1:35 King Tiger

Two turrets, two silhouettes

The heaviest German production tank of the Second World War was built with two different turrets and the builder has to decide right at the start which one he wants. The first fifty machines were given a turret with a rounded front and a bulged front wall, which to this day is called the Porsche turret. The rest of the production carried a turret with a flat, steeply sloped front, flat sides and a wider space for ammunition. The difference matters for masking too, because a rounded front carries an insignia differently from a flat plate and the side of the Porsche turret has less room under the hatch.

Outline numbers instead of solid ones

With the heavy battalions three-figure numbers painted only as an outline, with no fill, were commonly used, so that they would not get lost so much in the camouflage while still not shining out at a distance. They call for two concentric areas and a constant thickness of outline all round the shape, which freehand is practically unachievable. Two sheets of insignia masks are included, which gives a decent basis for working geometric markings. White paint is applied in thin coats while doing so, otherwise a ridge builds up under the edge of the stencil.

A machine that could not choose its route

The vehicle weighed almost seventy tons and its engine and transmission were taken over from a lighter chassis, so there were more breakdowns than losses in action. Bridges mostly would not carry it, so crews drove round, forded and left deep ruts behind them. Anyone building such a machine should give it a thoroughly dirtied running gear, because that is precisely where the character of the King Tiger shows best. Dried mud on the sides of the hull also contrasts nicely with an insignia that has stayed clean.