Painting and imitation of various effects of the Tiger tank. Tanks and armored vehicles of Germany of the Second World War European Theater of Operations

Panzerwaffe (Panzerwaffe) is the tank forces of the Wehrmacht, which appeared under this name in 1936 and ceased to exist in 1945. Tanks became one of the main forces of the German army and the basis of blitzkrieg tactics, they received attention from Adolf Hitler himself.

In 1931, Oswald Lutz, serving as inspector of automobile troops under the command of Heinz Guderian, proposed the use of large tank formations. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had the right to create armored vehicles weighing up to 5 tons, which significantly complicated the production of tanks, and during exercises German soldiers were forced to use wooden mock-ups of tanks.

However, Germany, together with the USSR, created a tank school in the Kazan region, where 30 officers were trained. At the same time, light tanks were being produced under the guise of tractors for civilian use.

In 1933, the Panzer I appeared, becoming the first German tank of the Wehrmacht. It was created to train future tank crews, but became the basis of the German tank fleet.

In 1935, Erich von Manstein proposed the creation of assault artillery capable of supporting attacking infantry with fire. The idea formed the basis of the StuG III self-propelled gun, produced in quantities of more than 8,600 units.

German tanks of the Wehrmacht of World War II

Light: Pz.Kpfw I, Pz.Kpfw II, Pz.Kpfw II "Luchs".

Medium: Pz.Kpfw III, Pz.Kpfw IV, "Panther".

Heavy: Pz.Kpfw. VI "Tiger I", Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. B "Tiger II", Pz.Kpfw. VIII "Maus".

Trophy

In addition to vehicles of its own production, Germany used captured ones, applying its own camouflage to them and modernizing them according to the requirements of the German army.

French tanks in the Wehrmacht are the most popular foreign vehicles, if you close your eyes to the Czechoslovak ones. They were not distinguished by the most modern design and weak firepower, but they had sufficient armor and good reliability. Due to weak weapons, they were used mainly in the rear for security, training, and so on.

Also, French equipment was converted into self-propelled guns, installing wheelhouses and German guns on the chassis.

Captured Soviet tanks of the Wehrmacht, to the surprise of many inexperienced readers, were not very popular. During the summer-autumn of 1941, according to German data, 14,079 USSR tanks were captured and destroyed. Of these, 1300 - 1700 BT, KV, T-26, T-28 and T-34 were in park storage and were in excellent condition.

By October of the same year, about 40 armored vehicles had been put into operation, a completely ridiculous figure. On paper, domestic tanks in 1941 were superior to all German tanks, with the exception of Pz.Kpfw IV, in armament; in practice, Soviet 45 mm guns did not correspond to the tabulated data and did not pose a danger to Panzerwaffe tanks at distances of 400 meters.

The Germans were dismissive of the T-26 and BT, since it was cramped and uncomfortable inside, and the armor was not enough to adequately protect the crew.

The Germans did not follow the path of creating self-propelled guns based on Soviet tanks. The T-26, BT and T-28 engines required scarce high-quality gasoline. At the same time, German engines quietly ran on synthetic.

The T-34 and KV, equipped with diesel engines, were also not suitable for the Germans, who tried to replace diesel fuel with a mixture of crude oil with kerosene and oil.

As a result, during the Great Patriotic War, the Wehrmacht used less than 300 Soviet tanks and converted 10 T-26s into self-propelled guns.

Coloring

Beginning in 1939, German tanks were painted in a dark blue-gray, the so-called ball color. It completely covered all the outer parts and inner sides of the hatches opening outwards. Light cream paint was used on the inside.

The disdain for camouflage is explained by the dominance of German troops at that time and their use in blitzkrieg tactics, which involved rapid attacks.

Camouflage

Click on the image to view in high resolution

Having attacked the USSR, German troops already realized during the first winter that the lack of camouflage was fatal. Solutions of lime and chalk were used as improvised camouflage.

On February 18, 1943, a new standard for painting armored vehicles appeared in German factories. It was painted dark yellow, after which it was equipped with two sets of paints, supplied in cans. These were olive green and red-brown colors, which were applied to the tank by the crew depending on the location of use.

Later, precise paint application schemes appeared, including camouflage small-spotted and deforming large-spotted camouflages. The first was applied to light and medium armored vehicles, the second to heavy Tiger and Panther tanks.

In 1944, a three-color deforming ambush camouflage appeared, combining the advantages of the two previous colors.

At the end of 1944, a paint shortage began, which led to incorrect application of camouflages in order to save money. Soon the supply of paint finally stopped to all units except the elite SS.

It is worth mentioning Zimmerit, which was used to coat German armored vehicles starting in 1943. This light gray material protected against magnetic mines and was hidden under the paint, making it slightly darker.

On the Eastern Front

At the time of the attack on the Soviet Union, 4,711 tanks and assault guns were concentrated on the eastern front; for comparison, the USSR had 15,857 units.

Between 1943 and 1944, the Wehrmacht increased the number of tanks, reaching 9,149 vehicles at the beginning of 1944. However, impressive losses and a constant lack of fuel reduced the quality of the Panzerwaffe.

Losses

Between 1941 and 1942, Germany lost up to 80% of its armored vehicles. According to Soviet data, by the end of the war Germany had lost more than 32,000 armored vehicles. A significant part was destroyed by artillery fire and tanks, only a small part by aircraft.

17-01-16 A new construction project has started.

This time it is the “ROYAL TIGER” with the Henschel tower from the Star. I have already posted a review of this set on my website. It can be viewed by clicking on the link. In short, the kit pleased with the high quality of casting and detailing, as well as the presence of inlaid tracks.

And so, now about the prototype.
I chose vehicle number 502 from the 501st heavy tank battalion. Which was captured by soldiers of the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade in August 1944 at the Sandomierz bridgehead. The tank fell into our hands Soviet soldiers in good condition, fueled and with full ammunition. I plan to make a tank in the form in which the Germans abandoned it. I most likely will not apply decals with inscriptions.
Photos of the prototype that I managed to find:

I will build my model based on them. If I find anything else, I'll be sure to add photos to the blog.

When I reviewed them, I didn't notice anything suspicious about them. But when it came to processing them, there was a fairly noticeable seam from the molds on them, which I removed. Although, again, it will not be visible behind the skating rinks and this could not have been done. The instructions suggest aligning the balancers using a ruler. I don't quite understand why, since they fit into the grooves and stay straight.

That's all I managed to do on the first evening. Next time I’ll finish assembling the rollers and drive sprockets. I'll start processing the inlaid tracks and then follow the instructions.

08.04.16.

I finished working with the rollers, glued the stars and sloths. Everything is OK with them, so there is nothing special to tell.

Next, I glued the balancers on both sides. And I still had to use a ruler to align them. Without a ruler, certain difficulties arose; the balancers constantly shifted, but in the end we managed to glue them straight.

Then there was long and tedious work with the tracks. There are two pushrod marks on each track. The one that is inside is difficult to remove, but the one that is closer to the edge is easy to remove. There are two or three marks from the feeders on the ends, but they can be removed without any problems. On some tracks, like here, the marks from the pushers are in the inside and are very difficult to get to and clean, but there weren’t many of these tracks.

