Product Features and Details
Model: Each REI Military Model is professionally hand-painted and thus highly unique. Each set is painted in authentic camouflage patterns, and each one is disassembled, masked, and airbrushed before being reassembled for the final touches. You'll find such features as carefully weathered and painted side frames, painted deck boards which includ wooded chalks and more. For this REI set we used a Artitec King Tiger and a Artitec six axle flat car painted in a winter camoflage. Flat car is a highly detailed model, it has complete undercarriage detail, deck details and comes equipped with NEM 362 coupler pockets. This is a unique model that will make a great addition to any collection.
** Please Note: The Artitec Military Transportation Chain Set 387.300 would add some additonal detail.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Our artist is a professional model builder and one of the world's premier commission scale model artists in North America. He is also a former US Army paratrooper and has garnered over 300 awards for his work. He has published dozens of articles in numerous scale modeling magazines and has painted box art buildups for most of the world's leading scale model companies. His work is found in private collections around the globe. This is a great opportunity to own a true piece of art by a master modeler.
King Tiger History: The Tiger II or Königstiger (King Tiger) is undoubtedly the greatest representative of German armored might from the Second World War and a favorite subject of model enthusiasts around the world. Known officially as the Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, the Tiger II combined the thick armor of the Tiger I with the sloping sides of the Panther. It mounted the powerful Krupp 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 gun which could penetrate 132 mm of armor at 2,000 m and achieved 86% target accuracy at the same range. The Tiger II’s hull and turret fronts were protected by 150 mm and 180 mm of armor respectively making it nearly impervious to frontal attack, forcing Allied tanks to make flanking attacks and yielding tactical initiative to Tiger IIs. Like the Tiger I, the Tiger II’s superior armor and armament resulted in a very heavy weight, low top speed, and low range, all limiting the tank’s maneuverability and operating radius. More Tiger II losses were attributed to mechanical unreliability caused by poor late-war materials and construction as well as running out of petrol than were losses due to combat. A complex design, only 492 Tiger IIs were built before the end of the war. Despite its shortcomings, it is worth noting that there is no evidence of a Tiger II being knocked out from the front during the war.
PLEASE NOTE: These models are all handmade and painted which makes every one unique. This means the paint patterns may vary a little and the detail parts like sandbags, turret tracks, antennas, etc. may also be arranged differently. This was also the case in real life. These models are very prototypical.
