The other day in our store there was a replenishment in the family of cats, Tiger " 131 " from the company Dragon with the article 6820 . It would seem that an experienced Modeler can surprise the model of the Tiger, probably one of the most popular tanks? The singularity of this set is that it does not just reflect a tank of a certain modification, but accurately recreates a particular instance with a very unusual history. This tank, made in Central Germany, had seen Churchill, king George VI of great Britain, become a Museum exhibit and even a movie star, but everything in order.

At the beginning of world war II, during the French campaign, German troops encountered tanks such as the cavalry Somua S35 and the heavy Char B1. As you know, the attack on France was successful for Germany, but these enemy tanks forced German designers to think about creating a more armored and better armed vehicles. C the beginning of the offensive against the Soviet Union, and clashes with the T-34 and KV-1, the need for a heavy tank of the new model became obvious. The production of Tigers began in August 1942, the production of each tank cost more than 800 000 Reichsmarks, on modern money it is equal to 8 500 000 euros, although the transfer is quite conditional, the labor intensity was about 300 000 man-hours. The result of these efforts was a truly outstanding war machine, superior to most of its contemporaries.

 

                                            Tiger Assembly.

Tiger was in many revolutionary tank, unconventional was even manual for crew, except Orthodox instructions in "Tigerfibel" can be find humorous and even erotic sketches. 

 

 

  Page from Tigerfibel

 

Hitler was impatient to try out his new tanks in action, the first production vehicles were delivered to the Soviet Union at the end of August, machines suffering from "childhood diseases" suffered the first losses, not having time to join the battle. The first combat offensive was launched on September 22, 1942 near Leningrad, the swampy terrain and technical malfunctions again prevented the tigers from acting effectively. 

A little later, in October-November 1942, tigers arrive on the African front. The British naturally became interested in a new piece of equipment, according to some reports, the order to capture the "Tiger" was given personally by Churchill. The British did not succeed for a long time, damaged tanks were either destroyed by the crew or evacuated from the battlefield. Only 20-21 April 1943, our hero, "Tiger 131" was damaged by three shots of heavy British "Churchill", the wounded crew threw the tank with a jammed tower. Winston Churchill personally came to inspect the captured tank, unfortunately, the hatches were too narrow “ "Must be pretty lean chaps, these tank aces" (Must be skinny guys, these tank aces. the Prime Minister grumbled and stopped for an external inspection. The next VIP-person was the king of great Britain George VI who made a long air trip to Tunisia for this purpose. 

 

 

 King George VI of great Britain inspects a Tiger in Tunisia. The tank is already marked with British designations

After delivery to the UK, in October 1943, the tank was put on display, then was carefully studied by designers, and in 1951 was transferred to the Museum. The tank was always kept in working order, first the tank was repaired with parts of other tigers, and in 1990 went for an overhaul that lasted until 2012 and cost £80,000. One of the people advising the restoration of the machine was David Byrden, who oversaw the creation of the model from the company Dragon.

At the moment, the Tiger 131 is the only working Tiger in the world, the tank is on display at the bovington tank Museum and attracts many visitors, some lucky ones can even win a trip on the tank. 

 

Advertising on the official website of the Museum:

"Win a ride on tiger 131

Take part in the tank Museum lottery for a once in a lifetime opportunity....

5 March 2015»

This tank was used in the filming of the film Fury (Rage) in 2014, the only case in modern cinema of the use of a real Tiger, for example in the film "Save private Ryan" in the role of a tiger is used T-34, it can be distinguished by the characteristic front rollers. 

 Shot from the movie "Fury" 2014

 

 

 Shot from the film "Save private Ryan", the picture shows the characteristic front rollers T-34.

Returning to the model, we can say that the tank is made with the highest accuracy, however, characteristic of all models of the company. Dragon engineers have taken care not only of authenticity, but also of ease of Assembly, even for novice modelers. The set will allow you to accurately recreate the exhibit In bovington of our days, a scene from a film or one of the tigers used by Germany from Russia to North Africa.

Sources:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heroic-wwii-mission-capture-deadly-820143

http://www.tankmuseum.org/home

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_131

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9179058/Tiger-Tank-inspected-by-Winston-Churchill-back-on-the-move.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/culture/film-fury/11130621/fury-tiger-tank.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2713180/

 


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