"... there we have it. Another fine kit has received an excellent package of upgrades, all for a very reasonable price..."

< full review here >
- Frank De Sisto

DR6312: Kingtiger (Porsche Turret)
1/35 injection plastic kit with multimedia accessories and decals

Some of the most popular images of Panzers from Normandy is of the Kingtigers with the Porsche designed turret in service with schwere Panzer Abteilung 503. In Normandy the Kingtiger’s 88mm gun’s ability to extract a high toll on Shermans and Cromwells made it much feared by Allied tank crew. On the Eastern Front the Kingtiger was also a strong adversary for the Soviet armour. This new kit from Dragon's new Premium Edition range depicts one of the early production Kingtigers with the Porsche Turret design which had a curved mantlet and side armour and includes a significant number of upgraded and bonus parts compared to the original 2003 Dragon release of this Panzer.

CONTENTS

As expected this kit is based on Dragon's earlier versions of the Kingtiger and includes the one-piece lower hull (with improvements introduced on the release with the Henschel turret), large single pieces for the upper hull and turret shell, as well as many of the smaller parts.

New and upgraded parts in this kit include:

• New 1 piece turned metal barrel with a crisp three-part injection plastic muzzle break. Unlike some aftermarket barrels, this barrel is a drop fit and the muzzle break requires no clean up. It is the earlier one-piece style most often seen on the Kingtiger with the Porsche turret. Injection plastic one and two-piece barrels are also included.
• New larger photo etch fret with all six mesh screens for the engine deck, clamps for the tools including the wing-nuts on the brackets for the towing clevises and the jack and the mesh cover for the vent for the deep forwarding air intake. The larger anti-debris screens are now one preformed metal inserts to remove one of the trickier steps in the 2003 release.
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  “Magic tracks”. These tracks depicting the ‘standard’ combat track Gg 26/800/300 used with the 9 tooth drive sprocket. Each link comes loose, so there is minimal cleanup; and the links can be snapped together before a quick application of liquid glue secures the joins. Each link has two injection marks on the inner faces, which can be easily scraped off using a hobby knife with a rounded blade, although you only need to remove the outer mark as the inner mark is hidden by the road wheels. These improved tracks offer a considerable saving in construction time over those in the original release.
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  The retooled steel road wheels with improved detail including revised grease nipple recesses and more accurate reproduction of the nuts and bolt heads. These wheels were first used on the Dragon King Tiger ‘Ardennes’ and ‘Battle of the Bulge’ releases and address a minor issue some people noted about Dragon's earlier release.
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  Improved suspension arms, which only have two connecting gates to the sprue and based on past experience are easier to clean up than those in the earlier releases.
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  Newly tooled exhaust cowlings.
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  A choice of two new slide molded cupolas, which differ slightly in their profile.
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  New hull MG with internal detail (from the Dragon Panzer IV Ausf D kit).
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  Metal chain for use on the turret rear hatch spent shell port.
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  Two sets of on-vehicle tools are provided of which one is the set from the original release with the clamps molded on for easy of assembly and the other which includes all the tools bar one has no clamps and is for use with the PE clamps.
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  A new jack that is molded without clamps for use with the PE. The original jack is still included.
  Clear plastic parts for the periscopes including a generous number of spares.
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  Two lengths of twisted tow cable wire, being a thicker 420mm length and a thinner 450mm length. These are used to make four long tow cables each with a pair of plastic cable ends. The earlier 2003 release only had the thicker cable.
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  4 metal U-shaped tow hooks with 4 brass towing cable heads.

As with earlier releases the level of accuracy is high and the overall dimensions are consistent with Hilary Doyle's scale plans. The multi-fold instruction sheet is based on the earlier release, which had colour step-by-step photos of a kit being assembled. Line drawings have been added to show the assembly on new tools and use of PE. I found these photo instructions easy to follow when I built the 2003 release.

CONSTRUCTION

I enjoyed making the original release of this kit and the inclusion of the Magic Tracks should save time. This kit contains ample detail to keep most modellers busy over several sessions and the inclusion of the extra PE will save many modelers from buying a general PE set (no PE fenders are included).

One easy improvement is to add a cable to the light on the centre of the glacis. This cable run from the hull roof to the light’s base and can be scratch built using stripped electrical wire. The hatch to the engine bay can be positioned open, allowing for the possibility of adding an after-market engine. Zimmerit, which was standard on production series King Tigers with the Porsche turret, should be added using putty or an aftermarket set. I applied an aftermarket resin zimmerit set to my model and was pleased with the results.

DECALS

A new medium sized decal sheet by Cartograf is included with markings for five Panzers. The painting guide illustrates each of these tank in colour from four views (side, top, front, rear). The decals are for 3rd company schwere Heeres Panzer Abteilung 503 in Hungary, 1945 which has a winter whitewash and is the well known ‘Anneliese’; turret number white “13” from Panzer Kompanie (Funklenk) 316 who were issued the first five production Kingtigers and deployed to France in 1944 but had to destroy these tanks before using them in anger; s. Heeres Pz.Abt. 506, Arnhem 1944, which is a dark yellow with a green over spray that opposed the airborne landings; an unidentified Panzer from the Eastern Front 1944 which has green and brown stripes and lastly “113” from s. Heeres Pz.Abt. 503 in Normandy June to July 1944.

RECOMMENDATION

The improved and additional features have significantly increased the appeal of Dragon Kingtiger with the Porsche designed turret and in doing so ensured it represents even better value for money. The “magic tracks” and improved suspension arms will speed up assembly, while other parts such as the metal barrel and enlarged photo etch enhance the kit’s finesse. Definitely recommended.

- Neville Lord

"...this is a nice upgrade to the original kit..."

< full review here >
- Cookie Sewell