Academy 1/35 Tiger Early Wittmann's First Tiger 431

[PanzerGarage]

Hey guys, This is my old Academy Early Tiger 1 with interior. Surprisingly still a good model after all these years (they were made mid 90's and re released mid 200'0's). Hopefully these might be of value to you even historically as all paint colours have been researched.
The colours are the correct colours for an early interior Tiger - the Academy instructions are incorrect. I also used the Humbrol Maskol chipping effect internally and also applied interior decals. My references are contained in the videos and may be of use if doing your own Tiger.
I decided to paint the exterior of this Early as Tank 431 of the 1st SS Panzer - Michael Wittmann's First Tiger
It has been an interesting journey as the tank initially started as a Tunisian, the Wittmann's Tiger 411, then further research suggested 431 (Schutz was 411), so I changed it at the last moment. All in all it took about 3 months to complete the interior and exterior - mainly due to time constraints and waiting for parts to arrive in Australia.
To be honest the Academy kit often gets a bit of flak. To be honest I found it not to bad and although there are some inaccuracies overall it is quite good for its age.
I replaced a few things (Track, Gun, Hull MG, antennae) but due to my hatred of PE, I did not do too much in that area. All decals internal and external are Archers. hope you enjoy the series and inspire some to build more Tigers.


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[RichardT]

absolutely brilliant - mate that Tiger is A1

[PanzerGarage]

Thanks mate. Much appreciated. More Tigers, Stugs and allied vehicles on the way

[mannloon]

The work you did is beautiful, and the videos are a fantastic walkthrough of your process. Very well done.

I have never heard of the idea that Wittmann commanded a gray Tiger of any kind. Your idea that 431 would have been renumbered as 1331 makes sense as an argument, but since the order to paint vehicles yellow came around the same time as Kharkov (February 43) and the common conception of when he received a Tiger is roughly spring of 43 (usually April) it seems unlikely he'd have been in a whitewashed gray Tiger. I have seen evidence of early Feifels at Kursk though. He'd probably have been in earlier gray Tigers in a training capacity, but the majority of those 4th company images on tiif.de are likely dunkelgelb and green.

Remember there is no way to tell hue from a gray scale image, but what we can see is camo of a darker tone over a lighter tone which is likely not gray (especially since there is no snow on the ground) So by the time Wittmann took command of whatever Tiger was his first it more likely looked like this. These are photos of 411


So I guess then it comes down to more of a what was possible vs. what was documented, and what was someone in vs. in command of or in command of vs. in combat with. And even what color or number was on a vehicle at a certain time.

Either way, It's great work.

[PanzerGarage]

Hi Adam,
thanks for the kind comments on the Tiger - for an old kit it did turn out quite well but some things I had to test and adjust/replace/repaint - you know the drill. I have seen many of your videos on Youtube so hopefully I can eventually get them as concise as you do with camera skills to match, LOL. However I do get carried away sometimes.

What actually took the longest was the research into the colours of the vehicle and interior and transfers (turret number). The project took three months with some repaints so it was quite painful. I have quite a few references like Schneider's series, Agte's series, a few of Jentz's books and Spielberger's, so trawling through them took time. There is also a great video online of the Bovington Tiger and also Bryden's Tiger.info is very useful. I also grew up with family that served in the Leibstandarte and were told many stories about these tanks.

Thanks for the two photos, I did see them in my research. These were taken after the vehicle was repainted from Grey white wash - more comments on these pics below. Also I had to make a few assumptions, as we say, on things but this is what I discovered, which you may already know.

Basically, bottom line up front, no nobody knows when Wittmann took over 'a' Tiger exactly or more importantly 'what' Tiger. No body knows if 1331 was early or late feifels - its all assumption - I could possibly even challenge the colours of 1331.

