VK 4501 (P) / „Tiger“ Porsche – the German heavy tank - prototype

The PzKpfw VI “Tige”r (other names: VK4501 (P) or Porsche Typ 101 or “Tiger” (P) for short) was a prototype of the German World War II heavy tank. It was manufactured in 1942, but it was not mass-produced. The fight machine was 9.54 meters long and 3.4 meters wide. The tank was powered by two “Porsche Type 101 TRM” 310s – 320 y. p. It was armed with 1x 88 mm KwK 36 L / 56 cannon and 2 x 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns. The “Tiger “(P) was designed for the needs of the German ground forces as a new heavy tank, capable of fighting the Soviet T-34 over long distances. His main advantage on the battlefield was a powerful cannon and very strong armor. The tank presented was a kind of modification of the VK3001 (P) design and, compared to it, had, among other things, clearly thickened front armor. In field testing, the “Tiger” (P) proved to be a non-perfect design, very safe but with low mobility on the battlefield. One of the main problems was the use of a dual engine block, which tended to overheat and break down. In the end, the mass production of “Tiger” (P) was abandoned and only a small test series was produced, and it lost competition with the combat machine, produced by the Henschel plant. It is worth mentioning, that the chassis, manufactured by “Tiger” (P) were used in the production of tank hunters “Ferdinand” (Sd.Kfz. 184).

Sophisticated, well-graphically designed and fun model of the tank, used in the 503 heavy combat machine battalion without internal equipment with easy weathering. The model is intended for intermediate and experienced modelers.