The first time I completed exactly half of it, that's three sprues. These remnants, as I understand it, will go to the tower as spare ones. The number of tracks for 1 caterpillar was used as much as recommended according to the instructions, like 45 pieces. I installed it on a dry roller and tried on the caterpillar. The sloth is still hanging in the air :)

In general, the tracks were assembled well. I assembled them the same way as I showed in a recent video using masking tape.

In some places it was necessary to putty, remove the mark from the pushers, the joint from the parts. And similarly on the other side of the body.

I didn’t have time to do anything on the upper part of the body, next time. I managed to prepare two main parts of the turret, cut them off the sprues and cleaned them up. Their adhesiveness is almost perfect, I believe it will be possible to simply glue them together without additional processing.

And he assembled the breech of the gun. I assembled the entire internal part, the parts fit together well. I cleaned only visible places so that the joints were not visible. I will not modify it, because... the hatches will be closed, all this will not be visible. Most likely I'll just paint it in basic colors and leave it as is.

I also went to the store and bought photo-etched MTO grilles. This set includes a machine gun sight, MTO reticles, shoulder straps, chevrons, stripes, a cross and a cap badge.

And I began to prepare for applying Zimmerit. I bought special spatulas from Tamiya in different sizes. As I understand it, the tool is reusable, you buy it once and it lasts for a long time. Next time I'll try to apply Zimmerit. Most likely I will make a separate video from the “tips and tricks” series.

Next time I will try to assemble the body, the second track, and install photo-etching. I'll try to start assembling the tower. And either the zimmerit will already be applied, or everything will be prepared for its application.

Well, at the end, for comparison, there is a photo with the body of the early Tiger (which you can see)

And the result of the work.

30.04.16.

There are relatively many changes compared to last time.

Firstly, I collected all the elements of the tower that will not interfere with the application of zimmerit. I painted the inside with ivory from Pacific88, F-07. But the color turned out to be very yellowish, it seems to me, so I’ll probably repaint the visible places in a whiter shade.

I made working hinges for the hatch, although this is not essential, according to the plans it should be closed. But the hatch is not poorly detailed, so I decided to make an opening hatch. I saw the defects and marks from the pushers only in the enlarged photo, I will correct them later.

The tower is ready for zimmerit application. Next time I will try to apply it to the entire tower and glue the missing elements. The rear hatch is also ready. I didn't glue it, because... he will interfere. I also assembled and processed the tank's gun barrel and mantlet. I didn’t glue it for the same reason, it would interfere with the application of zimmerit. Once I apply the Zimmerit and paint the turret the base color, I will glue the gun on with rhinestones.

I collected the second half of the caterpillars. Now both sides are glued and ready. The process is long and tedious, but nothing complicated. There are spare tracks left, some of them will go to the tower.

I also made additional meshes myself, which were not included in the photo-etch kit, but which are on my prototype. I cut the mesh from a frying pan lid from IKEA. Good weaving, not expensive and enough for many models. I made one, first painting the plastic black so that the unpainted plastic would not be visible later.

I also remembered that on the turret, near the armored cap for the triplex, I had to increase the height using strips of thin plastic, because... he rested against the triplex.

Zvezda also gives two options for armored fan covers. Accordingly, I will glue the one that comes on my prototype with number 502. Also based on the prototype (there were also two options here), I chose an armored fan cover for the body and triplex armor.

Well, as planned, I started applying Zimmerit. I made a test on the most inconspicuous part - the rear armor plate. I did it in several stages.

Initially, I applied putty to the armor plate without small parts glued. I applied it using special trowels from Tamiya.

Then I glued on the exhaust pipes, tow hooks, box and jack hardware.

And I applied a primer, and then glued the exhaust pipe covers.

I made it so that it would be more convenient to paint later.

Next time, according to plans, I want to apply zimmerit to the turret and the rest of the hull. I'll try to complete the work on the turret and hull, glue on all the missing parts and get ready for painting.

Well, as usual, video from the construction stage:

You can see the article about applying zimmerit, there are photographs, descriptions and videos of the process.

05.06.16.

Compared to last time, the main difference is that the zimmerit is applied in a circle: Front, back, side.

But let's start about the tower.

On the turret, after applying zimmerit, hooks for spare tracks and the tracks themselves were added. They are not glued, hang directly on hooks, and can be removed at any time. At the moment they hang as they should according to my prototype that I am making from.

I already talked about the working hatch. Here I just added a metal handle. I also made a hatch so it wouldn’t fall out, because it’s also open on the prototype. Therefore, I made it possible to open it. And at the same time it does not fall out, it is secured.

Glued in the rear hatch. It is possible to make it work with this set. But I glued it tightly, since there is no point in leaving it working. On the prototype it is closed. And I also did not glue armor protection onto these hinges. Although it is also included in the kit and whoever wants to assemble it without reference to the prototype. Or if anyone has a prototype with this armor protection, they can assemble it together.

That's all with the turret, now I'll tell you about the hull. With the body, everything is much more interesting here.

The main little things are the glued small hooks, various everywhere. There are a large number of them. This is apparently for mounting/dismounting plates on the engine compartment. And also this plate, there are hooks on it.

I glued the entrenching tools: wire cutters, hammer, axe, fire extinguisher. I made an imitation of wiring to the headlight from wire. Unfortunately it’s not included in the kit, so I made it myself.

Now I’ll say a little more about Zimmerit. From the sides there are no problems with its application at all. It is applied quite simply and does not cause any problems. From behind, all this was also done without problems. The main problem is applying zimmerit to the front. And it was this top armor plate that was redone ten times. Due to the fact that there are transitions, doing all this is very problematic. The part with the machine gun was done separately and the Zimmerit was also applied separately. Even taking into account the fact that it was not here, it was difficult to make zimmerit on this surface.

On the sides I did it like on my prototype. On this side the cable is missing one of the parts. There was no need to add it. And also a mount for a shovel. There is no shovel itself. I simply cut out the shovel itself and drilled a hole here in the mount for it so that there was an imitation. And all that was left of the shovel itself was a spare part.

I made the cable from metal cable that I bought at a hardware store. Cable with a diameter of 1 mm. It is ideal for simple shapes and curves. It has a gorgeous weave and looks like the real thing.

But where more complex bends are needed, it is not suitable. It is very difficult to work with - to bend. So I made the second cable, tried to give it a little shape like on my prototype. I was tortured, did it a couple of evenings, remade it several times. Everything was constantly peeling off and coming off. But in the end I tried it out and it turned out, it seems to me, not bad. I like. For such forms of this type, it is better not to use a cable from a hardware store. Because this is quite problematic.

The antenna box is also glued here. I only added the trench mount, which is missing.

Regarding the on-board screens. I made one raised, like on my prototype, so I left it. But on this side they are intact. I cut it and bent it a little. It will be necessary to make it stronger, but I will do this at the last moment when I glue it. I didn’t glue it right away, because it would interfere with installing the rollers with tracks. I will install them after I paint the inside.

My rollers are also installed almost dry. The caterpillar itself is removed entirely. This is my first time doing this method. The rollers are already installed and glued inside. Nothing moves here, just an asterisk. The rest is all glued in completely. Since there is no need to paint the bandages here, this should not cause any problems. But it is very convenient during installation/disassembly. That is, you need to put it on, try it on, look at it. When I need to paint I just take it off and that’s it. Then after painting I will glue it tightly.

