Reviewed by Sean Hert
September 2012

Much as been written about the famous German Tiger tank from World War Two. This tank mounted the famous German "88"; this gun was needed on the Eastern Front to go up against the Russian tanks which were tougher than the Germans expected. OKB has started producing some World War Two armor 1/350 scale, and this set of early production model Tigers is the German offering.

Each tank is made from 3 resin pieces and 4 photoetched. The three resin parts:

  • Hull
  • Turret
  • Mantlet and barrel assembly

The photoetch parts:
  • One piece lengths of treads
  • Side skirts
RESIN

The one-piece solid hull has interleaved roadwheels cast in place, as well as the snorkel tubes and mufflers with shields. There is a slight ridge pattern left on the hull from the rapid-prototyping master, but some saavy modelers may leave this in place, and paint to resemble Zimmerit. The hull also has the driver and radio operator's hatches, engine compartment accesses, and the ball mount for the hull machine gun.

The turret has a nice commanders coupola and rear stowage bin. The turret appears to be symmetrical; this is incorrect, as the Tigers had an asymmetrical turret. However, this is a very minor issue in a tank of this scale. The face of the turret has a slot for positive location and assembly with the mantlet.

The barrel and mantlet are very delicate, and most of the barrels in this set were bent or curved in some way.

Most of the resin parts have some minimal flash, resin overpour or pour stub which will require cleanup.

PHOTO ETCH

The one fret of photoetch included has etched tracks and armored skirts, and both will require some minor folding. The skirts have a left and right side, but are not marked as such on the fret, so don't mix them up while building.

INSTRUCTIONS
Normal, single page OKB instructions.
CONCLUSIONS

Perfect for your D-Day dioramas, scale models of Kursk, or late Operation Sealion.

Available from Pacific Front Models, this kit retails for $11.95. Thanks to OKB for this review sample.




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