FOV Porsche King Tiger
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 1576
- Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:38 pm
- Location: Rapid City, SD
FOV Porsche King Tiger
To continue what Krieglok started, I shall review the latest addition to my collection, the FOV King Tiger w/ Porsche turret (I haven't gotten around to opening the Stug and KV-1 yet).
My First impression of the tank looking at the box was that it wasn't the painting catastrophe some of the other King Tiger's were (The first one ) The paint scheme was actually pretty well done, but there is no weathering. When I say no weathering, I mean zero, none, not even an attempt, and to me that is good and bad news. Bad because you don't get what you've paid for compared to past releases. On the other hand, since that weathering on past releases was usually really poor, you now get a "clean slate" to weather as you so choose. I also noticed something odd about the turret while looking at it in the box, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it...
So after I opened the box and went through the ordeal of removing the tank and accessories it dawned on me what was wrong with the turret. The pictures of the tank I've seen on the internet of this tank looked great, nothing wrong with the turret at all, and what was suddenly so different about this tank no longer made it look normal. In what I can only attribute to an error in the molding of the pieces of the tank, especially the new turret, the designers failed to accurately judge the distances between parts(in this case the clearance between the bottom of the turret and the exhaust housings on the engine compartment door). This must have caused there to be problems between these two parts running into each other and not allow for proper turret rotation. Their solution? Make some weird turret ring thing that elevated the turret about twice the height from the hull it would normally be in order for it to clear the exhaust housings. This made the tank look BAD. I mean I even went out into the pile of moving boxes ( where my collection and books are currently located ) and busted out several examples of other 1/32 king tigers to compare it to just to make sure, one FOV w/production turret, and one 21st one w/ porsche turret. This made it even more obvious! I sat the tanks next to one another and there it was bright as day, the new FOV King Tiger looked like it was stretching its neck to see something on top of the fridge. Honestly it ruined the whole tank for me, and saying that I paid $55 for the beast I wasn't going to let that stand.
First thing I did was go and dig out the dremel (sounds familiar to Krieglok lol). Then I grabbed a screw driver and set to disassembling the tank and getting at this added turret ring extension piece. After taking out 10 screws the piece finally came free. I could tell immediately that this piece was an after-thought, added by Panache Place to correct a problem they probably didn't realize existed until the last minute. It is about, idk, a quarter inch thick, and it needed to be slightly less than a eighth of an inch to make the tank look right. So now came the dremel. I ground down the piece to make a more reasonable height between turret and hull roof(grinding off that extra 1/8 inch or so) and then reassembled the tank. Immediate Improvement To anyone that plans on getting this piece, or already has, I would highly recommend doing this because it makes the tank look like it should.
So after that, there wasn't anything left that really bugged me about the tank. The running gear work ok, the construction seems a little less sturdy than previous King Tigers (suspension still works, but it seems the running gear might break if taxed too much), but saying that I don't do a whole lot of rolling my tanks around it didn't bug me all that much. And I already went over in another thread how the real "332" had a monobloc gun instead of the 2-piece in another thread so i won't go over that again. FOV kind of skimped on the accessories with this one, but that's another mixed bag because honestly I already have enough panzershreks and chairs and helmets and little kittens and barrels and ammo crates to last me a while
-Kevin
My First impression of the tank looking at the box was that it wasn't the painting catastrophe some of the other King Tiger's were (The first one ) The paint scheme was actually pretty well done, but there is no weathering. When I say no weathering, I mean zero, none, not even an attempt, and to me that is good and bad news. Bad because you don't get what you've paid for compared to past releases. On the other hand, since that weathering on past releases was usually really poor, you now get a "clean slate" to weather as you so choose. I also noticed something odd about the turret while looking at it in the box, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it...
