1/72 PzKpfw VI “Tiger 131”Ausf. E

After I started the 1/35 model I realized that there were Dragon 1/35 and 1/72 kits (exterior only) and ordered a 1/72 kit so I could add Tiger 131 to my 1/72 armor shelf and take advantage of the research on its big brother.

The Dragon kit is technically good, but the instructions are perhaps the worst I've seen. The assembly is condensed into four steps with only arrows pointed to where on the model a part should go. But the parts are sometimes wrong (the kit has both types of air filters but tells you to use the wrong one) and missing steps. But after building the same subject in 1/35 I knew exactly what I needed. Oddly, despite claiming it provides “two types of tow cables” it simply had an alternate set (actually two alternate sets) of tow cable “ends.”The kit is missing the prominent towing cables on the left side. So I scratchbuilt those using the extra ends the kit provided. And of course, I added the front-mounted spare tracks and ladder.

Same RAL 7008 and 8000 Vallejo Air paints on the exterior, and finished with the same thin dark grey and rust wash.