This is approximately how the tank will be painted. The tank is 95% assembled, everything basic is done. Next time I'll move on to painting. There's little left to do here. Glue three antennas onto the body and there will be another one on the tower. I need to purchase and install a machine gun turret, which is on my prototype, but was not included in the kit. Make a second MTO grid, similar to the first. I also wanted to improve the gun mantlet. Add an imitation of an injection mold to it. We'll see if I do it or not. I need Tamiya putty, but I don't have it yet. If I buy more, I'll do it again.

24.07.16.

Final construction update on the Royal Tiger before painting it. I have solved the main problems and now I will briefly tell you what I have completed.

The first thing missing to complete the construction was three antennas. One antenna on the turret and two antennas on the tank hull. I also made antenna inputs for them. Small on the turret and large on the hull. They are made from guitar string. The antenna input housing was made from a piece of plastic and part of a syringe needle. On the tower I used only a piece of a needle from a syringe. And for the third antenna there was no need to finish anything.

This is the first thing that stopped me for a very long time. Because I couldn't find the dimensions or what it should look like.

Dimensions of the antenna input, which may be useful to someone:

The next thing I did was modify the gun mantlet. I thought for a long time whether to do it or not, but in the end I decided and made an imitation of an injection mold + a seam mark. I did it using glue and putty from Tamiya.

Next is the machine gun turret. I did not use the original plastic one and replaced it with photo-etched one. Later I will fix it, as it should be on my prototype. I also bought a set of German weapons, from which I took an anti-aircraft machine gun. And I glued a photo-etched sight to it. It looks very nice.

I also worked a little on the side skirts. They were too thick and I reduced it a little in places where it would be visible.

Another part that had to be made from scratch is the tube for the antennas. I made it from a piece of sprue, sheet plastic and wire. The tube was made by eye from a photograph.

I also remembered and made a second grille on the MTO.

Then I began to prepare for making a diorama. I collected two figures that will be used. These are figures from ICM, from the “May 1945” set. This is what it will look like. The loop in the background is the future tree :)

30.08.16.

Another small blog update.

After a month of inactivity, the tank was successfully primed. I used Pacific88 P-10 Red Brown primer. There's not much to say here. The soil lay down well, some of the parts for photography were mounted dry (rollers with tracks, gun barrel and mantlet).

I got so carried away with painting that I forgot to take intermediate photos of the preshading and base color with a normal camera, only the photo from my phone was saved. But this is not a problem, the process of applying preshading and base color can be seen in part 6 of the construction video.

preshading – black paint (art. 00010)
The base color of the tank is dark yellow desert (art. 0044)
base color of tracks – rusty tracks (art. 0107)

Before applying the camouflage, a small problem was discovered with the first batch of AERO paints. After a week, the paint changed viscosity. But fortunately, the manufacturer quickly responded to the alarm and suggested a simple solution to this problem. Which I took advantage of and continued working. You just had to add 1 ml of thinner to the paint can.

Then everything went like clockwork. And I moved on to applying camouflage. This camouflage must be applied by hand, without using masks. The task was not an easy one, because... There are no normal photographs in which you can see the camouflage of this historical car. Just one picture from the magazine:

In the end, I applied camouflage on it. The sides that are not visible, I had to figure out myself.

For the camouflage stripes, I mixed two paint colors: olive green (art. 0152) and olive yellow (art. 0063) in a 1 to 1 ratio.

For application I used a Jas 1142 airbrush with a 0.3 nozzle at a pressure of approximately 0.5-0.8 atm. And he limited the needle stroke by about half to avoid increased paint supply.

And this is what came out of it:

The entire process of applying camouflage can also be seen in the video.

Now you can leave a small opinion about the new Pacific88 Aero paint.

Having closed my eyes to the small problem that arose, considering that it was quite easily resolved and the manufacturer reacted very quickly and corrected this defect (this should not happen again in new batches), I can say that I am very pleased with the paint. The first “combat” use left a positive impression.

I would consider the advantages:

ease of use (poured into an airbrush and painted)
blown at low pressure (from 0.5 and above)
good adhesion
absence of paint “spitting” (no was noticed when applying the base color and camouflage)
good starting color palette (the manufacturer promises to expand the palette in the near future)
low price

I would consider the disadvantages:

I would like to increase the coverage a little (this is more of a wish than a minus)
there is a slight sticking of paint to the needle when working for a long time at low pressure (I am inclined to believe that this is a problem with the first batch, if possible I will check on a new batch)

Testing of paint, as well as other products from Pacific88, continues. Next, filters and washing will be tested. Follow the site and channel so you don’t miss anything interesting.

11-10-16

It's time to update the construction blog.

The tank was coated with gloss varnish (V07 from Pacific88) and the first thing I did was apply the decals. I used the decals that came with the kit. Number 502, which corresponds to my prototype. Surprisingly, they fit perfectly, the substrate does not silver, does not glare, and the zimmerite texture has been preserved. This is definitely a plus for the set.

The next thing I did was paint the rollers and the inside of the tracks. I applied metal abrasions to the rollers, ridges and tracks (at the points of contact with the rollers). In order to paint the inside surface evenly, I used thin strips of modeling tape. As I assumed, once assembled (rollers + tracks) it is quite possible to paint it. I liked this method.

Then I coated everything again with gloss varnish and applied a wash.

I used two types of wash. The first is a wash that was applied to the top of the turret and hull, in places where there is no zimmerit. For this I used a black wash from Pacific88. At the beginning I applied it without diluting, it spreads normally. But then I decided to try to dilute it a little, because... The tank area is large. I diluted it by about a quarter. And after that, the remover ran over the rivets and cracks much faster and more pleasantly. For the Zimmerit I used a general wash. I did this not with a wash, but with a filter. I used a brown filter. The filter was applied with a wide brush and went over the entire zimmerit, filling all the grooves. Due to this, zimmerite was released. Now it looks more voluminous compared to what it was. This is especially noticeable on the tower. For one thing, the tone of the decals was also smoothed out.

Final photos of the intermediate stage:

The following was done:

I coated the tank with matte varnish P08 from Pacific88. After the varnish had dried, I went over the entire tank with 002F Dark Yellow Filter for sandy tones. The camouflage has been smoothed out even more, there are no contrasting transitions;
Next, I set about painting the entrenching tool. I painted the wooden elements on the wire cutters, sledgehammer, ax and banner in two colors. The base was painted in color 0288 Dark wood, and on top was painted with thinned layers of paint F92 Red-brown;
For the metal elements I used the colors Dark Steel and Steel. Additionally, the cable was tinted with Filter 001F black to further dim the brightness of the color. Initially they gave a strong shine and stood out strongly;
I also painted the machine gun. I went over it with a dry brush using Dark Steel paint and painted the wooden elements. These are the linings on the handle and the butt of the machine gun.
I also painted the inside of the hatches a color similar to ivory. Before that, I had it painted white and yellowish. I didn't really like it, so I repainted it. Both hatches are working and can be opened and closed. On my prototype it is open and the position is approximately the same as on my model.
Additionally, I worked with the caterpillars. I started tinting them. I applied dark steel paint to the lugs. The color turned out to be not very pronounced, but in the future I plan to go over it with pigments and go over it again with Steel paint.

I haven't touched the spare tracks yet. Many parts are not yet glued, they are fixed dry. To be able to further tint the model.

