田宮 1:48 King Tiger (Production Turret)

Completed in April, 2007

King Tiger 坦克亦被稱作 Tiger II，它是納粹德軍在第二次世界大戰期間最後製造的坦克。這個七十噸重的坦克由厚至 180mm 裝甲所保護。它擁有一根 88mm KwK 43 L/71 的主炮，能擊穿在一公里外的 170mm 厚裝甲！故此它的火力及防護勘稱冠絕當時的坦克。雖然這部坦克只由一擎 700 匹馬力 Maybach HL230 P-30 12 引擎所推動，但它在同類坦克中不單止敏捷，而且行駛穩定，這點於發炮時的命中率非常有幫助。不幸者是此引擎和驅動系統不敷應付這樣沉重的坦克，機件故障時有發生。所有 King Tiger 坦克均由 Henschel & Son 廠生產。它的炮塔共有兩個版本，即初期和後期大量生產的版本。最初的版本有時稱作 Porsche Turret，但它並不是由 Porsche 廠生產及設計；兩款炮塔皆由 Krupp 廠設計的。納粹德軍大約只生產了五十部 Porsche Turret 的 King Tiger，其餘約 430 輛是所謂 Henschel Turret 版本。這個 1:48 田宮模型是後期大量生產的版本；田宮在 2006 年末亦推出了 Porsche Turret 版本的 King Tiger。

King Tiger is also called Tiger II, it is the last tank built by the Nazi during the WWII. This 70-ton steel monster is shielded by some 180mm armour. It carries a 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 gun that can penetrate 170mm thick armour a kilometre away. It outclasses all allied tanks at its time. Although the sheer mass of the tank puts great burden on its 700hp Maybach HL230 P-30 12-cylinder liquid cooled engine, the tank is still very agile for its class, and provides stable smooth ride for gun firing. Unfortunately the engine and the drivetrain are not powerful enough for such a heavy weight, mechanical problems happen from time to time. All King Tiger tanks are produced by Henschel & Son. The turret has two versions, namely initial and production versions. The initial version is sometimes called "Porsche turret" but it is not designed by the manufacturing company Porsche; both turrets were designed by Krupp. Only about 50 "Porsche turret" King Tigers are built, the other some 430 vehicles are the "Henschel turret" version. This 1:48 model is the production version; Tamiya also released the Porsche version in the same scale in late 2006.

這盒模型我是在今年二月購買的，但真正開始製作是在三月中旬當我在渥太華的時侯。製作上這是另一部依書直說的模型，故此不足多談。雖然坦克表面的防磁紋是我以造型畢地加上去，但這個在田宮的說明書上有清楚指示，因此仍算是依書直說的製作。(不過這是我第一次做防磁紋！)至於塗裝上也是依照說明書的指示，倒沒有甚麼好說。與往常一樣，我在安裝履帶時又遇上困難，總不能夠四四正正的裝好；唯有希望在多嘗試下日後會做得更好，反正這坦克不會是自己最後一台田宮 1:48 MM 系列的坦克。

I bought this model in February and really started building in mid-March when I was in Ottawa. It is basically built as an out-of-box kit. I put a layer of polyester putty to simulate the zimmerit as was told in the instruction guide. (This is my first time doing the zimmerit!) The colour was also painted according to the instruction. As usual, I had difficulty in installing the tracks; hopefully I will do a better job in the future because I really like this 1:48 MM series by Tamiya.