Dragon 1/35 scale King Tiger

Kit: No. 6303
Scale: 1/35
Manufacturer: Dragon, from Dragon Models USA, 626-968-0322,
www.dragonmodelsusa.com
Price: $46.50
Comments: Injection-molded, 848 parts (14 metal, 140 photoetched),decals
Pros: Molded-on Zimmerit; metal gun barrel; photoetched-metal screens; individual-link tracks
Cons: Photo instructions are vague in some instances; applying parts and decals to Zimmerit surface is difficult.
Issue Published: February 2008

Applying Zimmerit can be intimidating to many modelers. While many tools and products have been developed to help replicate the distinctive, nonmetallic coating Germans applied to their tanks to discourage magnetic mines, many modelers wish their kits would come with it already molded in place. A few companies have tried to do so, with limited success. But now Dragon has released its first kit with molded Zim-merit, a King Tiger (Königstiger, or Tiger II) with the Henschel turret.

The kit is basically Dragon's decade-old King Tiger with new hull and turret moldings. Other updating includes "Magic Tracks" (friction-fit, easier-to-assemble links), a larger photoetched-metal fret, and a turned-metal barrel.

The gray plastic molding shows excellent detail, including the Zimmerit. The instructions are in color using photos of the model for diagrams. (Sadly, this and a few errors make it difficult at times to locate some of the smaller parts.) The colorful decal sheet gives markings for eight different vehicles. While the color painting diagrams are nice, only one side and the front and back of each vehicle is displayed. No figures are included.

Building the chassis, I noticed the suspension arms do not have positive locations. So, I spent some time making sure all were even. The road wheels fit very tightly to the suspension arms. If you decide to use the photoetched-metal jack brackets shown in Step 5, the wing-nut parts should be MA25, not MA42 as listed. Step 8 would have you open up three holes in the upper hull, but as far as I can tell they are never used. I left the upper and lower hulls apart until the main painting was complete to make installing the tracks, periscopes, and machine gun easier.

The turret went together easily. The large rear hatch can be posed open or closed (as can all the main crew hatches), but no interior is provided. A small piece of chain is provided for the gun-port plug on the rear hatch, but it looks over-scale; it's better to replace it if you wish to display the port open. The prominent spare-track mounts on the turret sides have nothing to show their location, and fixing them to the rough Zimmerit is difficult.

The tracks fit snugly but will still require glue for permanent mounting. I built my tracks in four segments per side, removed them for painting after the glue had set, then reinstalled them.

Once the tracks were on and I was ready to mate the upper and lower hulls, only a little filler was needed (where the rear plate meets the hull sides). The pioneer tools with molded-on latches are not up to Dragon's latest releases. I would recommend the photoetched-metal tools if you are up to the task.

Decals were applied to the turret after a coat of Future floor shine. It took several applications of Solvaset and some perforating with my hobby knife to get the decals to lay down over the grooved surface of Zimmerit. Also, while the markings diagrams clearly show several differently sized Iron Cross markings, and several sizes are provided on the decal sheet, all but one are labeled with the same decal number.

The finished model matched the dimensions in David Doyle's Standard Catalog of German Military Vehicles.

This kit will be appreciated by modelers who haven't mastered the art of Zimmerit. Dragon already has announced two more kits with molded Zimmerit, including its excellent Tiger I (late production). That said, the kit will require some experience to build properly. I spent about 21 hours on mine.