Rapid Fire! Normandy 1944 in 20mm - The Tigers of Panzer Lehr

 

Again close to the Forest of Jean Pierre-Papin, the heavy tanks of Pz-Kompanie (Fkl) 316 gather while waiting for the Borgward IV that the author of this post still doesn't have. In fact this picture, or anything close, probably never happened as between 6 or 10 Tiger I (or only 3...) apparently fought side by side with other units of Panzer Lehr while the 5 Tiger II of the first variant stayed behind at Chateaudun, more than 200 Km to the East from its division, plagued with numerous mechanical bugs. 

                                 

This post only happened due to extra readings while painting Simon's Soldiers  Lehr Pzgrenadiers and the casual two Tiger tanks in my stash. I found some very interesting threads like this one to make these models :

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=7345&sid=ca43091f8c3587883405c888bbc5f305&start=15

were you can find lots of information on these Pz Lehr Tigers and also the living proof that the Web can be a dangerous place for a fight as you can´t see your opponent. Second page of this thread is exceptional on giving detailed information on the actual fighting of the Tiger IIs against the American 3rd ACR in August.  

Also the next one is very rich on information on the famous 'Marle Tiger' for many years said to belong to the s.SS Pz.Abt.101 but more recently placed with the Fkl 316 attached to Pz Lehr:

http://www.picardie-1939-1945.org/phpBB2new/viewtopic.php?t=1390

This is the 'Marle Tiger'. It looked to be a late Tiger I E (no lateral headlights but maybe broken? ) with old refurbished wheels. 

For this model I used the Hasegawa Tiger I E late version with the older wheels also provided with the kit. 

I chose the number '12' for its action against US forces. The others possibilities were 02, 10, 11 and 13.

The King Tiger is the Revell model with the (wrongly) called 'Porsche' turret, very dangerous as it could trap an incoming shell by ricocheting  against the driver's roof due to its curved face. The second turret (also Krupp as the first turret) solved the issue with straight lines at the front. 

Frankly I already have enough of these miniatures in other units but the information above and the different camouflages and details made me built them.

Next: Germans at Barbarossa and beyond.