In January 1943, a new Tiger tank was ordered by the Waffenamt, this time with a turret large enough to mount the fearsome 8.8cm L/71 gun. Besides improving its tank killing capabilities, the new Tiger was also intended to be more survivable on the battlefield. To achieve this, the thickness of the frontal armor was increased to 150mm, while the side armor remained constant at 80mm. A wooden mock-up showing the immense size of the vehicle was displayed on October 20th, 1943 and immediately became the center of attention to all that saw it. Production of the vehicle began soon thereafter in November 1943 although the first 50 vehicles sported the Porsche turret with its curved front plate.

On December 6th, the Waffenamt deemed that the shot-trap formed by the turret be eliminated. This was achieved by Henschel re-designing the turret and gun mantlet, in such a manner as to decrease the frontal area while at the same time incorporating a bell-shaped mantlet. By March 1945, 489 Royal Tigers (a.k.a. Konigstigers or "King Tigers") had been produced. Apart from five vehicles issued to the Feldherrnhalle division, all of the Tiger II heavy tanks were assigned to independent schwere Panzer detachments due to the tank's staggering size and weight, as well as its relatively slow rate of maneuver.

This particular 1:72 scale King Tiger Ausf. B heavy tank with a Henschel turret and zimmerit anti-magentic mine paste was attached to the 1./schwere Panzerabteilung Feldhernhalle, then defending Hungary during 1945. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 5-1/2-inches
Width: 2-1/4-inches

Release Date: August 2009

Historical Account: "Movement to Contact" - s.Pz.Abt. Feldherrnhalle was formed in March of 1945 from the remnants of the 13.Panzer-Division that had been destroyed in the Budapest pocket in Febuary, 1945.

The remains of the 13.Panzer-Division, along with other various units and men were organized into this new division which subsequently fought many costly battles and provided protection to tens of thousands of refugees who desperately sought to escape from the Soviet juggernaut.

On May 8th, 1945, after receiving the order to capitulate at Budweis in Bohemia, the G-1 of the division, Oberst Schoeneich, contacted the CO of an American division that had reached the area (identity unknown), Major General Butler, to surrender the division to him rather than Soviet forces only a few miles away. When it became obvious that Gen. Butler (whether under orders or acting on his own initiative) was about to hand the men of the division over to the Russians, Hptm. von Lettow-Vorbeck, adjutant to Gen. Baeke, who spoke English, used a brilliant ruse to fool the American general. With Gen. Baeke sitting in his jeep unbeknownst to the Americans, the captain told Gen. Butler that the HQ of the division which Gen. Butler was anxious to see was some miles away to the east, whereupon the general and his retinue promptly roared off in that direction. The German officers and all the men with them went off in the opposite direction to go into U.S. captivity some miles further west, thus avoiding long years of imprisonment in Soviet death camps in Siberia.