Known as the Pz.Kpfw.VI (7.5cm) Ausf.B, it was a prototype tank that never made it into mass production. Krupp was ordered to produce six Waffe 0725 turrets, while Henschel was required to modify its existing VK 36.01 hull to accommodate this turret. To be crewed by five soldiers, the resulting vehicle would have weighed 40 tonnes. However, Hitler ordered that the project be scuttled when it was learned in 1942 that not enough tungsten was available. This Pz.Kpfw.VI (7.5cm) Ausf.B was a direct predecessor of the VK 45.01 (H), which eventually led to the famous Tiger I.
This new kit of the Pz.Kpfw.VI (7.5cm) Ausf.B is brand new, indeed it uses 100% new tooling. Mounting a 7.5cm gun, it has a Krupp-designed turret installed, which looks similar to a Panzer IV turret. Built to 1/35 scale, it is the very first kit of this vehicle to appear in plastic injection form. It is extremely well detailed, with a full interior for the fighting compartment. The tracks, which feature individual slide-molded links, are also well detailed. It is a unique-looking tank, and the ancestry of the Tiger I can be clearly discerned. The Pz.Kpfw.VI (7.5cm) Ausf.B led to the highly regarded Tiger I, and thus the kit is of huge significance to everyone seriously interested in the development of German WWII tanks.