I also started preparing and working with the figures. They are already primed and I have started painting the faces and hands. The first figure is currently covered only with a base layer, without highlights or shading. But the second figure’s face is half finished. Of course, I will still refine the face, this is not the final look, but so far I’m happy with the result.

11-12-16

It's been exactly two months since the last update. It’s long, but there are reasons for that. My work with the stand was not going well, and the parallel construction with I wanted to finish it quickly.

The first thing I did this time was to almost finish both figures:

Two types of paints were used for painting. I ended up painting my face and hands with tempera. The uniform is completely painted with acrylic from Pacific88. There are still some small details that need to be finalized, but I will do this at the final stage on the stand.

Now about the stand. For it, I prepared formwork from rulers, and inside I put a piece of insulation for the wall. This way the design will be much lighter. Before pouring the plaster, I glued the corners with superglue and insulated the bottom with modeling tape.

The next stage is pouring gypsum. The plaster was mixed by eye, without any proportions. To give it greater strength, I added PVA glue in addition to water. Well, I poured all this mess into the prepared form:

After pouring, I walked over the surface with a wide brush to create uneven relief, and then sprinkled dry plaster on top of everything. The result was an excellent imitation of the earth. Many thanks to Dmitry Bogdanov for this advice.

Next, I let the plaster dry a little so that it was still soft, but not particularly sticky. And he began to imitate the tracks of caterpillars, wheels, and people’s movements. To do this, I used the Royal Tiger itself, unnecessary figurines of soldiers, wheels from a ZiS and tracks from a 34ki.

Next, everything was coated with Pacific88 primer. You will need to go over the black paint one more time and seal the result with varnish for additional strength. And it will be possible to continue work. So far this is the result:

Well, as usual, a video of the process, with which I tried to show in detail the work with the stand:

28-12-16

The last push and work with the diorama is completed. But I won’t rush, let’s talk about everything in order.

The first thing I did was paint the base in the base color to give it an earthy tone. Three Pacific paints from the AERO series were used: 0107 Rusty Tracks, 0288 Dark Wood, 0044 Dark Yellow Desert. Plus, at the end I went over with black paint on the places where I had lightened it up too much.

Next, I “planted” some grass, which I made from sanitary flax. I sprinkled it with static grass, painted sawdust, and pieces of plumbing flax. And on top of all this I put pigments from Wilder: GP19 Medium brown, GP09 Dark European terrain, GP19 Track dark brown. All this can be seen in more detail in the video below.

Similarly, I walked over the entire surface of the stand, somewhere I put a twig, somewhere a flower, and somewhere I planted a bunch of grass. The photos are not so great, but the final ones will be in good quality.

I decided to add a couple of little things to the most empty corner. For this purpose, stocks of old parts were suitable: a box from a Zvezda 34 and a couple of rollers from IS, if I’m not confusing anything. Painted with a brush. The base of the box is F-28 protective acrylic, F-11 sand abrasions. Roller base – F-35 Russian green acrylic, chipped – F-129 chipped, + rubbed with Wilder GP26 Bright Steel pigment. Rope from some tank kit in 72 scale.

After all these manipulations and adding small things to the diorama, everything looks something like this. All that remains is to contaminate the suspension and sides of the tank.

The last stage is contamination of the chassis.

Here, like many things in this construction site, I did it for the first time. I used plaster of Paris, a mixture of pigments, water, white spirit and a stiff bristle brush. Because I did it for the first time, there were some mistakes. Adding gypsum and water was unnecessary, because... I just needed to do some mud splatter. Well, the plaster with water hardened very quickly and I barely had time to spray. My mixture was more suitable for applying voluminous mud. But the frozen mixture did not go to waste, I crushed it and made a powder, which I also used to make a smoother transition from the ground to the tracks. Again, you can see the spraying process in more detail in the video. In short, we dip the brush into the resulting slurry, pull off the bristles of the brush with a finger and spray on the necessary parts of the tank, while not forgetting to cover the parts where these splashes are not needed with a sheet of paper. I stained the boots and trousers on the figures in the same way, only for them I had already prepared a mixture of pigment and white spirit. The pigments are the same as what I applied to the base of the diorama + some homemade ones from pastel crayons.

All that remains is to put everything in its place and take photographs.

First, photos with historical reference:

And all the other photos:

And a video with details of the last stage. Enjoy watching.

Camouflage of German armored vehicles. 1939-1945. Part 1

Camouflage is camouflage consisting of painting objects (clothing, guns, buildings, etc.) with spots, stripes, distorting their outlines and making them difficult to detect.

Initially, the military used khaki clothing for camouflage purposes. This first happened at the end of the 19th century, when the soldiers of the English army changed into khaki military uniforms. However, it was not the British who came up with the khaki-colored clothes themselves; they spied this idea from the Indians, with whom they were at war. But if the inhabitants of India wore clothes “the color of earth and dust” for practical purposes, then the British had more pragmatic goals - to blend in with the area.

The British army was completely dressed in khaki during the South African Boer War of 1899-1902. Russian and other troops adopted khaki from the British, and as a result, already on the battlefields of the First World War, the vast majority of soldiers on all sides fought in khaki.

In 1909, American artist Abbott Thayer published the book Coloration in the Animal Kingdom. The principles described in it served as the basis for the creation of the theory of scientific mimicry, and on its basis the principles of military camouflage were developed.

During World War I, British artist and naval officer Norman Wilkinson developed a special camouflage scheme for the navy - the so-called "blinding camouflage". This camouflage did not attempt to hide the vessel, but rather made it difficult to estimate its distance, speed and course.

In 1939, the French artist of Russian origin Vladimir Baranov-Rossine patented a spotted military uniform (“pointillist-dynamic camouflage”, also known as the “chameleon method”).

All concepts of army camouflage patterns were developed for the specific terrain in which military personnel are located, taking into account the regulatory requirements for camouflage in open areas. The basis is human vision during daylight hours, which is the starting point when compiling the color saturation of the picture, its geometric structure, and the contrast between adjacent fragments. All the armed forces of the world sooner or later came to the use of camouflage patterns for the manufacture of military equipment in order to protect personnel during combat operations.

By the beginning of World War II, camouflage was widely used in all branches of the military and taking into account the geographical features of the site of the intended battle. During World War II, winter camouflage was used - white camouflage coats worn over overcoats. In the Red Army, camouflage uniforms were introduced in the middle of the Great Patriotic War for snipers, sappers, reconnaissance officers and saboteurs. These were camouflage suits with uneven spots (in the shape of an amoeba) of brown or black on a khaki or green background. In 1944, camouflage suits appeared in light green with a dirty gray pattern imitating leaves, or with a pattern reminiscent of the current “digital” camouflage.

No claims to last resort:

That's enough historical information; in order to fit the topic of the blog, let's talk about the implementation of camouflage in military miniatures. More precisely, about the painting and selection of color schemes when recreating the camouflage of German armored vehicles in the period 1939-1945. Different materials, different colors, the amount of light, the dimensions of the object being evaluated and much more affect how we see the objects around us. This is why it is important to understand that an exact color match between a real tank and a model often leads to an unsatisfactory result. Of course, historical accuracy is the main goal pursued by the modeller, but we must not forget about the artistic component!

German camouflage can seem complex, and many choose solid colors like dark yellow or African brown when painting their models. Below I will try to present simplified schemes and color solutions that I found in books and on the Internet. (books, magazines and the Internet should never be thrown into the back drawer, they often help out).

