COBI Panzer VI Ausf. B Königstiger Set 3113

COBI's Panzer VI Ausf. B Königstiger is a 1:35 model built from 802 blocks, 30 cm long, in late-war camouflage. The wheels and tracks work, the turret rotates, the gun moves, a hatch takes a figure, and the engine is removable. A crew figure and a nameplate are included.

Five hundred litres per hundred kilometres

The Tiger II's problem was not the enemy. It was the fuel gauge.

A 70-tonne tank with a 700 hp engine consumed roughly 500 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres on roads, and considerably more across country. The internal tanks held around 860 litres, which gives an operational radius of well under 100 kilometres before refuelling — and Germany in 1944 was producing a fraction of the fuel it needed.

That arithmetic shaped the Ardennes offensive in December 1944. The plan depended on capturing Allied fuel dumps, because the armoured spearheads could not otherwise reach their objectives. They did not capture enough. A significant number of Königstigers in that battle were abandoned intact by their crews at the roadside, out of petrol, and destroyed to stop them being taken.

Around 490 were built, each one consuming resources that would have produced several lighter tanks.

In the COBI range

The 1:48 Tiger II is set 2732 and the enormous 1:12 version is set 2808. Set 2733 is the Jagdtiger, built on this chassis.

Specifications

Pieces: 802 · Figures: 1 · Scale: 1:35 · Removable engine
Model dimensions: 30 × 10.5 × 11.5 cm (11.8 × 4.1 × 4.5 in)