KAWAI HO-scale WW2 GERMAN PANZERKAMPFWAGEN VI KING TIGER TANK Kit NORMANDY KURSK EASTERN FRONT RUSSIA Sd.Kfz.182 KJT-05 (c.1980)

Unbuilt plastic model kit – ready to build and mount on a model railroad flatcar or add to a WW2 track layout diorama

Includes clockwork motor that also serves as a weight.

Instructions are printed on the backside of the box cover.

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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia

Tiger II is the common name of 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. It is also known under the informal name königstiger (the german name for the "bengal tiger"), often semi-literally translated as the king tiger or royal tiger by allied soldiers.

The design followed the same concept as the tiger I, but was intended to be even more formidable. The tiger ii combined the thick armor of the tiger I with the sloped armor used on the panther medium tank. The tank weighed almost seventy metric tons, was protected by 100 to 180 mm (3.9 to 7.1 in) of armor to the front, and was armed with the long barreled 8.8 cm kampfwagenkanone 43 l/71 gun. The chassis was also the basis for the jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer.

The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the army (schwere heerespanzerabteilung - abbreviated s.h.pz.abt) and the waffen-ss (s.ss.pz.abt). It was first used in combat with s.h.pz.abt. 503 during the normandy campaign on 11 july 1944; on the eastern front the first unit to be outfitted with tiger iis was the s.h.pz.abt. 501 which by 1 september 1944 listed 25 tiger iis operational.

Development of a heavy tank design had been initiated in 1937; the initial design contract was awarded to henschel. Another contract followed in 1939, and was given to porsche. Both prototype series used the same turret design from krupp; the main differences were in the hull, transmission, suspension and automotive features.

The henschel version used a conventional hull design with sloped armor resembling the layout of the panther tank. It had a rear mounted engine and used nine steel-tired overlapping road wheels with internal springing per side, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather than interleaved as in the tiger i.

The porsche hull designs included a rear-mounted turret and a mid-mounted engine. The suspension was the same as on the elefant tank destroyer. This had six road wheels per side mounted in paired bogies sprung with short longitudinal torsion bars that were integral to the wheel pair; this saved internal space and facilitated repairs. One porsche version had a gasoline-electric drive, similar to a gasoline-electric hybrid but without a storage battery; two separate drive trains in parallel, one per side of the tank, each consisting of a hybrid drive train; gasoline engine – electric generator – electric motor – drive sprocket. This method of propulsion had been attempted before on the tiger (p) (later elefant prototypes) and in some us designs, but had never been put into production. The porsche suspension were later used on a few of the later jagdtiger tank hunters.

The turrets were designed to mount the 8.8 cm kwk 43 l/71 gun. Combined with the turmzielfernrohr 9d (german "turret telescopic sight") monocular sight by leitz, which all but a few early tiger iis used, it was a very accurate and deadly weapon.

Like all german tanks, it had a gasoline engine; in this case the same 700 ps (690 hp, 515 kw) v-12 maybach hl 230 p30 which powered the much lighter panther and tiger i tanks. The tiger ii was under-powered, like many other heavy tanks of world war ii, and consumed a lot of fuel, which was in short supply for the germans. The transmission was the maybach olvar eg 40 12 16 model b, giving eight forward gears and four reverse, which drove the steering gear. This was the henschel l 801, a double radius design which proved susceptible to failure. Transverse torsion bar suspension supported the hull on nine axles per side. Overlapped 800 mm (31 in) diameter road wheels with rubber cushions and steel tyres rode inside the tracks.

The command variant of the tiger ii was designated panzerbefehlswagen tiger ausf. B. It had two versions, sd.kfz. 267 and sd.kfz. 268. These carried only 63 rounds of 8.8 cm ammunition to provide room to accommodate the extra radios and equipment, and had additional armor on the engine compartment. The sd.kfz. 267 was to have used fug 8 and fug 5 radio sets, with the most notable external changes being a two metre long rod antenna mounted on the turret roof and a sternantenna d ("star antenna d"), mounted on an insulated base (the 104mm antennenfuss nr. 1) which was protected by a large armored cylinder. This equipment was located on the rear decking in a position originally used for deep-wading equipment. The sd.kfz. 268 used fug 7 and fug 5 radios with a two metre rod antenna mounted on the turret roof and a 1.4 metre rod antenna mounted on the rear deck.