RAL — German color standard developed in 1927 by the State Committee for Supply Conditions (German: Reichsausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und Gütesicherung) at the request of manufacturers of paint and varnish products. The classic RAL color collection, which has been the standard for color selection since 1927. Now the series includes 213 colors, including 17 metallics. The numbers are four-digit, (№XXXX) where 1xxx - yellow (30 pieces), 2xxx - orange (13 pieces), 3xxx - red (25 pieces), 4xxx - purple (12 pieces), 5xxx - blue (25 pieces), 6xxx - green (36 pieces), 7xxx - gray (38 pieces), 8xxx - brown (20 pieces), 9xxx - light and dark (14 pieces), the number of shades is indicated including metallics. Classic RAL colors are widely used in various areas of the economy.

And a little more history. The paint was supplied to factories in the form of a thick paste, and was diluted with gasoline, kerosene, alcohol and other solvents. Different solvents had different effects on the final color. The paint was applied from a spray gun, less often with brushes or rollers. Even in the field, they tried to mechanize the painting process.

These photographs clearly show that camouflage elements (spots, stripes, dots) are applied to the base (factory) color without the use of stencils and a clear separation of the boundaries of the color pattern.

Below is approximate matching RAL colors with model paints.

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European theater of operations.

1935-1940

In 1935, in the production of armored vehicles, two unified paints began to be used, dark gray and dark brown (RAL 7021 DUNKELGRAU & Dunkelbraun RAL 7017)

RAL Color:	Tamiya	Vallego
RAL 7021 Dunkelgrau
RAL 7017 Dunkelbraun

In July 1940 In 2009, a decree on a uniform basic color scheme for military equipment came into force.

Dunkelgrau is everyone's favorite "tank grey".

Pz III Early years of the war. DUNKELGRAU.

Pz II

1942-1943.

In October 1942, a new color standard was used for painting armored vehicles. Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) - originally developed and used for painting agricultural machinery. This color was used throughout the war as a base color and had several shades.

RAL Color:	Tamiya	Vallego
RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb

February 1943. The base color (RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb) is overlaid with a specially developed camouflage pattern using RAL6003 Olivgrun - olive green and RAL8017 Rotbraun.

RAL Color:			Vallego
RAL 6003 Olivgrun
RAL8017 Rotbraun
RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb

August 1944. In order to standardize and increase the effectiveness of camouflage, the use of new, factory-made camouflage templates begins. Hinterhalt-Tarnung- ambush camouflage consisting of previously used colors: basic Dunkelgelb, Rotbraun, Olivgrun.

RAL Color:			Vallego
RAL 6003 Olivgrun
RAL8017 Rotbraun
RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb

September 1944.

From September to October 1944, armored vehicles were painted in factory conditions and in conditions of an acute shortage of paint and varnish materials. The base layer - RAL 3009 Oxidrot primer was used as a camouflage element. By the end of 1944, all available dyes were used to work with camouflage. It is not uncommon for there to be no paints other than primer.

After December 1944, RAL 6003 Olivgrun was applied to the primer as a base color in combination with a pattern pattern of RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb and RAL 8017 Rotbraun.

History of the creation of the tank

In August 1942, the Wehrmacht Army Weapons Directorate (Heereswaffenamt) developed tactical and technical specifications for a heavy tank, intended to eventually replace the recently launched Tiger Pz.VI Ausf.E. The new vehicle was supposed to use an 88-mm cannon with a barrel length of 71 calibers, designed in 1941 by Krupp. In the fall of 1942, the Henschel company and the design bureau of Ferdinand Porsche, who again entered into competition with Erwin Aders, began designing the tank.

It must be said that Dr. Porsche did not offer anything fundamentally new. His tank VK 4502(P) - factory designation Tour 180/181 or Sonderfahrzeug III - was a slightly redesigned tank VK 4501(P) in relation to the new technical specifications. From the latter they borrowed the chassis and a power plant consisting of two Simmering-Graz-Pauker carburetor engines with a power of 200 hp. each and an electric transmission. Other project options proposed by the Porsche AG design bureau suggested the use of other types of engines, including twin diesel engines with 370 hp each. each or one X-shaped 16-cylinder diesel engine with a power of 700 hp, and a hydromechanical transmission. Two layout options for the VK 4502(P) gun were also developed: with a front and rear turret. In the second case, the engine was located in the middle part of the hull, and the control compartment was located in front.

Project VK 4502 (P) with front and rear turrets (Porsche)

The main disadvantages of the VK 4502(P) project were the lack of development and low reliability of the electric transmission, high cost and low manufacturability. It had practically no chance of winning the competition with E. Aders' car, however, in 1943, the Friedrich Krupp AG plant in Essen managed to produce 50 turrets for the Porsche tank. As for the Henschel project - VK 4503 (H), it met the requirements of the military to a much greater extent. In particular, the requirement put forward in February 1943 for the maximum possible unification with the Panther II tank.

German heavy tank “Tiger 2” (Royal Tiger)

However, when creating a new heavy tank, Aders also did not invent anything original: instead of the “box-shaped” hull of the old “Tiger,” his design was based on the shapes and proportions of the Panther’s hull and turret. At the same time, the 150-mm frontal armor of the hull was positioned at an angle of 50° to the vertical, and the 80-mm side armor - 25°. The chassis uses nine dual road wheels with internal shock absorption. Some of the chassis parts (in particular, the drive wheels) were borrowed from the Tiger and Panther. 8 inherited from the last new car a 700-horsepower Maybach HL 230P30 engine and a cooling system with four radiators located in pairs to the left and right of the engine. In Panther style, fans were also placed in the power compartment. The driveshaft was borrowed from the Tiger, and the gun mantlet and the installation of the front-mounted machine gun were unified with the Panther II.

Production table of German heavy tanks “Royal Tiger”

In mid-January 1943, Hitler was shown a model of the VK 4503(H) tank. I liked the “toy” and the work went in full swing. At the same time, just as in the case of the Tiger machine, the Fuhrer received an order to use already manufactured turrets designed by Porsche on the Henschel tank. On October 20, at the Aris training ground in East Prussia, the Fuhrer was shown a full-size wooden model of the new machine. (On November 8, 1943, the first three fully completed turrets arrived at the assembly shop from Wegmann and the assembly of tanks began. By the end of the year, three pre-production samples were manufactured.

The new tank received the designation Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf.B (Sd.Kfz.182), later replaced by Panzerkampfwagen – Tiger Ausf.B or Tiger II. The unofficial name Konigstiger - "Royal Tiger" - was used quite rarely in the Wehrmacht, but it became the most popular among Germany's opponents. For example, in our country the phrase “Royal Tiger” is known to everyone, but “Tiger B” or “Tiger II” will in most cases cause confusion.
Serial production began in January 1944. In accordance with the order of the Armament Directorate, it was planned to produce 1237 Tiger II tanks with an average assembly rate of 120 vehicles per month. However, these plans were not destined to come true from the very beginning. Back on October 23, 1943, that is, three days after the display at the Aris training ground, 486 British bombers bombed Kassel. The city was destroyed by 80%, including the Henschel factories.