So after I opened the box and went through the ordeal of removing the tank and accessories it dawned on me what was wrong with the turret. The pictures of the tank I've seen on the internet of this tank looked great, nothing wrong with the turret at all, and what was suddenly so different about this tank no longer made it look normal. In what I can only attribute to an error in the molding of the pieces of the tank, especially the new turret, the designers failed to accurately judge the distances between parts(in this case the clearance between the bottom of the turret and the exhaust housings on the engine compartment door). This must have caused there to be problems between these two parts running into each other and not allow for proper turret rotation. Their solution? Make some weird turret ring thing that elevated the turret about twice the height from the hull it would normally be in order for it to clear the exhaust housings. This made the tank look BAD. I mean I even went out into the pile of moving boxes ( where my collection and books are currently located ) and busted out several examples of other 1/32 king tigers to compare it to just to make sure, one FOV w/production turret, and one 21st one w/ porsche turret. This made it even more obvious! I sat the tanks next to one another and there it was bright as day, the new FOV King Tiger looked like it was stretching its neck to see something on top of the fridge. Honestly it ruined the whole tank for me, and saying that I paid $55 for the beast I wasn't going to let that stand.
First thing I did was go and dig out the dremel (sounds familiar to Krieglok lol). Then I grabbed a screw driver and set to disassembling the tank and getting at this added turret ring extension piece. After taking out 10 screws the piece finally came free. I could tell immediately that this piece was an after-thought, added by Panache Place to correct a problem they probably didn't realize existed until the last minute. It is about, idk, a quarter inch thick, and it needed to be slightly less than a eighth of an inch to make the tank look right. So now came the dremel. I ground down the piece to make a more reasonable height between turret and hull roof(grinding off that extra 1/8 inch or so) and then reassembled the tank. Immediate Improvement To anyone that plans on getting this piece, or already has, I would highly recommend doing this because it makes the tank look like it should.
So after that, there wasn't anything left that really bugged me about the tank. The running gear work ok, the construction seems a little less sturdy than previous King Tigers (suspension still works, but it seems the running gear might break if taxed too much), but saying that I don't do a whole lot of rolling my tanks around it didn't bug me all that much. And I already went over in another thread how the real "332" had a monobloc gun instead of the 2-piece in another thread so i won't go over that again. FOV kind of skimped on the accessories with this one, but that's another mixed bag because honestly I already have enough panzershreks and chairs and helmets and little kittens and barrels and ammo crates to last me a while
-Kevin
Last edited by PanzerArm on Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:38 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: FOV Porsche King Tiger
Thanks for your great post .PanzerArm wrote:To continue what Krieglok started, I shall review the latest addition to my collection, the FOV King Tiger w/ Porsche turret (I haven't gotten around to opening the Stug and KV-1 yet).
My First impression of the tank looking at the box was that it wasn't the painting catastrophe some of the other King Tiger's were (The first one ) The paint scheme was actually pretty well done, but there is no weathering. When I say no weathering, I mean zero, none, not even an attempt, and to me that is good and bad news. Bad because you don't get what you've paid for compared to past releases. On the other hand, since that weathering on past releases was usually really poor, you now get a "clean slate" to weather as you so choose. I also noticed something odd about the turret while looking at it in the box, but I couldn't quite pu my finger on it...
So after I opened the box and went through the ordeal of removing the tank and accessories it dawned on my what was wrong with the turret. The pictures of the tank I've seen on the internet of this tank looked great, nothing wrong with the turret at all, and what was suddenly so different about this tank no longer made it look normal. In what I can only attribute to an error in the molding of the pieces of the tank, especially the new turret, the designers failed to accurately judge the distances between parts(in this case the clearance between the bottom of the turret and the exhaust housings on the engine compartment door). This must have caused there to be problems between these two parts running into each other and not allow for proper turret rotation. Their solution? Make some weird turret ring thing that elevated the turret about twice the height from the hull it would normally be in order for it to clear the exhaust housings. This made the tank look BAD. I mean I even went out into the pile of moving boxes ( where my collection and books are currently located ) and busted out several examples of other 1/32 king tigers to compare it to just to make sure, one FOV w/production turret, and one 21st one w/ porsche turret. This made it even more obvious! I sat the tanks next to one another and there it was bright as day, the new FOV King Tiger looked like it was stretching its neck to see something on top of the fridge. Honestly it ruined the whole tank for me, and saying that I paid $55 for the beast I wasn't going to let that stand.
