I don’t know if you want to hear this, but you asked for it, so:
Four Tiger companies participated in the third battle of Kharkov. They all belonged to different units : Grossdeutschland, Das Reich, Totenkopf and LAH.
All of these Tigers were painted brown-green when they were new ( RAL 8000 ). Three of the companies promptly covered their tanks in whitewash, of varying quality. But Grossdeutschland left their Tigers green, driving around a white expanse of snow.
Grossdeutschland’s turret bins were dark grey. Also, when they changed the numbers on their tanks, and painted over the old numbers, they didn’t have the correct paint. They used a lighter colour. I believe it is RAL 8020.
So much for colours. These Tigers were similar but not identical to the famous Tiger “131” in the UK museum. Most model companies can sell you a Tiger kit to match “131”, but only in recent years have we seen model kits for “Kharkov” Tigers. Here is a link to a vendor selling one of them: he kindly provides photographs of the completed model, which you can refer to.
Kharkov Tiger model from Das Reich
The biggest change, from the usual “131” version, is the turret bin. These Kharkov tanks have a wider bin with a different shape. It is so wide that it doesn’t fit on the turret properly, requiring to be supported with metal strips on the sides. Das Reich’s Tiger company change the shape of their bins.
I have a page about these wide turret bins and how they were modified by each unit.
The next difference is on the back wall, at the bottom. Your model kit probably has a shaft stored there, in two storage clips. It is part of the tank’s starter handle. But these Tigers had nothing there.
Most of these Tigers had a shovel on the front, on top of the nose. But the Das Reich company had no shovels. Maybe they didn’t like to dig holes? Instead, they stored the starter shaft in those same two clips.
As you said, these Tigers didn’t have a periscope on the turret roof.
The Feifel system issued with these Tigers was the older version, with two round drums per side. But, due to the weather conditions at Kharkov, three of the units didn’t install their Feifels. Only the large V-duct on the engine hatch was present. LAH did put the Feifels on their tanks, but did not paint them white. They appear to be green.
The crews of Das Reich didn’t like the sheet-metal surrounds on the exhaust system. They removed them and operated without them.
On the Tiger’s hull roof, to the left and right of the turret, there are 6 wooden poles. These can be screwed together to make a long pole for cleaning the gun. But, in the earliest Tigers, including the Kharkov Tigers, there were 5 segments rather than 6. And of course they were longer.
On the left side of a Tiger there is a thin, long cable stowed in a number of clips. The layout of Tiger “131” is reproduced in most model kits of Early Tigers. But these Kharkov Tigers had an older layout of the clips, which is visibly different at the rear of the tank.
So: that’s what I can think of.
David
