To Budapest

Scale: 1/72 | Models used: Dragon Sd.Kfz.182 Kingtiger Henschel Turret (kit nr 7558), figures from White Stork Miniatures (kit nr. F72085).

about this diorama

This diorama called ‘To Budapest’ displays a German King Tiger of s.Pz.Abt. 503 underway to Budapest. The commander indicates to his fellow crew member the area where they’re going to cross the water.

The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army and the Waffen-SS. It was first used in combat by 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion during the Allied invasion of Normandy on 11 July 1944. On the Eastern Front, the first unit to be outfitted with the Tiger II was the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion. Due to heavy Allied bombing, only 492 were produced.

On 15 October 1944, Tiger IIs of 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion played a crucial role during Operation Panzerfaust, supporting Otto Skorzeny’s troops in taking the Hungarian capital of Budapest, which ensured that the country remained with the Axis until the end of the war.

regarding the build

This model from Dragon contains plenty of detail for a 1/72 scale model kit. The armour doesn’t have the so called Zimmerit paste texture applied, but since this is a later King Tiger the Zimmerit was removed out of fear that the paste would catch fire in certain scenarios.

One point of attention for anyone buying this kit; the rubber tracks. They are too short, so I utilised some earth texture and some spare links to hide this gap. I believe I got away with it! The rest of the build was straight forward. A little bit of superglue was required to attach the ’track covers’ to the hull. I love model kits that offer you the option to open up the hatches, this gives the opportunity to add crew figures. In this case some figures from White Stork Miniatures were painted up and placed on the turret.

A tank like this deserves a little base, in this case a vignette. Superhobby.com sells these black bases, so I utilied one of those for this vignette. With a little bit of AK carving foam the landscape was sculpted which was then covered in Earth Texture and various vegetation. The water effect was created by applying some Vallejo Still Water combined with some acrylic paints. The small tree is a piece of seafoam.

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