Hey all.
Over the last few days I have been working on a 1/72nd King Tiger from dml and I finished it yesterday. Tell me what you all think:


Now, So far I haven't weathered this at all *Boo! Hiss!* But for a good reason! I don't know what kind of Dio it should be in. If I used German falschrimjagers, would that be accurate for the eastern front or not? If you have any suggestions about the tank, or if you have a dio idea, tell me please!

Rob

iirc Fallschirmjagers were RARELY used on the eastern front, but both sides did have parachute infantry available to them.

now the question of an uncertain amount of doubt would be, were the Fallschirmjagers even used during the existence of the King Tiger? let alone the use of it on the eastern front?

the answers will need some heavy googling.

Thanks Barget,

I'll google it now.

Rob

Hmmm....

Wow Google is pretty fun. I only took about 30 mins to find the answer, and it said that they were an Elite unit used in the western and eastern front sparingly.

Rob

P.S. No comments on the King Tiger yet? WAKE UP EASTERN HEMISPHERE!

Fallschirmjaegers were used in the Ardennes Offensive along side King Tigers. Not all of them were dropped from the air. For the ones that were dropped,it was Germany's last drop of the war. It was also a much scattered drop, and of little impact in relation to the offensive. The Fallschirmjaeger troops were mainly used as regular infantry after the heavy casualties they took at Crete.

According to the book " Slaughterhouse- Encyclopedia of the Eastern Front " , the 2nd Fallschirmjaeger Division was used in the Eastern Front from Nov. 1943 thru May 1944. I would think there would have been others, but they are not listed in the book.

Nice looking tank by the way.

Well, it seems that there weren't any German parachute drops of Fallschirmjager infantry in Russia. But they were sent in to fight as ground troops to fight during the winter months of 1941-1943.

Now, with that the part about the King Tiger would be that the first was originally completed in 1943. That leaves you to wonder if the King Tiger got to see any Fallschirmjagers during its use (if any at all) in the eastern front.

Hey

So, then there's only a slim chance that they'd be in russia together then? Would this tiger's scheme be acceptible in the Ardennes offensive then?

Rob

I can't remember what unit those markings are for, so I can't help you on that one. Do you know which unit it represents?

i think the knight marking on the turret is from either the 501st or 505th heavy tank batallion (schwPzAbt), both serving on the eastern front.

bob, the kt model looks quite good, however i have some ideas:
1. dirty up the wheels and the lower hull using washes or pastels, right now the look is too clean.
2. drybush some silver and pastel chalk on the tracks
3. a little black pastel chalk on the gun muzzle
4. a figure or two will be nice, to give a sense of scale.
5. if possible, cut out some of the track guards/skirts . in the real tank, they tend to be torn loose from transit or during battle.

cheers!

Hey moJimbo

Since i don't know what kind of dio i'm going to put this in, i won't do any dry brushing, but i will make the side skirts damaged a little bit. Unfortunately this kit came with no tank crew men and i don't have any in my spares box.

Rob

P.S. I have some german winter figures, would that work if I put those together on the eastern front?

After suffering very heavy casualties on Crete, Hitler more or less abandoned the idea of airborne operations. As a result of manpower shortages the Fallschirmjager spent the rest of the war fighting as ground troops on both the eastern and western fronts and also in Italy.

They definitely fought as ground troops in the Bulge, and there are photographs of paras sitting on a Tiger II at the start of the battle. For some reason one has a Sten gun.

I'm fairly sure the unit your Tiger II is marked as fought in the east. I've seen a photo of paras on a Tiger 1 in the east, but can't think of one of a Tiger II with paras. Doesn't mean it never happened..

I'd weather up the tracks, that bare metal look is too fake. Also the tracks on the side tended to be painted camouflage along with the rest of the vehicle. Either that or give them a heavy brown wash to tone them down some.

These marking are for the sPz abt 505 which only saw action on the eastern front.

Mike

Hey,

So, my list of To-Do's

1. Damage the skirt a little bit

2. Give the spare tracks a little camo and a wash

3. Weater the tracks

Sounds good

Rob

Yep, got not much to add....

nice start, now it's time to finish your model soldier!

Thanks for the info on the unit Mike.