My deductions:
*No photos exist of 1331 (this is corroborated by other sources) but it is assumed it is painted base yellow as the other Tigers were - see more below. But we don't know whether it had early or late feifels, its all assumption by model manufacturers and advisors, unless they have access to something that does not appear to exist.
* The orders to change from Grey to Dunkelgelb occurred 18 Feb 43 but the unit was already committed to the Kharkov ops. The next available time period to be able to repaint the existing grey Tigers would not occur until late April. Even then as they were field painted, many 'old' Grey Tigers actually appeared as yellow/Grey camo. So it is possible that those two photos you sent me of 411 are yellow (overpainted the grey base - if you look at the edges you could make that argument - although I suspect it is base yellow) and grey if I use the same hue argument - possible. We know some Tigers did have a grey base and yellow stripes/pattern in this period.
*No photos seem to exist (at least being identified by the turret number) of 431, during Feb-Apr 43, but quite a few exist of 411 throughout the period from when they first arrived. Tiger 411 was originally grey with a hard white wash with a vacant rectangle box on the turret for 411 - the other photos of Tigers at the time had the same pattern (various white wash strengths) therefore assumed that 431 was painted the same as well. During the change over 411 (and others) that already existed in the 4th Company (and kept) were repainted Yellow - of course the new Tigers were already factory painted.
* 411 was commanded by Schutz, despite what some internet sources claim that 411 was Wittmanns first.
* Wittmann commanded Pz III 4L1 upon graduation (trained in Tigers though) and arrival in the Kharkov region but was initially located in Poltava about 150km s/west of Kharkov city in early Feb 43 and missed the key Feb battles as he was rear security it seems. He rejoins the unit main in early March (6th?) as the unit withdraws and ends up in Poltava eventually in order to reposture for assault on Kharkov again, early March. What we don't know is a precise date he changed from a Pz III to a Tiger - again it is assumption at this stage. Earliest would have been very late March 43 - post fighting at Kharkov. Likely date - see comments below.
* We know Wittmann eventually would command 3rd Pl.
* Early Feifels came in Nov 42. Later feifels were introduced in March 43
* Importantly, the 5 Tigers that arrived seem to have arrived either in early-mid April or 13 May (some credible sources indicate). One more delivered around 30 June. If early/mid April, taking into consideration factory field testing, transportation etc, were the early/mid April Tigers the last of the 'early' feifel production or first of the 'late' feifel productions? We don't know but what we do know about German production is that they would use up the existing stock of feifels. If you go with the 13 May arrival date, it is probably safe to say they had late feifels. You have to accept one of these assumptions.
* Therefore the next assumption is you either accept Wittmann was in a Pz III up until 13 May, which is plausible regardless of him standing in front of a Tiger with other commanders on 20 April. Or you accept the earlier arrival. Then the next question is did Wittmann get a new Tiger, regardless of date? There would have been a major reorganised of the unit post Kharkov battle to balance up the working/damaged Tigers with new ones - to posture for counter attack, regardless of the Citadel reorg. I doubt whether all new Tigers went to the 3rd Pl - these are also untested Tigers so they would have taken that into the balance equation as well. I would assume a spread of vehicles would have occurred.
* Reorg for 13th company was received 22 April (although issued 5 March) - doesn't mean that was executed then. The Germans would have conducted an appreciation and then a plan and so would have taken some time. Arrived Assembly Area for Citadel on 26 April. So assumption is no renumbering took place until at least after 26 April but likely before end of May (they moved to Kharkov 5 May and stayed there until movt into final assembly area for Citadel, which is the longest stretch of time and probably the likely area of refit).
* It appears that they were painted yellow and Camo from mid-April. It is unlikely all would have been painted at once due to posturing. It is possible the damaged/broken tanks were painted first - not necessarily at the same time as the numbering either.
* Between Feb-end March there were many shifting people due to many breakdowns, injuries and death of personnel.
* Two options for 1331 (and there is no reference either way - so it really is an assumption by anybody claiming early or late feifels). Either it was a new vehicle or an existing Tiger renumbered (all the existing ones we know were renumbered). I decided, on balance of probabilities, that Wittmann received an existing Tiger, rather than a new one.

So I guess you put all that together and there are more questions than answers. To be honest, you would be safe in either option, depending on your assumptions. I decided on the balance that 431 was his first assigned mount from early/mid April, with early feifels in a grey whitewash as left over from Kharkov and that he obtained this mount during the initial post battle reorg. It was then changed to 1331, which in this case will have early feifels. I am not suggesting that is 100% but at the same time no one can say it is not either - I doubt until further evidence surfaces, it is all assumption based. You can only go with the info you have unfortunately.

Not sure if any of this helps with understanding my reasoning - hopefully it may assist someone - hence the detail.
Thanks again for the comments though, much appreciated. I am actually a big fan of your builds and channel
all the best
Damien

[mannloon]

I totally agree with every assumption you have. The way you've thought this out is impressive.

All i can say is you've opened my eyes to another unknowable. I guess I never looked that carefully at this idea. I tend to stick just with Tiger types, and more Heer units than SS. But you have points, and that makes your model and this post one of my favorites in a long time. I do this to learn, and now i found yet another path to follow.

Because you are right, at the end of the day we don't know. And the established "truth" is often just one opinion that becomes dogmatic.

[PanzerGarage]

Mate agree,
its hard when history is not that clear at times and I have to say from my own experiences the victors do write it. I suppose I looked at the history more as well as I knew after I made that vehicle and put it online there would be questions, LOL - especially when it comes to Tigers and/or Wittmann but at the same time I wouldn't say I am not a rivet counter as if the vehicle itself is near enough that is often good for me.

Interestingly, I am doing the Tamiya Stug III Finnish version right now (you probably know this kit but you have two options - with logs or without. So I started to check and it turns out the the 'Marjatta' named version on the box cover never had logs (it was the other version) and the versions that had logs appeared to all have zimmerit and the newer SaurKopf, which the kit does not come with. I really wanted to do the Log version so I have to now find extra parts from somewhere. So I guess it is the old adage, 'how far do you look' to make sure it is correct or do you just build what you want? Having said that I do enjoy the research part as I have spent most of my own military career studying the German methods (I think the US/UK and Australia have taken a simple process and have made it far too complex - story for another day).

BTW I have to say I really enjoyed your Tiger for Dummies video.In fact that was the video that made me think a little deeper about this project - so really in part I have you to blame, LOL.

All the best mate and look forward to seeing more projects of yours.
Damien

[mannloon]

Mate agree,
its hard when history is not that clear at times and I have to say from my own experiences the victors do write it. I suppose I looked at the history more as well as I knew after I made that vehicle and put it online there would be questions, LOL - especially when it comes to Tigers and/or Wittmann but at the same time I wouldn't say I am not a rivet counter as if the vehicle itself is near enough that is often good for me.

Interestingly, I am doing the Tamiya Stug III Finnish version right now (you probably know this kit but you have two options - with logs or without. So I started to check and it turns out the the 'Marjatta' named version on the box cover never had logs (it was the other version) and the versions that had logs appeared to all have zimmerit and the newer SaurKopf, which the kit does not come with. I really wanted to do the Log version so I have to now find extra parts from somewhere. So I guess it is the old adage, 'how far do you look' to make sure it is correct or do you just build what you want? Having said that I do enjoy the research part as I have spent most of my own military career studying the German methods (I think the US/UK and Australia have taken a simple process and have made it far too complex - story for another day).

BTW I have to say I really enjoyed your Tiger for Dummies video.In fact that was the video that made me think a little deeper about this project - so really in part I have you to blame, LOL.

All the best mate and look forward to seeing more projects of yours.
Damien

That's awesome dude. Glad I could be a part of the madness.