First thing I did was go and dig out the dremel (sounds familiar to Krieglok lol). Then I grabbed a screw driver and set to disassembling the tank and getting at this added turret ring extension piece. After taking out 10 screws the piece finally came free. I could tell immediately that this piece was an after-thought, added by Panache Place to correct a problem they probably didn't realize existed until the last minute. It is about, idk, a quarter inch thick, and it needed to be slightly less than a eighth of an inch to make the tank look right. So now came the dremel. I ground down the piece to make a more reasonable height between turret and hull roof(grinding off that 1/4 inch or so) and then reassembled the tank. Immediate Improvement To anyone that plans on getting this piece, or already has, I would highly recommend doing this because it makes the tank look like it should.
So after that, there wasn't anything left that really bugged me about the tank. The running gear work ok, the construction seems a little less sturdy than previous King Tigers (suspension still works, but it seems the running gear might break if taxed too much), but saying that I don't do a whole lot of rolling my tanks around it didn't bug me all that much. And I already went over in another thread how the real "332" had a monobloc gun instead of the 2-piece in another thread so i won;t go over that again. FOV kind of skimped on the accessories with this one, but that's another mixed bag because honestly I already have enough panzershreks and chairs and helmets and little kittens and barrels and ammo crates to last me a while
-Kevin
When I got my king tiger I thought the turret was wrong to & was surprised it was not mentioned before
On mine the colour on the body of the tank is different to the turret as well
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 2022
- Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:33 pm
- Location: USA
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 3583
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:42 am
- Location: Pleasant Ridge , Ohio
[+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>--------- & StuG
* What a real disappointment to learn you gotta do all this modification just to get a decent tank , when you shouldn't have to in the first place.
FoV really needs to get its act together if they want to sell more in the future.
........... oh well , I guess it'll be fun fiddling w/ them. Sheesh !
- Mitch v MG
FoV really needs to get its act together if they want to sell more in the future.
........... oh well , I guess it'll be fun fiddling w/ them. Sheesh !
- Mitch v MG
" I love it , God help me ,.. I do love it so". * * * * PATTON * * * *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
Re: [+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>--------- & St
Paying more but getting lessMG-42 wrote:* What a real disappointment to learn you gotta do all this modification just to get a decent tank , when you shouldn't have to in the first place.
FoV really needs to get its act together if they want to sell more in the future.
........... oh well , I guess it'll be fun fiddling w/ them. Sheesh !
- Mitch v MG
Not great ,
new tank fill a lot lighter than the old king tiger to
Re: FOV Porsche King Tiger
PanzerArm wrote:...FOV kind of skimped on the accessories with this one, but that's another mixed bag because honestly I already have enough panzershreks and chairs and helmets and little kittens and barrels and ammo crates to last me a while
-Kevin
Nice review. I was never shy about attacking my 21st models to make them better and I find FOV is making me do the same now but for way too much money. I have some extra puppies if you need them to go with your kittens....
TJ
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 3583
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:42 am
- Location: Pleasant Ridge , Ohio
[+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>--------- & StuG
>>> Seems this is the FoV way now. No die-cast , All Plastic ! *uksubs wrote:Paying more but getting less
Not great ,
new tank fill a lot lighter than the old king tiger to
.............. how's the zimmerit on this tank ? ... ie, turret , hull ?
* I wonder if you could swap hulls , body wise , from another old previous FoV KT w/ die-cast body to fit the turret or
even the 21st. model ? ... So why didn't they just use a previous die-cast KT tank body instead ? ... Unless these bodies are different in some way to accommodate the turrets between Henschel & Porsche. I'm not an expert and not quite sure but I wouldn't think so.
