Above all, thanks a lot DirtyACE for the documentary links. I really enjoyed it!!!
Now here's another mini-review, this one on my favourite Tiger by Dragon - Tiki. The model very accurately depicts Tiger 812 of 8./SS-Panzer Regiment 2 "Das Reich" as photographed on April 20, 1943 in Berezhnaya, a small village in the Ukraine. Only two nits to pick here: 1) my usual complaint on the "solid" sprockets, and 2) those yellow swashes should have been maybe a bit wider? Not much to worry about, as you may see.
Tiki's commander was Heinrich Warnick, who would later become a Panther commander and ace with 77 tank kills. Pictures were taken at a Knight's Cross award ceremony shorly after the battle for Kharkov. Walter Krüger, the general commanding the "Das Reich" division at the time, is seen here standing on Tiki while addressing the troops.
According to a relative of H. Warnick the name Tiki emerged when the latter called the beast "our child" (
unser Kind in German), which made the crew laugh. The tank was then referred to as "Tigerkind" (Tigerchild), and hence nicknamed Tiki.
This is a fine model with an uncommon, interesting paint scheme, and I really love it!
