About this detail of the Tiger
The Tiger's gun was elevated by a 16-toothed gear wheel. This wheel was carried on a a gearbox in the right-hand side of the turret.
A shaft from the gunner's hand wheel connected to a 90 degree joint at the end of a worm gear. This view shows the shaft, the gearbox, and the cover. There is a hole in the cover, allowing access to the oil-filling tap.
In turrets with a drum cupola, the shaft passed through a structural tube. But in turrets with a ring cupola, the shaft was exposed as we see here. This is the 'Saumur' vehicle, #2501114 [3] .
There was a hole in the 'box' to accomodate the cover plate. This view shows the 'Bovington' vehicle, #2500122 [2] .
[2] Survey of Tiger 250122, at Bovington museum, by David Byrden
[3] Survey of vehicle 251114, at Saumur, by Jean-Charles Breucque