.............. Hmmm , I'll have to experiment this aspect when mine arrive next week. We shall see then.
- Mitch v MG
" I love it , God help me ,.. I do love it so". * * * * PATTON * * * *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 11238
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:38 pm
- Location: Central California
Thanks for the honest review! I was tempted to get this tank (I think it has a great paintscheme overall and I like the shape of the turret) but don't like the idea of having to modify the vehicle just to get the thing accurate. Certainly not for the $50+ price and certainly not from a company that has produced such wonderful-looking and accurate tanks in the past. If one looks at the detail photos of the FOV Kingtiger on Badcat's website, the "elevated" turret is clearly visible. They even used a different color paint on the ring!
My 21c version will suit my needs - and I even put an interior in that one
My 21c version will suit my needs - and I even put an interior in that one
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 3583
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:42 am
- Location: Pleasant Ridge , Ohio
[+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>---------
* Upon further inspection & review , mine are fine as far as weathering. I bought two which I received yesterday , and both are like a faded camo but consistent and equal. The hulls are Die-Cast , just like their older ones , which I'm happy about that , since it only made sense to use previous existing metal hulls for this one. Cause they are in fact , basically the same.
* "I think this one's worth it , despite having to fiddle w/ it".
........... the upper & lower hulls on my KV's are die-cast too. Which I'm pleased because it just gives this particular tank the heft and feel of real metal like the KT's and FoV's earlier models.
- Mitch v MG
* "I think this one's worth it , despite having to fiddle w/ it".
........... the upper & lower hulls on my KV's are die-cast too. Which I'm pleased because it just gives this particular tank the heft and feel of real metal like the KT's and FoV's earlier models.
- Mitch v MG
" I love it , God help me ,.. I do love it so". * * * * PATTON * * * *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
-
- Officer - 2nd Lieutenant
- Posts: 420
- Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:52 pm
- Location: Greensboro, NC
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 3583
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:42 am
- Location: Pleasant Ridge , Ohio
[+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>---------
[+] > Apparently the example by 21st. Century Toys got their gun barrel correct too.
<center>
<a href="http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... 108039.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... 108039.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br><br>
[+] > 21st. 1:32 KT w/ Porsche turret # 334 </center>
- Mitch v MG
<center>
<a href="http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... 108039.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... 108039.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br><br>
[+] > 21st. 1:32 KT w/ Porsche turret # 334 </center>
- Mitch v MG
" I love it , God help me ,.. I do love it so". * * * * PATTON * * * *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 11238
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:38 pm
- Location: Central California
Well, I gave in and ordered an FOV Porsche turret King Tiger. I just like the looks of it, even if the turret is raised up a bit, I guess its the zimermit. The 21c tank, despite the bright colors and no zimermit, is actually a nice vehicle. They sculpted the turret well and left the interior hollow. On my 21c tank, I customized a partial interior so that when one looks in the hatches, they can see a gun breach seats, and stowed ammo rounds
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 1576
- Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:38 pm
- Location: Rapid City, SD
Re: [+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>---------
MG-42 wrote:[+] > Apparently the example by 21st. Century Toys got their gun barrel correct too.
<center>
<a href="http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... 108039.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd20 ... 108039.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br><br>
[+] > 21st. 1:32 KT w/ Porsche turret # 334 </center>
- Mitch v MG
Actually, they got their's wrong too. "334" had the 2 piece gun barrel.
-Kevin
-
- Officer - Brigadier General
- Posts: 3583
- Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:42 am
- Location: Pleasant Ridge , Ohio
[+] New FoV KT w/ Porsche Turret )>---------
* According to the pics , FoV got theirs correct then. *
- Mitch v MG
- Mitch v MG
" I love it , God help me ,.. I do love it so". * * * * PATTON * * * *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *
* In memory of ram04 - 7/15/12 *