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Academy 1/35 Tiger-I Early Version Tank ACA13239

  The Tiger I, a heavy tank of World War II, was deployed from 1942 in Africa and Europe commonly in independent heavy tank battalions with the designation Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E often shortened to Tiger. The Tiger I gave the Wehrmacht its first armored fighting vehicle that used the KwK 36 88-mm gun. In total 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944. Production was over time phased out in favor of the Tiger II.

The Tiger I has been called an excellent design for its time, however, it was over-engineered, using expensive materials and labor-intensive production methods. The Tiger was prone to some types of track failures and breakdowns, and had limited range given its high fuel consumption. It was expensive to run, but normally mechanically reliable. It was also difficult to transport, and vulnerable to immobilization when mud, ice, and snow froze between its overlapping and interleaved Schachtellaufwerk-pattern road wheels, often causing them to jam. This was a problem on the Eastern Front in the muddy rasputitsa (semi-annual mud seasons) and winter weather conditions.

The tank was named "Tiger" by Ferdinand Porsche, and the Roman numeral was added after the later Tiger II entered production. The early designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H (‘‘Panzer VI version H’’, abbreviated PzKpfw VI Ausf. H) where 'H' denoted Henschel as the designer/manufacturer. It was given ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 182. The tank was later redesignated as PzKpfw VI Ausf. E in March 1943, with ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 181.

Tigers had a crew of 5. They could travel up to 23mph on roads and were powered by the Maybach 21, 353cc V-12 engines that delivered 642hp.
The following markings are provided:
8th SS Pz. Abt. 'Das Reich', Kursk, Russia, July 1943
9th SS Pz. Abt. 'Totenkopf', Kursk, Russia, July 1943
Pz. Abt. 503, Kursk, Russia, July 1943