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Eye of the Tiger

Building Wittman’s last Tiger in 1/56 scale.

Vehicle: Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E

Brand: Italeri / Warlord Games (Bolt Action)

Scale: 1:56

Price: £20.00

Rating: 4/5


The History


As part of my college work I decided to make my final major project for my first year about the Battle of Villers-Bocage. This was an event that took place in a small village southwest of Caen, which the Allies were aiming to capture as part of Operation Overlord.


They sent the the 22nd Armoured Brigade (consisting of the 4th County of London Yeomanry, the famed Desert Rats that were the 7th Armoured Division and various other divisions) deeper into the mainland of Normandy to corner the German forces at Caen alongside the other British forces who landed at Sword Beach. As part of this effort, they had to pass through Villers-Bocage, where famous panzer ace SS-Obersturmfuhrer Michael Wittmann was waiting for them - in an ambush that developed into a chaotic battle on the 13th of June, Wittmann would destroy up to twenty British armoured vehicles in 15 minutes, forcing them to retreat after fighting continuously throughout the day.

An image from the Bundesarchiv showing Wittmann receiving the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Leaves and Swords, after his actions at Villers-Bocage.


For his actions at Villers-Bocage that day, Michael Wittmann was swept up by the Nazi propaganda machine and hailed as a war hero, giving the German people morale in a time where they desperately needed it. In addition to this, he would receive Germany’s highest military honour from Hitler himself alongside a promotion; however, he would continue to fight in France and was killed in action on the 8th August, 1944. His body is buried at the German war graves in Normandy.

The remains of Wittmann’s Tiger, 007, shown in a photograph taken by French civilian Serge Varin.


The Build


To create a miniature of Wittmann’s Tiger, I had to find a 1/56 scale model of the tank - which leaves you with fairly limited options. Due to its overall simplicity I went for the kit made by Italeri in collaboration with Warlord Games, so it can be useable in Bolt Action tabletop wargaming.


The build itself is very straightforward - the tracks are made of large, solid pieces and the wheels are held together as one large piece, a welcoming sight for any modellers new to building armour. There are only two sprues with a modest overall part count, and the build was completed in about 2-3 hours, excluding painting smaller details.

I gave the tank a layer of Ushabti Bone to represent the flat sandy colour that was painted on real production Tigers during the Second World War - this would then be covered in other colours by the tank crew based on the conditions they were fighting in. In this case it was an interesting combination of Citadel Steel Legion Drab, followed by Tamiya Olive Green.

Now that all of the desired paint was on the tank I cleaned up the edges on the tiger-like patterns and painted the tracks, machine guns and stowage equipment with Citadel Leadbelcher, and after that the painting phase was essentially finished.

Weathering really makes a difference.


With the Tiger weathered nicely, it was time to place the famous 007 number on the side and back of the turret. Annoyingly, the lettering on the side of the turret was very large and had to go over some very rough surfaces. It didn’t want to stick, which required me to apply Humbrol’s Decalfix to get it to stay put on the tank. The turret side decals still looked off to me, but a final top-up of weathering largely fixed this and I’m pleased with the overall outcome!



Conclusion


Overall, I find the Bolt Action range of vehicles a pleasure to build, and this Tiger is no exception. It’s not a flawless model kit by any means, for instance the pre-moulded zimmerit covering is too uniformed and organised (compared to how the real paste was aptly applied by tank crews in the combat zone), and the stowage of the tank is moulded on to the hull which limits customisation opportunities. In addition to this, the gun is not stable enough to support itself and cannot be posed, instead preferring to droop downwards; I found that the only real solution to this was to glue to gun mantlet to the turret!


It is, however, a great kit to introduce someone to making models of armour as a result of its ease of construction. As someone who beforehand was only used to making aircraft and Imperial walkers, this Tiger made the jump to building tanks slightly easier as you don’t have to worry about individual wheels and track pieces! It’s also a nice break from the larger, more fiddly kits you end up building quite a lot, and I’d be happy to build another one in a different camouflage scheme!

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