Dragon Armor 1/35 Tiger Tank & Diorama Base

[tmanthegreat]

I recently pulled my prebuilt Dragon Armor 1/35 scale Tiger I tank (late production) as well as the accompanying Dragon Can Do Tiger Aces and German soldier figures out from storage. I've had these for years, but as they were not quite to scale with the bulk of my 1/32 collection, frequently did not have them displayed. When I sort of "rediscovered" them a couple weeks ago, I felt they were worthy of a nice diorama display all their own. Here is what I came up with...















The diorama base was made using some FOV accessories with dirt and twigs from my back yard affixed to a piece of foam board. I got the case at my local Hobbytown store.

[slogan]

Very nicely done.

[cnq]

very nice dio. I like it.

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Nice photos.
Is the commander's machine gun a custom addition? I have the Dragon Tiger 242, and it didn't come with the commander's machine gun.

[tmanthegreat]

Thanks for the kind comments, everyone

Dragon, yes, the MG on the commander's cupola is a custom addition. I had some unused 1/35 scale soldiers from a Tamiya Panzer II kit I built a couple years ago and one of them had an MG34, so I painted and installed it. Just felt it looked better. The K98 rifle being carried by the soldier standing to the rear of the tank is also customized from the same Tamiya kit. The original one that came with the figure broke.

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Thanks for the info. My Tiger has a broken machine gun mount---I don't know if it came like that or broke while I had it, which made me wonder if the machine gun came with the model but mine was missing.

Also, I asked this question on an armor forum and got no answer, so I'll ask it here:

I've seen photos of Tiger and King Tiger tanks with the commander's machine gun mounted on the cupola when they're not in combat. However, the photos I've seen of many Tigers and King Tigers in combat do not have the commanders machine gun. So is there a reason why the commander's machine gun appears to be removed in combat?

[tmanthegreat]

I don't have an exact answer on why the cupola MG would be removed or not, but I do know their primary purpose was an anti-aircraft/defensive weapon.

It seems plausible that when the tank was not in combat (presumably sitting in a marshaling area or moving from one area to another) it would be vulnerable to air attack, hence they would want to have the gun ready for defense. In a combat situation, it would make sense to remove it as the crew would typically remain inside the tank (where the gun couldn't be easily used without exposing the commander) and it could easily get torn off were the tank to move through trees or rubble. The Tiger had the coaxial MGs in the turret and front glacis of the hull to provide defensive capabilities in a combat situation.

[dragon53]

TMANTHEGREAT:

Your explanation sounds like something I was thinking about, too. On the other hand, Allied fighter-bombers could strike at any time, so I would think they would keep the commander's machine gun at all times.
I have a book of Wittman's Tiger I with commander's machine gun headed to Normandy after D-Day, but all the photos of Tigers knocked out at Villers-Bocage, etc. show no commander's machine gun.
The photo/film of King Tiger 008 headed to the Ardennes shows it with a commander's machine gun, but photos of 008 (and other King Tigers) after the Battle of the Bulge show them without the commander's machine gun.
Since my Dragon Tiger I has a broken machine gun mount, I might remove what's left of it---it might be more realistic with the entire thing gone.

[Rylau]

if I may just add a reason why all the knocked out tigers had no mg. When the crew or survivors left the tank they would take it with them for offense/defense. easily removed and a lot of fire power. Just a thought. Bob

[tmanthegreat]

That is a good idea as well, Rylau. I've seen the same discrepancy in the photos that Dragon53 mentions and the gun is present on many photos of the tanks while not in combat, but then always missing from the knocked out vehicles. A number of videos of Tigers in action do not show the MG present, at least when the tank seems to be in a combat zone.

Either way, I just liked having the gun mounted on my Tiger's cupola

[snake]

Think the Dragon 1/35 is an awesome line, but the scale is its demise.

As has been argued in the past, between FoV 1/32, and Dragon 1/35, pluses, and minus's for both.

Biggest problem for the Dragon 1/35 is it's scale. Simply doesn't realisticly display with the "standard" 1/32.

Fortunately, not an armour guy, or a scale purist/ rivet counter, so I can live with it.

Many others can't.

But nothing but positives to say about Dragon 1/35, and wish they had done more types.