As a result, by May 1944, only 20 serial “Royal Tigers” left the factory floors. Production reached its maximum in August, but even then it did not reach the planned level. Allied aircraft dealt another major blow to German tank factories in the fall. After this, the production of Tiger IIs decreased almost threefold. From March 1945, the Niebelungenwerke factories in St. Valentine were supposed to join their production, but for obvious reasons this did not happen.
The table of production of “royal tigers” was compiled according to the book of the German researcher Walter Spielberger “Tiger” and its variants.” Another German author, Fritz Hahn, gives a different number of tanks produced in 1945 - 112. Such discrepancies do not allow us to accurately indicate the total number of these vehicles - it ranges from 477 to 489, excluding the three prototypes that left the factory workshops in 1943.

Characteristic differences between German heavy tanks “Royal Tiger” (Tiger 2) in various production series

As already mentioned, the first 50 tanks were equipped with Porsche-designed turrets. The very first battles involving the “Royal Tigers” revealed a number of shortcomings, for example, the tendency of projectiles to ricochet down when hit in the frontal part, which threatened to create a hole in the relatively thin roof of the hull. By May 1944, Krupp had developed a new turret, which began to be installed on tanks starting with the 51st vehicle. This turret had a straight 180-mm frontal plate, eliminating the possibility of ricochet. Its larger armored volume made it possible to increase the ammunition load from 77 to 84 rounds.

Sectional view of the turret of the “Royal Tiger” tank

In addition to replacing the turret, which became the largest modernization, other smaller changes were made to the design of the tank during mass production. The design of the gun was improved, the armor of the engine compartment was strengthened, and a new sight was installed. At the end of November 1944, a new Kgs 73/800/152 track appeared on the “Royal Tigers”, and in March 1945, compressorless purging of the gun bore was introduced. It was carried out with air coming from a special cylinder, into which it was pumped using the recoil energy of the gun. By this time, the MG 34 machine guns were replaced by the MG 42, and the ball mount of the course machine gun was replaced by the MP 40 submachine gun. As the end of the war approached, more and more simplifications were made to the design of the tank. On the latest cars, for example, there was not even interior painting. Throughout the entire period of mass production, repeated but unsuccessful attempts were made to improve the final drives and tank engine.

As with the Tiger, the assembly of the Royal Tigers at Henschel was theoretically divided into 9 stages (6 hours each). On average, it took up to 14 days to assemble one tank. At the same time, from 18 to 22 machines were simultaneously in the welding shop, and 10 in the assembly shop. As for material consumption, the production of one “Royal Tiger” required 119,798 kg of steel (for comparison: the “Panther” - 77,469 kg).

At the beginning of 1945, 10 tanks with a Henschel turret were converted into command tanks. Having reduced the ammunition load to 63 rounds and dismantled the coaxial machine gun, Fu 5 and Fu 7 (Sd.Kfz.267 variant) or Fu 5 and Fu 8 (Sd.Kfz.268 variant) radio stations were placed in the free space. The conversion was carried out by Wegmann. The first Panzerbefehlswagen Tiger l command vehicle left the factory floor on February 3, 1945.

German heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.B “Tiger II” (Konigstiger / King(Royal)Tiger / Tiger II), front view, rear view

In fact, all modifications of the Royal Tiger tank are limited to linear and commander options. However, there were several unrealized projects.
At the end of 1944, as part of the German tank rearmament program, Krupp began designing the Tiger II tank, armed with a 105 mm cannon with a barrel length of 68 calibers. The gun was placed in a standard Henschel turret and had to be equipped with a sight stabilized in the vertical guidance plane. An armor-piercing projectile weighing 15.6 kg left the barrel with an initial speed of 990 m/s. This machine was not made in metal. During 1944, the design of two heavy self-propelled artillery units on a unified chassis was carried out, which used the engine-transmission group and chassis of the Tiger II.

Unrealized projects of super-heavy tanks “Tiger III L” and “Tiger III S” (E-90 and E-100)

The latter was extended to 11 road wheels per side. The chassis was designated Geschiitzwagen VI. The assembly of the 17 cm K44(Sf)/GwVI self-propelled gun was carried out at the Henschel training ground in Sennelager. The weight of the vehicle with a crew of 8 people, 5 rounds of ammunition and 30 mm frontal armor reached 58 tons. As the name of the self-propelled gun suggests, it was supposed to be armed with a 170 mm K44 cannon. Before the end of the war, they almost completely managed to produce one vehicle without weapons, which was captured by the Allies.
The other vehicle was supposed to be armed with a 210 mm mortar. Its mass was 52.7 tons, and the transportable ammunition included only 3 rounds; the 21 cm Mrs.18(Sf)/Gw VI self-propelled gun was not built.

The Royal Tiger chassis was planned to be used to transport the 280 mm K5 railway gun. The artillery unit (barrel, carriage and base plate) in the stowed position was installed on two specially equipped tank chassis, designated Gerat 566. These vehicles, as well as the Gerat 817 - a self-propelled carriage for 305 mm, designed from units of the “Royal Tiger” and 420-mm mortars remained on paper.

Technical description of “Tiger II” (Royal Tiger)

The layout of the Ausf.B Tiger tank is the same as that of all German tanks of the Second World War period, that is, with a front-mounted transmission. The control section occupied the front of the tank. It housed the main clutch, gearbox and turning mechanism. To the left of the gearbox were the tank controls, control instruments and the driver's seat. On the right is a machine gun, a radio operator's seat and part of the gun's ammunition. The radio station was also located in the control compartment - above the gearbox and the right final drive.
The fighting compartment was located in the middle part of the tank. Above it, on a ball support, there was a turret in which a cannon and a coaxial machine gun were installed, and to the left of the cannon there were fire control mechanisms, a telescopic sight, foot pedals for turning the turret from a hydraulic drive and a foot release of the machine gun, seats for the gunner and tank commander. To the right of the gun was the loader's seat. Ammunition was stored in the turret niche and along the walls of the hull in the fighting compartment.

At the bottom of the tank, under the rotating floor of the fighting compartment, a hydraulic turret rotation drive was installed and two fuel tanks were located. In the engine compartment, at the rear of the hull, there was an engine, fans and radiators of the cooling system, and fuel tanks. There was a partition between the engine and fighting compartments.

The power plant of the Tiger Ausf.B tank was entirely borrowed from the Panther tank, and the transmission was borrowed from the Tiger Ausf.E tank. The tank's hull was identical in shape to that of the Panther tank. It was made from rolled armor plates, tenoned and welded with austenite electrodes (that is, high-carbon steel electrodes). Six types of plates with thicknesses ranging from 25 to 150 mm were used in the tank hull. The upper frontal plate of the hull was made solid and had only an embrasure for the ball mount of the course machine gun.

Eyelets for attaching towing shackles on the “Royal Tiger” tank

Commander's cupola on the turret of the "Royal Tiger" tank

In front of the hull roof, viewing devices for the driver and gunner-radio operator were mounted, protected by armored U-shaped brackets. A cutout is made in the upper part of the front windshield on the left to provide the driver with maximum visibility.

Layout of the heavy tank “Royal Tiger” Tiger II

In addition, in the front part of the hull roof there were manholes for the driver and gunner-radio operator. To enter and exit the tank, the hatch covers were lifted up and moved to the side using a special lifting and turning mechanism. Like on the Panther tank, manholes were made in the hatch cover intended for mounting and dismantling the transmission. Between the hatches there was a ventilation hole covered with an armored cap.
Internal watertight bulkheads divided the aft part of the hull into three compartments. No water entered the central compartment where the engine was located. When overcoming water obstacles, the two outer ones could be filled with water. These compartments were closed on top with armored gratings, four of them served for the influx of air cooling the radiators, and the two middle ones served for its removal.

