glued the parts together.

the Normandy barrel is the early "sectional" barrel and the other the later style AFAIK.

Hi All had the same issue back in 2008 with this kit.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/114376#941600

Hope this helps

Thanks for the link. What did you do (if you still remember)?

Like you mentioned on that post, part H8 won't fit the mantlet unless you drill it out.

Checking the photo of 114 I posted, it looks like it only has one ring, but I could be wrong. Right now, the turret looks like this:

Wow, who would have believed that Dragon would mess up a set of instructions?

Indeed... I fear for the rest of this build and for the loads of Dragon kits I have on my stash.

Hi I think I drilled it out to fit. See if I can dig the model out to look.

Dragon instructions are abysmal. Remember building a Dragon Hummel and the where it suggested the guides for the rear gun mounts were glued in place rather than just there to glue the mounts in.

This is what the turret looks like now (I think it's finished). One thing I noticed from the B&W photos is that tank 114 didn't have the track hangers on the turret sides (at least in front).

other way around mate, the one piece barrel is the early, the two-piece the late.

I think what happens is when Dragon re-pops a kit with changes/variations, the writers just cut'n'paste new instructions into the old instructions without any thought as to whether or not sequencing is altered, or if the parts indicated match the numbers on the sprues (or which sprue if you get a kit with several sprues of the same letter). I don't think any of them have built a kit from the instructions they themselves wrote.

True. They even use photos from the earlier kit which adds up to the confusion...

Here is the real rub. For the cost of a free kit, there are those among us who would redo/correct the directions for them. Problem solved at little cost to Dragon.

Hi Found my kit and it is still in my to do stash after 10 years. The kit had a metal barrel so just fitted the sleeve and barrel rather than having to drill things out.

But then given that there are people who would tell them, for nothing, that Porsche had nothing to do with turret design or manufacture and they still persist in misidentifying the very subject of the kit, how likely is that to happen? They already have access to knowledgeable subject matter experts who advise them but such advice is not always heeded.

All part of the challenge....

Well, since there are still plenty of model builders who continue to call it the wrong name, we can hardly put that all on Dragon.

They just label it the common name not the technical name. Someone reading a list of names recognizes the kit they want. I am sure there is no more effort than that in how they name it.

You are correct sir. Not sure what I was thinking there, silly me.