Halbe King Tiger

Hi Everyone

the Halbe King Tiger is now done. It is finished as the vehicle of Ernst Streng from schwere SS Panzerabteilung 502. My vignette shows the tank spearheading an attack against one of the many russian road blocks in the forests west of Halbe.

The battle damage is modeled according to Strengs eyewitness account and given that the King Tiger is in the middle of intense combat, the damage is still fresh, not nicely rusted over (an unpopular thing in the plastic world). Strengs tank was hit by an incendiary round (white phosphorus) during the night fighting inside Halbe village. Without any reference about real phosphor burns on armor, I tried to show the traces as best as I could.

With few vehicles left, the remaining ones, including the King Tigers, were used to carry wounded soldiers. Constant artillery fire, air attacks and tree bursts in particular, led to further carnage among those in exposed places. According to Streng the engine deck of his tank was slippery from blood whenever they had to unload the wounded prior to an attack. I decided to show this blood on my model because it conveys the drama and the human side of the battle.

regards

Stefan











a few more pictures can be seen here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/stefanbernet