So, where do the combat tracks go?
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Tracks and wheels, and fenders (and BII) stay with the tank on the same car. Whichever track the tank was not wearing, (either type) was stored near it.
Note wheelsets, and fenders srtored underneath tank:
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Hey all, i think my intent was misunderstood.
Platform in the middle of diorama. I was thinking I wanted a quarter master with a desk with afrika korp packs on it with campaign helmet… something to dramatize it being for afrika. Behind him would be a Tiger I heading to afrika with its crew inspecting it, maybe screwing with the paint cans and checking the downs.
The opposite side of the platform would be another Tiger I in grey on its own ssyms on a separate rail line. I originally thought it’d be fun to have another quartermaster issue of cold weather gear to soldiers, something to tell the story of them going east. I was originally thinking of over dramatizing it by having the guys who have to go to Afrika getting to ride in a nice passenger car while the guys heading east would be walking towards a G10 boxcar.
My original intent was to show two different units, maybe make it look like the guys heading east were getting a raw deal while the guys headed to Afrika via Italy were getting a tropical paradise vacation.
My other thought after reading some of the feed back would be to possibly ditch the scene of guys heading east on the platform and maybe make it a second line at a rail yard that just so happen to pass through while the Tiger crew going to Afrika was stopped.
After reading that the tigers never got the palm tree insignia that rules out panting tan patches with the Afrika korp insignia on them, next idea would be maybe some soldier tagging it on the side of a boxcar or a board on the side with Afrika written on it.
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@18bravo when they removed the putter road wheel portion did that get stored on a gondola or under the tank?
@DByrden thank you for that wealth of information!
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You see them in the third photo behind the tank. But surprisingly, the second photo is very unGerman - turrets pointed in different directions in relation to the hull, track laid out differently. What happened to Prussian precision? Even though the wheels are behind the photo one the one tank, who knows where they might be on another? There didn’t appear to be an SOP. There certainly was one in the US Army for rail movement.
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Rob,
this is a Culemeyer streetroller for heavy loads. You can´t see any tracks underneat.
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>> “second photo…turrets pointed in different directions in relation to the hull”
The rear Tiger is one of the few that had a rear-mounted travel lock. Also seen in the third photo.
David
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Unfortunately we have zero photographs of Tigers being dispatched from Bad Fallingbostel for Africa. But here are some relevant shots:
These are crewmen of the 501st, on their way to Tunisia. We believe they’re in Reggio Calabria, Italy, where the train from Germany let them off, and they’re waiting for a ferry. This is probably how they looked when leaving Bad Fallingbostel.
This is Tiger “02” of the 501st debarking in Bizerte. Space on the barge was very tight, more so than on a SSyms platform, so everything is piled on top. It gives you an idea of what loose equipment was shipped along with the tank : the outer wheels and their hubs, a toolbox etc.
This is not Bad Fallingbostel; it’s Stationsstraat in Leopoldsburg, Belgium. Nevertheless it’s a Tiger prepped for its journey to the Eastern Front, waiting near the railway station. Once again you can get a sense of how the crew would pile materials on their tank. The wooden beams will be used to secure the Tiger on the SSyms gondola. I don’t know what the bundle of poles is for.
p.s. Tigers would not be tagged as “Afrika” or similar because of the need for military secrecy! If not already bearing turret numbers, they would be chalked with loading numbers like this. But we know that all of the African Tigers were painted with their turret numbers while still in training.
David
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David: Has the travel lock being captured in any Tiger kits? Just out of couriosity.
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@18bravo thank you, i think I’ll do my tigers with the wheels behind the tank.
@DByrden i think my best bet is to just have the crew wearing the high desert boots as if they were breaking them in. I agree i don’t think they would have wrote Afrika on the side of anything if it’s for military security. Thank you for the photos, I think painting turret numbers on may be my best bet at this point.
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Well, tell us if you’re thinking of 501 or 504 Tigers for Africa, and I will post the dimensions of their numbers. I designed decals for Dragon kits.
Also I can tell you which Eastern Front unit they were likely to meet at the station.
David
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Hermann:
I believe that Tamiya were the first kit company to tackle it, back in 1995. Here’s their “Mid Tiger” built.
Later, I helped Dragon to create a multi-part version that can be built folded or full or empty. Several other kit makers have now followed suit.
David
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Thanks David!
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@DByrden thank you, let me do some research and I’ll make a decision on the unit. More than likely I’d do the unit that got there first.
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@DByrden the two tiger kits I have are the dml Tunisian kit and the Tiger I initial outside of Leningrad
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dml have several kits of each subject! Can you give us their kit numbers?
David
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@DByrden dml kits 6608MT And dml kit 6600MT
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@DByrden Great I formation, thank you.
Not part of this thread, and I’m sorry to ask again because you answered it years ago on the old site and I cannot find my notes, but is there any truth to the report that some of the Tigers were painted with Italian Air Force greens before shipping to Tunisia?