The frontal part of the “Royal Tiger” Tiger II tank with its features

In the roof of the central compartment there was a hatch, the lid of which had two vents for the flow of air to the air filters, as well as three holes: for pouring water into the cooling system, for access to the neck of the power system and for installing an air supply pipe when driving the tank underwater (OPVT system a small number of early production vehicles were equipped).

Armor scheme for the heavy tank “Royal Tiger” Tiger II

At the bottom of the hull, hatches were provided for access to the suspension torsion bars, to the drain valves of the power, cooling and lubrication systems, to the water pump and to the drain plug of the gearbox housing. In front of the gunner-radio operator's seat, an emergency hatch was equipped in the bottom.
The upper branch of the caterpillar and the vertical part of the side of the hull were covered with a 6-mm bulwark, which also served as a fender liner.

Henschel turret of the King Tiger Tiger II tank

Mask of the Henschel turret of the King Tiger Tiger II tank

Differences in the shape of the Henschel tower and the Porsche tower

The tank's turret is welded, oval, streamlined, with a developed aft niche. It was made from rolled armor plates connected into a spike. The frontal armor plate was connected to the side plates with dovetail locks. The sides and rear wall of the tower were inclined at an angle of 25°. On the left side, stamping was made for the commander's cupola. On prototypes and the first production vehicles, below the stamping there was a hatch for ejecting spent cartridges; later it was boiled down and then completely liquidated. In addition, both sides had loopholes for firing personal weapons, which were also welded later.

Layout of the “Type Henschel” turret of the “Royal Tiger” Tiger II tank

The front wall of the turret was a welded curved armor plate of variable thickness - 80 mm in the lower part, then sharply decreasing to 60 mm and gradually - to 50 mm. There were three cutouts in the front wall of the turret: the central one for mounting a cannon; right - for a coaxial machine gun; the left one is for a telescopic sight (on early production tanks equipped with a binocular sight, two cutouts were made to the left of the gun).

Inside the turret of the “Royal Tiger” Tiger II tank: a view of the gunner’s seat through the commander’s hatch, on the right we see the gun breech, on the left you can see the gun’s horizontal aiming flywheel.

Inside the turret of the “Royal Tiger” Tiger II tank: view of the driver’s seat

Inside the turret of the King Tiger II tank: view of the rear of the turret, showing projectile retention elements and the loading/escape hatch

The roof of the tower consisted of three sheets: front and rear inclined and central - horizontal. A commander's cupola with seven observation devices and a rail for mounting an anti-aircraft machine gun was installed on the roof. Its design was similar to the turret of the Ausf.E Tiger tank of later production. To the right of the commander's cupola there was a rectangular loading hatch for the loader, and in front of it was an observation device. In addition, in the roof of the turret there was a fan, hatches for ejecting spent cartridges and installing a close combat device, and in the rear plate there was a hatch for mounting and dismantling the gun, which was closed with a massive bolted lid. It, in turn, had a hatch for loading ammunition and emergency exit from the tank.

German heavy tank Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.B “Tiger II” (Royal Tiger) (Konigstiger / King(Royal)Tiger / Tiger II) with a Porsche turret

Starting with the 51st vehicle, a new Henschel-type turret was introduced. It differed from the “Porsche-type” turret in its simpler configuration, the location of hatches and hatches in the roof, the complete absence of any holes in the sides and a hatch for dismantling the gun in the rear plate. The bent frontal plate was replaced with a solid straight armor plate 180 mm thick. Finally, a new pear-shaped mask was borrowed from the Panther II heavy tank. In the new turret, the gun was installed with a slight offset to the right from the longitudinal axis of the tank. The clear diameter of the tower ring was 1850 mm.

Porsche-type turret mounted on Royal Tiger tanks

Option for the location of hatches and hatches on the roof of the turret of the heavy tank “Royal Tiger”

The turret was driven by a hydraulic turning mechanism borrowed from the Ausf.E Tiger tank. The turning speed depended on the crankshaft speed. At 2000 rpm and the overdrive gear of the turret drive was turned on, the turret made a full revolution in 19 s, at 1000 rpm and the overdrive gear was turned off - in 77 s. In manual mode, to fully rotate the turret, the gunner needed to make 700 revolutions of the flywheel.
The outside of the tank's hull and turret were covered with Zimmerit, over which camouflage paint was applied; the inside was painted dark yellow.

Video review of German tanks, including “Tiger 1” and “Tiger 2” (Royal Tiger)

The main armament of the Royal Tiger is the 8.8 cm KwK 43 cannon of 88 mm caliber, produced at the Fr.Garny plant in Frankfurt am Main. The gun barrel had a length of 71 caliber - 6298 mm; together with the muzzle brake - 6595 mm. The mass of the gun is 1605 kg, and the entire installation including the mask is 2265 kg. The initial speed of an armor-piercing projectile is 1000 m/s. The maximum rollback length is 580 mm. Vertical aiming - from - 8° to +15°.

Armor penetration of a cannon shell of the Tiger 2 tank (Royal Tiger)

The gun was equipped with a vertical wedge breech and a semi-automatic pump type. The recoil devices were mounted above the gun barrel and consisted of a hydraulic recoil brake (right) and an air-liquid knurler (left). The lifting mechanism of the gun is of the screw type.

The gun was balanced using a special mechanism located in the turret on the right side of the gun. The trigger mechanism is electric type, with a safety device.
An air compressor was installed in the fighting compartment under the gunner's seat to blow through the gun barrel after each shot. The barrel purging device ended with two nozzles on both sides of the bolt ring. The air flow blew powder gases out of the charging chamber and prevented them from entering the fighting compartment.
The gun was paired with a 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun (MG 42 on the latest tanks). The course machine gun was located in the frontal plate of the hull and in a ball mount. On the commander's cupola, on the rail of the FliegerbeschuHgerat 42 device, it was possible to install an MG 34 anti-aircraft machine gun.

Option for opening the commander's hatch in the turret of the "Royal Tiger" tank

The Royal Tiger tanks were initially equipped with a binocular telescopic articulated sight TZF 9d/1, and then a monocular telescopic articulated sight with variable magnification TZF 9d. The articulation of the sight ensured freedom of movement of the objective part together with the coaxial installation of the cannon and machine gun over the entire range of the vertical firing angle with a stationary eyepiece. The eyepiece part of the sight was hinged to the roof of the head and had height adjustment.

Installation location of the TZF 9d/1 sight

A feature of the optical design with variable magnification was the presence of three lenses of the wraparound system instead of two, usually used in tank telescopic sights with constant magnification. The first lens of the wrapping system was fixedly fixed in the sight body. The second and third lenses were connected to each other by a rocker mechanism and were included alternately in the optical design. When the second lens was turned on, the scope provided a 5x magnification with a field of view of 12.5°, and when the third lens was turned on, it gave a 2.5x magnification with a field of view of 25°. The MG 34 course machine gun was equipped with a 1.8x KZF 2 telescopic sight.

