Pz.Kpfw VI Tiger Ausf H

Model comes in 4 parts; Hull, Turret & Tracks.

The Tiger 1 saw action from 1942 to 1945 and produced between 1942 and 1944 when the Tiger 2 came into production. The Tiger was a response to the formidable Russian T-34s and KV-1s on the Russian front and first saw action on that front at Leningrad in September 1942. Three months later the first Tigers appeared in north Africa.

The Tiger weighed over 50 tonnes and came with 120 & 100mm frontal armour. It was equipped with  a high velocity 8.8cm KwK 36 gun and was known to be very accurate, particularly in ranges over 2,500 metres. Due to the high cost only 1,347 were produced; it cost twice as much as a Panzer IV and four times as much as a StuG III.

The ‘H’ in he designation was to denote that the tank was built by the Henschel company.

In 2018 there were seven existing Tigers, one of them – Tiger 131 – has been renovated to full working order at the Bovingdon Tank Museum. Tiger 131 was captured by the British in Tunisia in April 1943 and belonged to the 504^th German heavy tank battalion. The crew were captured after bailing out when it was hit by a shell from a Churchill tank of the 48^th Royal Tank Regiment. It made an appearance in the film “Fury”.