1:35 Sd.Kfz.181 Pz.Kfw.VI. Ausf. E Tiger I Experimental Project - TAKOM

The Tiger I was a German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm (3.5 in) KwK 36 gun. 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944.

The 8.8 cm KwK 43 was an 88 mm 71-calibre-length tank gun designed by Krupp and used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was mounted as the primary armament on the Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B Tiger II. The 8.8 cm Pak 43, an anti-tank gun, was very similar in design but mounted on tank destroyers or deployed stand-alone on the field.

During the course of World War II Soviet forces where able to capture many German tanks in various states of disrepair, if at all possible they would be put into services against their former owners. In an effort to help elevate the later problem several projects where started to refit the German tanks with Soviet weapons. One of these was the T-VI-100 which replaced the PzKfw VI Tiger's 88mm KwK36 L/56 with the 100mm D10 which was used on the SU-100 and later the T-54. 

The main gun was to be the 75mm L/55 A18 Škoda cannon (German designation KwK 42/1) with an automatic autoloader, using a revolver magazine. The gun penetrated a 98mm armor plate at 1000m. After each round, the barrel was automatically cleaned by compressed air. The factory-estimated rate of fire was to be 15 rounds per minute and the tank was to carry 60 cannon rounds. Unlike the T-25 project, this gun was completed during the war as a prototype and after the war, it was tested in a captured Tiger tank.

THE KIT:

• Metal barrels included
• Link and length style tracks include
• Tracks assembly jig included
• Three types of markings
• Photo etched parts included