The sculpt looked very nice. It is big and chunky and did not have much flashing. The tracks looked very good and had a remarkable lack of flashing as well. The model did grow a shade longer over previous versions that I own. I also thought that the faces on these models were very well done and more detailed than previous models.
I don't know why everything is turning out super-yellow and has a shine in my pics lately. The tank is darker than appears and does not shine in person. (Editor: This is why.)
This box comes with everything you need to build 1 Late War Königstiger. No Zimmerit on this bad boy! The one weird thing with this box set is all the Infantry you get - you have some FJs to put on this guy. Looking over the FJs, they had almost no flash at all. You get a hefty resin model with metal accessories - I was a bit disappointed to see no sign of plastic anywhere. Magnets and decals are also included.
Above, see all the parts included. At first glance, this seemed like a lot of parts for one tank. However, you do get a ton of spare tanker figs, optional tracks and the Fallschirmjäger are included. I think I counted 13 pieces for the minimum tank -- it is a bit on the high side.
D'oh - I forget to show the decal sheet! It has 4 sets of numbers and 4 Balkenkreuz. It is at this point that I figure out that the numbers provided are different than on the box. I had planned to model this guy up just like the box, but that seemed to be out. I totally expected to be able to make this look just like the box -- that seems reasonable, right? The numbers provided are solid black, and these wash out if you go with Ambush Camo. I am guessing that the artist who painted the one on the box picked the red/white numbers just for this reason.
So, with my plan dashed, I headed out to the Interwebs and picked a Königstiger to model mine after -- that's why I have the number then the Balkenkreuz.
For assembly, I did my normal thing -- Assemble the main body and turret. Spray these dunklegelb. Spray the tracks in flat black, then assemble. This time, I put the FJs on a Popsicle stick and painted them separately.
During assembly, I did notice that the skirts were mis-cast:
This is disappointing. I have been pretty quick to defend Battlefront here, but this is the second model review in a row with some sort of issue. Now, these are not too bad, but the customer is paying a bit of a premium to avoid assembly and modeling (among other things). I decide to take the extra 10 minutes and a dab of green stuff to fix this instead of emailing Battlefront Customer Service.
After assembly, I went ahead and painted this guy up! I did have a problem with the Balkenkreuz's printing being mis-aligned. I had to substitute a pair from Dom's Decals to complete the model. In the end, I think it turned out pretty damn good -- the model is just awesome looking and I was very impressed with the FJs and how they looked on the tank.
THE GOOD:
- Everything in one box - decals, dice, magnets, riders
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| Shirt from WargamingShirts.com! |
- Price. Did I say that? $23USD isn't bad for what you get in this box...if everything was perfect.
THE BAD:
- Yet another casting issue. I used some Green Stuff to fix it.
THE UGLY:
- The decals were pretty bad. I didn't get what is on the box and the crosses were mis-aligned.
SCORE: 6 out of 10. In the end, I think the potential of this set is better than the actual set. I would buy this - or the other Battlefront Königstiger box - before turning to any other manufacturer offering. For me, the model is just 'UGE, chunky, aggressive and cool. Let's hope that some of the issues I found in this set are resolved soon.
All models provided by Battlefront Miniatures.