Double-chamber muzzle brake of the Royal Tiger tank gun

The gun's ammunition consisted of 84 rounds (out of 77 for the first 50 tanks), which were placed in the turret niche and turret box niches in the control compartment and fighting compartment. Machine gun ammunition - 4800 rounds. As an auxiliary weapon, the tank was equipped with a “close combat device” (Nahkampfgerat) - a 26 mm caliber mortar, the ammunition load of which included smoke, fragmentation and incendiary shells. The mortar was located on the right side of the tower roof.

The Tiger II tank was equipped with a 12-cylinder carburetor four-stroke Maybach HL 230P30 engine with a power of 700 hp. (515 kW) at 3000 rpm (in practice, the speed did not exceed 2500). Cylinder diameter 130 mm. Piston stroke 145 mm. The cylinders were arranged in a V-shape at an angle of 60°. Compression ratio 6.8. Dry engine weight 1300 kg.
Fuel is leaded gasoline with an octane rating of at least 74. The capacity of seven gas tanks is 860 liters. The fuel supply is forced, using two Solex diaphragm pumps. There are four carburetors, Solex 52FFJHD.
Lubrication system - circulating, under pressure, with a dry sump. The oil circulation was carried out by three gear pumps, of which one is injection and two are suction.

The cooling system is liquid. There are four radiators, connected two in series. The capacity of the radiators is about 114 liters. Zykion type fans were located on both sides of the engine.
To speed up engine starting in the cold season, a thermosiphon heater was used, heated by a blowtorch, which was installed on the outside of the hull aft sheet.
The engine was started normally using an electric starter. If necessary, it was possible to start the engine manually or with a starter. The manual engine start handle was connected to a claw coupling on the engine crankshaft. The handle was inserted into a small hole in the rear hull plate on the right side, just below the exhaust pipe. The hole was covered with an armored cover.
To start the engine, the starter removed the cover of a large hatch at the level of the engine crankshaft. The launcher was fixedly fixed on the tank's armor with two holders, and the gear on the launcher shaft engaged with the gear on the engine crankshaft.

Using a special device, it was possible to start the tank engine from the engines of Kubelwagen or Schwimmwagen cars. The transmission consisted of a cardan drive, a gearbox with a built-in main clutch, a turning mechanism, final drives and disc brakes. At the same time, the main clutch, gearbox and rotation mechanism, which consisted of two summing planetary gears, were structurally combined into a two-flow transmission and rotation mechanism.

Options for starting the engine of the “Royal Tiger” Tiger II tank: using an inertial starter, a starter and using a car engine

The Maybach OLVAR OG(B) 40 12 16B gearbox produced by the Zahnradfabrik plant in Friedrichshafen is a beeval gearbox, with longitudinal axles, eight-speed, with constant gear mesh, with a central synchronizer and individual brakes, with semi-automatic control. The box provided 8 forward and 4 reverse gears. Its peculiarity was the absence of common shafts for several gears; each gear was mounted on separate bearings. The box was equipped with an automatic hydraulic servo drive. To change gears, it was enough to move the lever without squeezing the main clutch pedal. The servo drive automatically, without driver participation, turned off the main clutch and the operating gear, synchronized the angular velocities of the gear couplings, engaged a new gear, and then smoothly included the main clutch.
In the event of a malfunction of the hydraulic equipment, switching gears and disengaging the main clutch could be done mechanically. The gear lubrication system is jet, with oil supplied to the meshing point during a dry sump.

A feature of the gearbox of the Tiger Ausf.B tank compared to the Tiger Ausf.E machine was the presence of a radiator that cooled the oil. The radiator was located in a special tank with water that did not circulate and was replaced manually.
A multi-disc main clutch with friction of the working surfaces in oil was structurally built into the gearbox, just like the parking brake.
A friction-gear turning mechanism with double power supply provided the tank with two fixed turning radii in each gear. In this case, the maximum radius was 114 m, the minimum - 2.08 m. Sharper turns when the gear was engaged, including around a lagging track, were not provided by the tank's transmission. With the gearbox in neutral, it was possible to rotate around the center of gravity of the tank by moving the caterpillar running forward and trailing back with a radius of B/2. Final drives are double-row, combined, with a balanced driven shaft. The LB 900.4 mechanical disc brakes were manufactured by Argus.

View of the suspension of the “Royal Tiger” tank

Assembling the chassis of the Royal Tiger tank at the factory

The chassis of the tank, applied to one side, consisted of 9 all-metal double road wheels with internal shock absorption, staggered in two rows (five rollers in the outer row, four in the inner). The dimensions of the skating rink are 800×95 mm. Suspension - individual, torsion bar, single-shaft. Torsion bar diameter - 60…63 mm. The balancers of the front and rear road wheels were equipped with hydraulic shock absorbers located inside the body.

Options for the “Royal Tiger” tank cover of the engine compartment

The front drive wheels had two removable ring gears with 18 teeth each. Pin engagement. Guide wheels with a diameter of 650 mm - with metal tires and crank mechanisms for tensioning the tracks. The tracks are steel, fine-linked, of 92 tracks each (46 smooth tracks, 46 double-ridged). The width of combat tracks Kgs 73/800/52-818 mm, transport tracks Kgs 73/660/52 – 658.5 mm. The transport tracks of the Royal Tiger tank were the combat tracks of the Panther and were used for transportation by rail.

Painting options for “Royal Tiger” tanks depending on fronts and seasons

The electrical equipment was made according to a single-wire circuit. Voltage 12 V. Sources: Bosch GTLN 700/12-1500L1 generator with a power of 0.7 kW, two Bosch batteries with a capacity of 150 Ah. The batteries were connected in parallel. When the starter start button was pressed, the batteries were switched to a series connection using the SF/Se8 switch, which provided the 24 V voltage necessary to operate the starter. Consumers: Bosch BPD 6/24 electric starter with a power of 4.4 kW and a voltage of 24 V, ignition system, tower fan, control devices, sight illumination, sound and light signaling devices, internal and external lighting equipment, sound signal, gun and machine gun triggers. The fighting compartment was equipped with an electric heater with a power of 100 W.

All Tiger tanks were equipped with a FuG 5 radio station, which had a range of 6.4 km for telephone and 9.4 km for telegraph, as well as a Bordsprechanlage 8 intercom system.
The fire extinguishing system was automatic and included five charges of fire extinguishing mixture with a total capacity of 3 liters. Thermal sensors connected to four injectors were located in the most fire-prone parts of the engine compartment. If the temperature in the power compartment exceeded 120 °C, then the system sprayed one charge of the mixture for 7 s. If the fire could not be extinguished, then another charge was fired, etc. The alarm was displayed on the driver's instrument panel.

Currently, “royal tigers” are on display at the Saumur Musee des Blindes in France, the RAC Tank Museum Bovington (the only surviving example with a Porsche turret) and the Royal Military College of Science Shrivenham in the UK, the Munster Lager Kampftruppen Schule in Germany (transferred by the Americans in 1961 year), Ordnance Museum Aberdeen Proving Ground in the USA, Switzerlands Panzer Museum Thun in Switzerland and the Military Historical Museum of Armored Weapons and Equipment in Kubinka near Moscow.

Tank “Royal Tiger” (Tiger II) on the move. A living legend at one of the tank festivals.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the German heavy tank “Tiger 2” or “Royal Tiger”

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Data source: “Encyclopedia of German tanks of the 2nd World War”, P. Chamberlain, H. Doyle; Magazine “Armor Collection” M. Bratinsky (1998. - No. 3)