For those of you who never get tired of German Tigers Dragon has just released a new big cat for your shelves. This time we get a late "early" model, that is, a nearly mid-production version, with zimmerit.
The tank has all the correct features for the version it attempts to represent - early cupola, air filters, early headlamps, late turret track links, etc. Also, from the pictures published so far it seems that the tracks are a better fit when compared to earlier renditions, as their sag closely (and accurately) follows the running gear contours. However, two things persist that Dragon should have corrected by now: the deletion of the cable on the left flank upon the addition of zimmerit, and the oversimplified, unsightly sprocket.
The model represents a vehicle in sPzAbt 502 during the spring of 1944. It was then that these "late earlies" were received by the battalion when the 2nd and 3rd companies were reformed in France, and none of them carried zimmerit. The photo enclosed is the only one depicting tank "302" that I know of, and it clearly shows that the vehicle had no zimmerit at the time it was photographed. Is this an error then? Not necessarily, as most of these vehicles had a coat of zimmerit applied in the field by maintenance personnel once in Russia, and "302" could perhaps be included in this group. What is wrong is the tactical number, which should be red instead of black (the battalion had used black numbers prior to 1944, but these were then changed to red with a white outline).
Our model was waiting sometime in June 1944 for the upcoming Soviet summer offensive near Ostrow, and was then taken by train to Daugavpils (Dünaburg) in Latvia during July. A long series of defensive battles would be fought against the rising tide of Soviet armies until the end of the war.
