Zvezda | 3601 | KING TIGER AUSF. B (Henschel turret) | 1:35

Plastic model kit, glue and paint are not included.

History

The Tiger II was a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182. (Sd.Kfz. 267 and 268 for command vehicles). It was also known informally as the Königstiger (German for Bengal tiger, lit. Contemporaneous Allied soldiers usually called it the King Tiger or Royal Tiger.

The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latter's thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank. The tank weighed almost 70 tonnes, and was protected by 100 to 185 mm (3.9 to 7.3 in) of armour to the front. It was armed with the long barrelled (71 calibres) 8.8 cm KwK 43 anti-tank cannon, and with two 7.92mm MG 34 machine guns. The chassis was also the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless Jagdpanzer anti-tank vehicle.

It was powered by the V-12 Maybach HL 230 P30, 690 hp, petrol engine. This gave it a maximum speed of 41,5 km/h on roads, and 15 to 20 km/h cross country.

The Tiger II was developed late in the war and built in relatively small numbers, and were a formiddable opponent for the allied troops. Orders were placed for 1,500 Tiger IIs—slightly more than the 1,347 Tiger I tanks produced—but production was heavily disrupted by Allied bombing raids. Among others, five raids between 22 September and 7 October 1944 destroyed 95 percent of the floor area of the Henschel plant. It is estimated that this caused the loss in production of 657 Tiger IIs. Only 492 units were produced: one in 1943, 379 in 1944, and 112 in 1945. Full production ran from mid-1944 to the end of the war. Each Tiger II cost 321 500 Reichsmark.  The vehicle was the costliest German tank to produce at the time.

The difference between the Tiger I & II

The Tiger II essentially supersized the Tiger I, with an armor layout close to that used by the Panther.
The Tiger II expanded the capabilities of the Tiger I with more armor and a better gun, but it also exaggerated its predecessor’s issues too. The huge weight of the Royal Tiger (a nickname for the Tiger II) became a serious logistical issue, stressed the drive train and needed more raw materials to produce. Like the Tiger I, spare parts where in short supply and performing repairs was exceedingly difficult without a well equipped repair depot.

The Tiger I had mostly thick flat armor, while the Tiger II had sloped armor. The Tiger II also used an 88 mm gun, but this was the KwK 43 L/71, a gun 1.3 metres longer than that used on the Tiger I. This gun had significantly better performance than the KwK 36 L/56 and could knock out any tank fielded during the war, even at long ranges.