Tiger ausf. E : Welds on Mid turret

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Welds on Mid turret

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About this detail of the Tiger

The Tiger has prominent weld lines in the "chin" area of the turret. There was a redesign in mid 1943, creating the "Mid" Tiger, and these welds were changed then. Their shape remained the same for the rest of the Tiger's run.

Welds on Rye Field Mid turret

This is a Rye Field diagram showing their "Mid" turret, which they introduced in their 5008 kit, and used again in their "Mid" 5010 kit. Notice the weld line at the bottom of the turret, and how it's a short distance behind the vision port.

Welds on real turret

A real turret is different. The weld and the vision port line up. Rye Field's weld is too long on this side.

Welds on real turrets

But on the other side of the turret, it's the other way around. Rye Field's weld is shorter than the real one. It's more like the Early weld than the Mid.

What happened here is that Rye Field forgot about the famous "Asymmetric turret" of the Tiger. They set their weld lines at the same position on both sides; making one of them too short and the other too long.

 
 

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