When you think about a Tiger, what comes to mind?
I think about a top-of-the-food chain predator, dangerous, strong and lethal. That’s why the name is very befitting of the German heavy tank known as the Panzerkampfwagen VI or simply Tiger I. There is also a Tiger II, also called a King Tiger, but that would be for another post.
Possibly one of the most well known tanks among enthusiasts and modellers, it seems everyone has done some version of this revered vehicle before, whether using building bricks or with custom painted plastic model kits.
So what makes the Tiger a formidable foe? That would have to be its 88mm KwK 36 gun and thick armour plating with the frontal hull armour of 100mm and 60mm to the sides.
Of course, we had to make this tank in micro-scale, I mean how can you have a tank battle without the Tiger I?
I created the first version in dark bluish grey, because it seemed to be the most common colour scheme. After some measurements(using sariel’s unit converter), I started with the turret first and made sure to have the two opening hatches, which could fit one commander up top as you can see here. I choose dark green for the German army soldiers because the Allies are in olive drab.
Then i worked on the main body which had to look a bit chunky, hence the addition of 1×4 tiles on the side.
Once I was happy with my design, i just modelled another one in light bluish grey just to see if I had all the parts. I didn’t have one particular piece(1×3 panel), so I modified it to have the MG gunner slit on the left.
Then I also remembered seeing a winter camouflage version before, so I added that to the battalion.
The last one I made is a tan variant, used in the North Africa campaign, also the same one you see in the movie Fury.
Fun fact: Did you know, the Tiger I featured in Fury, is an actual working version and it was a Tiger 131 captured by the British in Tunisia during World War II. It is the only operating Tiger tank in the world. It was also the first time a real Tiger appeared in a feature film since Theirs Is The Glory in 1946. It is now preserved at The Tank Museum in Bovington, England.
Below you will find a tutorial on how to build all four versions:
If you like my post on this subject, stay tuned because there will many more of these coming! Also, leave a comment and let me know what else you would like to see in future posts. Thanks for reading!
Tip: I use tiles a lot, to give the model a certain look, whether to feel more minimalistic or clean, or to mimic the look of armour plating, tiles are a stable part of micro-scale building. There are so many different kind of tiles, round, angled, grill etc, so play around with these. And if you want to remove a tile from a plate, remember to use a Lego Brick Separator to save your fingernails!
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