About this detail of the Tiger
A handful of Tigers were delivered to s.Pz.Abt. 502 in February of 1943. Combining them with their surviving "initial" Tigers from 1942, the battalion managed to field 5 operational Tigers, numbered "1" through "5".
Tiger "1" was one of the new deliveries and it's possible to build it from the "Tiki" kit with very little additional work.
This Tiger was whitewashed over a Dunkelgrau base colour. Bands of a dark colour, either black or Dunkelgrau, were painted on the hull sides. The turret and all top surfaces were whitewashed only. The whitewash was very thinly applied on the engine deck so it had a dark colour. But the turret bin was darkest, retaining its original Dunkelgrau.
The only markings were "1" digits on both sides of the turret, and they were not always present.
You should divert from the instructions by using the standard exhaust system parts, shown here.
Use part H1 for the mantlet.
The turret bin in the kit has "notched" sides, which is not correct for Tiger "1". Replace the kit parts U1, U2 with solid plastic sheeting or fill the notches in some other way. Do not cut the inner side of the bin.
With the notches absent, the turret bin will not fit flush against the turret. In the real Tiger it stood a small distance clear of the wall. See this page for details of the wide turret bin on Tigers of the 502 battalion.
Tiger "1" had the complete S-mine system installed. Three mine launcher tubes were fixed to metal strips on the hull roof, near the front corners and halfway along the left side.
Two more launchers stood on arms protruding from the rear corners of the hull. Outer and inner arms were different.
Do not install any spare track storage on the front hull (omit part U10). Install the smoke launcher system; omit the front outer roadwheels; omit the Feifel system but retain the V-duct on the engine hatch. There are several photographs of this Tiger but it is never seen with its side skirts attached, so omit parts C12.