COBI Panzer VI Tiger I Ausf. E Set 2677

COBI's Panzer VI Tiger I Ausf. E is a 1:28 model of the German heavy tank, built from 1,238 blocks, with one crew figure.

A manual written in rhyme

The Tiger was far more complex than any German tank before it, and many early losses were blamed not on the enemy but on mistakes in maintenance and handling. The factory manuals were thick, dry and largely unread by young crews.

So in August 1943 the Inspector General of Armoured Troops, Heinz Guderian, approved something no army had issued before: the Tigerfibel, official service manual D 656/27, written by a young lieutenant in colloquial German verse and illustrated like a comic book. The tank appeared as a woman to be looked after; fuel consumption, gun ranges and track maintenance were taught through jokes and rhymes. Its opening line warned crews to read the manual carefully or their Tiger would be in trouble.

It worked well enough that a Pantherfibel followed, and because crews kept their copies as souvenirs, many survived the war. The Deutsches Panzermuseum in Munster holds one in its collection.

In the COBI range

Set 2588 is the Tiger 131 at this 1:28 scale and set 2587 the late Ausf. E Executive Edition. Sets 3123 and 3124 are Tigers at 1:35.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,238 · Figures: 1 · Scale: 1:28 · Age: 10+
Model dimensions: 31.5 × 14 × 13 cm (12.4 × 5.5 × 5.1 in)