[WINTER 23-24] Tiger I #822

[MrChef]

This is a 2 part project.

I'm going to start with my rendition of Tiger I #822 from 2nd SS Panzer division Das Reich on the Eastern Front Winter 1943. It has an interesting history. It entered service in February 1943 as #822 fighting in the Donets campaign, 3rd battle of Kharkov.

Tiger 822 was commanded by Paul Egger who also has an interesting and colorful history. He was originally a pilot in the Luftwaffe. He was highly decorated, survived the war and lived to be 90 years old. 822 later became S13 under Egger and fought in Operation Zitadelle/battle at Kursk and survived through November 1943. Sooo I'll also be doing an S13 when 822 is done.

So I’m doing the early “Mr Bix” proposed guidelines for this build.

First I had to find a worthy prospect.



Bingo! Won this auction. Was sold by Toucan RC US.



This showed up to my doorstep about 30 hours later.



Off We Go Down The Rabbit Hole!!!

[MrChef]

Sooooo if I'm gonna do a cool fun Tiger I. Dave at Forgebear is exactly who I'll need to source some stuff from-



Hey Dave thanks again for the awesome service, stupid quick shipping and more importantly the Haribo!!! I'm already a Haribo addict.

I sourced some stuff from Taigen and ToucanRC too but Dave is the MAN!!!

Oh yeah I really did pick up 3 sets of plastic Tiger I tracks at $3.99 each from Toucan.

So lets take a look at our subject-





Shes a far cry from what she will become.

[MrChef]

A couple more comparison pics to my Taigen.








Annnnnnnnnnnnnd!

[MrChef]

I'm getting pretty quick at this-

[Ecam]

February '43, so early or mid production? I haven't researched much on the Tiger I. By the way, that Taigen is pretty sweet!

[MrChef]

February '43, so early or mid production? I haven't researched much on the Tiger I. By the way, that Taigen is pretty sweet!

February 43 is still early production. Not the earliest production like Jimsters masterpiece. It will be similar to the Taigen with Winter whitewash camo. I’ve found a decent amount of photos of this unit. So I have real references to work from. But I will also take some educated guesses and artistic liberties for my personal liking and fun.

And thank you for your comment on my Taigen.

[HERMAN BIX]

Im a Tiger fanboy Mr Chef, so any chance I get to see one is a good thing

[ColemanCollector]

So that's what was in the "promotion" box. Another lost in translation moment.

OK, so Hariboo gummy bears--are the sugar-free (sugarfree? sugar free? su garfree?) sugar-free versions really as gastrointestinally lethal as the reviews suggest? I needs to know!

Mike.

[Ad Lav]

Everyone loves a good Tiger.

Look forward to the build.

[MrChef]

Lets share some pictures of good ole 822 shall we...



When she was new and first arrived before battle-



A different angle-



Being towed for repairs.

So my concept for unit 822 is late winter/early spring with faded whitewash camouflage, showing use and damage that appears to crossover from pictures of 822 to S13. I'm NOT going for 100% historical accuracy. Artists license will mostly be expressed with paint and finish.

This will be my first time righting the wrongs of the Heng Long Tiger I. I have researched, read and reread so many of your good posts and builds and work on this forum and I thank you all now for sharing this information. There will be the regular corrections as well as some modifications.

Of course I am open to your advice, help and opinions. I will post according to work done and not get too far ahead so as I may consider advice and course of action.

And yes sirs Mr. Bix and Painless, I've amassed lots of parts including the correct headlights. Yayyy!!!

Here we go...