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In-Box Review
135
King Tiger Initial production

by: Vinnie Branigan [ TEACHER ]

introduction
The Dragon Porsche turreted King Tiger has been out now for a long time. In addition the Premium edition of the Porsche turreted King Tiger has recently been released by Dragon. Now into the frame comes Cyber Hobby and their rendition of the one of the Initial Production King Tigers.


the kit
Beautifully presented, as you expect, in much the same way as a new Dragon kit would be, the same ‘card’ bearing the Dragon name, and including all the goodies we’ve come to expect from Dragon and/or Cyber Hobby. The card this time holds a couple of small clear sprues for the periscopes, two lengths of metal tow rope, a decal sheet, two cupolas, and a largish photo etched fret. There is also a small black tray with metal towing shackles, some pre-bent wires, a length of chain, two pre-formed exhaust shrouds and of course, an aluminium barrel. Sprue wise, we are given 11 large sprues and 23 medium sprues, 16 of which contain track links. Try as I might, this one just didn’t want to go back in the box, so I’ll have to build it!


detail
The instructions in this kit are done the same as the original King Tiger instructions, i.e. of the photographic sort. I think the line drawing type are much clearer, and since they’ve been changed anyway, I would have preferred that type. As far as I know, all of the Initial production King Tigers all had Zimmerit, although I’m not 100% on this, but earlier sets from manufacturers such as Cavalier and Atak should fit.

The kit is in the main the same as the Premium edition kit. Nearly all the same contents are provided, on all the same sprues. There are a couple of new ones though! First off, the tracks! As mentioned above, these are newly-tooled, and there are 16 sprues of track links provided, these are the multi part 800mm Gg24, each link alternating with a 4 part link, so they’ll take some building, and cleaning up off the sprue, but they should look absolutely superb when complete!

Sprue A is the same sprue as issued with the Premium kit too, but there is a new section added that holds the requisite 18 tooth sprocket, and there’s also a new idler and drive housing too. There is also a sprue I included, which actually has no identifying letter on the sprue itself, although in reality it’s sprue J from the Premium Panther, minus the turret, although when you see this on the instructions, you’ll be very surprised at just how little of it you actually use. Two small triangular pieces for the snorkel pipe cover, and the snorkel housing itself! That’s it!

The small sprue TB which holds the jack also has a small addition in the form of two new S-type towing shackles. There is also a new small sprue P that holds the surrounds for the new drive housings and the new profile for the towing shackle points. The hull is of the early type with no cut-out on the glacis (the same as the Premium) and with regards to plastic, that’s the sum of the differences between this kit and the Premium King Tiger recently released. In brass though, we do get two new, nicely pre-formed exhaust shrouds.

For those of you who haven’t seen the Premium edition of the Porsche turreted King Tiger, there are some really nice touches in this kit, for example, the turret rear hatch can be displayed open, with a beautifully etched inner door in brass, and the pistol port can be left open too, with a small length of chain included for this purpose. The Porsche turret still has the locating points for the spare track link brackets, which somebody pointed out to me today were never actually on this turret. Two newly tooled exhaust covers are included, and the cast texture on these is done beautifully, as you can see from the pictures. The close in defense weapon can be modelled deployed or stowed, and the cupola has to be seen to be appreciated. The On vehicle tools are all supplied with or without moulded on clamps, and therefore photo etched clamps are provided. Of course the engine grills are all provided as photo etch also.


marking options
Five options are provided for on the decal sheet, all from France 1944, all in overall dark yellow, 3 of which are over sprayed with a green and brown mottle pattern, and the other two with green pattern.


in conclusion
A great kit! You’ll have to source some Zimmerit, but everything else you need is here, highly recommended.


My thanks to Cyber Hobby for the review sample.


SUMMARY
For all intents and purposes, this is a new kit. And it’s a really good one!
  MOULDING QUALITY:95%
  ZIMMERIT REQUIRED:85%
  EXTRAS:98%
Percentage Rating
95%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 6349
  Related Link: Cyber Hobby
  PUBLISHED: Jul 26, 2006
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 87.97%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 87.43%

Our Thanks to Cyber-Hobby.com!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Vinnie Branigan (Teacher)
FROM: ENGLAND - NORTH WEST, UNITED KINGDOM

Copyright ©2021 text by Vinnie Branigan [ TEACHER ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Thanks Vinnie Your a machine before i have had time to digest one reveiw here you come with another!!Do you think the Atak zimmerit would fit or do you need a whole other set because of the configuration?
JUL 26, 2006 - 04:24 AM
hi, I just received mine yesterday and was really wowed!!! But can you advise where to get the Zim? Are u referring to afterproduct Zim that has to be assembled? Cos I thought the Zim can be made using putty + screw drivers! pls help, as I will be doing my first kit with Zim! Thanks!
JUL 26, 2006 - 06:50 AM
Thanks, Atak set no. 35025 should fit, although you might have tp play around with it a little in the area of the front glacis, where it meets the side walls. Bearing in mind that it's around $40 though, you might want to try and make your own? You do get a comeplete new turret though! The Cavalier set is a lot cheaper at $17, and is on sale at Hometown Hobbies. Vinnie
JUL 26, 2006 - 12:14 PM
Great review Vinnie, I think Cyberhobby have come up trumps in revisiting this kit. Dan If this is your first zim, you could have a look at my first zim project, on this tank Tamiya version), here: http://www.bsbit.co.uk/kt/article.html there are full details on how it was done. Having said that, Vinnies suggestion of AM zim is by far the best route, takes minutes to apply and beats the best homemade stuff every time for accuracy. At the time I thought I could do a better job (and ATak was not around) - I will never again make my own! Brian
JUL 26, 2006 - 01:34 PM
Another great review, Vinnie ! I ordered mine a few weeks ago, and cant wait to get it. I'm a big fan of the Porsche Kingtiger. One thing I did notice, and want to comment on. On the Cyber-Hobby site there is a poster for this Kingtiger Initial Production kit, it shows the kit coming with newly-tooled early version 800mm Gg24 type "Magic Tracks". It shows the same thing on the Dragon USA Online site. On your review, you mention that the tracks come on sprues ? Did they change the design of the tracks, and not give you the "Magic Tracks" ? Dont get me wrong, I really like these Cyber-Hobby kits, but this seems a bit of a let-down I'm sure the rest of the kit is really nice , and I'll be looking forward to the Fed-Ex truck dropping off a parcel in the upcoming weeks Cheers !! Robert
JUL 26, 2006 - 06:30 PM
Hiya Rob! No apparently these 'Magic Tracks' are on a sprue! :-) Vinnie
JUL 26, 2006 - 07:25 PM
Thanks Brian, that was surely a great article..it even mentioned the mud making, which, I am experiencing now with my KV-2. Thanks, again, for sharing! Cheers!
JUL 27, 2006 - 10:21 AM
I have founsd a much simpler and better way to make mud. Get a jar of Vallejo Sandy Paste, put a teaspoon into a mixing vessel, add Mig pigment until happy with colour and consistency (Russian Earth is a good colour) and apply with an old stiff brush. This stuff dries concrete hard within 30 min and looks EXACTLY like mud when applied Brian
JUL 27, 2006 - 01:35 PM
   
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