Wittmann's Last Ride

[panzerace007]

Hey Guys,

Well gettin back in th Saddle . After letting My Jets cool from th mad Dash for the Big Spring Contest, I've started on Wittmann's Last Tiger - Cyberhobby Dragon's kit. I must be a gluten for punishment ;D I'm adding a Verlinden Through th Hatch Interior & using parts from Verlinden's Tiger I detail set .

Here's a product shot of the Through th Hatch Detail set. Not designed as a Full Interior, but what you would be able to see viewing ... well ... through th Hatches ;D


Her's th other set that will be Deployed ! I'll nick th Side fenders , Rear Stowage Box , tool clamps . The Rear Fenders are a bit over sized when compared to th Dragon Kit parts, so I stuck with th kit parts on that !

Here's a little History for ya '

German Panzer Ace Michael Wittmann was K.I.A. August 8th '44 on th Caen- Falaise Road near the Town of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil Normandy, France. There is a lot of speculation on How & Whom took out th Tiger. I'll not go into that as it's a Hot Button question. 007 is th call-sign ( that aughta be a clue to My moniker ;D ) It was not his normal mount as this Tiger is in th 1st. Kompanie & Wittmann was technically in 2nd.Kompanie. Against his better Judgement He went out with a less experience Group of Tigers that day ... presumably to keep an Eye on them. Some also say that Wittmann knew He was running into the Teeth of a Sizable Canadian Armored Force & He knew it would be his Swan Song. There is only one known picture of the Tiger - 007 . It was taken by the Farmer who's land the Tiger was sitting on when it was destroyed.


It's not a very clear picture, but you can make out the Call-sign on the back of the Stowage Bin & on th side of th Turret.


According to Google Maps - this is about where th Tiger was K.O'd ..... Caen being th big Hub to th North & Falaise being at the Fork of NS158 ( sorry , it's not a bigger picture)

O.K. ..... enough Jib-Jab .... you've got th Back Story .. Let's get into th Meat & Potatoes .... I bet you didn't know potatoes were served on this Ride ... did ya' ! ;D

Th build is pretty basic to start. Here are some shots on where I'm at for the Lower Hull interior .







Here is the Radio set up. I've started to wire it. Verlinden gives you 3 radios, but only one transformer ( there should be a transformer per each radio) So, I've dug out an Old Resin set form th Early 90's & I'll be adding 2 more transformers & ,since this is a Command Tiger - the M.G. that's normally in th Turret gets pulled in favor of adding a FuG 5 Radio, hence another transformer. For the WIring I used some Phone cable wiring - flexible & sturdy. I tried styrene rod, but when I tried to connect it from the transformer that's behind the Radio Operators seat ( right side) it snapped on Me. So I spied th X-tra phone cable tucked away on th Bench & plucked it from utter obscurity ! ;D I'll also be adding Headphones Etc. all th creature comforts of Home !



HIGHLANDER-WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER

 

[Chris S]

A great project Erik !! ;D A little part of history that I have a lot of interest in and there is lots written about it too ,dont think anybody will ever know the whole truth about what happened that day ,which a bit like the Red Baron makes it more interesting .
Besides ,you can never have too many Tigers ;D. Great start buddy ....carry on

Chris.

 

[spud]

oh Sweet i love Tigers, ive only ever built one and thats going back 15+ years ago. i was wathing a program the other day about witman and they worked out that the canadians were only around 170mtrs from his tiger when it was taken out. but enough about that.

going to be following along on this build.

 

[ShutterAce]

Cool! I'll be watching this one. I have a Tamiya late Tiger that I horse traded for. It included a pamphlet of history on two of Wittmann's Tiger's and some kind of add on zimmeret by "The Show Modelling". I'm not much of an armor guy as far as the little details go. I have been known to build an older Tamiya kit once in a while but never something like this. So hit me with it all. I'm on board! ;D

 

[Junkie]

Very cool Erik. Looking great man.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

OMG!!!!

You didn't open that Tiger kit up!! You just killed the monetary value of the kit......you could have gotten $150 or so from some gullible person that just has to have a Wittmann Tiger!!!


;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


Looks good...nice to see someone building one of these instead of squirreling it away in hopes that the value of the kit increases to the point that they can fund a retirement plan!

 

[panzerace007]

Hey GUYS,

@ CHRIS - Hey Bud. Yes th Red Baron shares th fact that there is a lil' controversy around his Death. AS th Story goes ... The killing shot was long thought to have come from a Sherman Firefly of ‘3 Troop’, A Squadron, 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry , BUt as th Kill shot was described - penetrating the Rear Deck on th Left Side, Igniting the Fuel, penetrating th Firewall & igniting th Ammo , I find it hard to Believe that a FireFly did that. The Shell would've had to go over th Tiger make a 90degree turn, & enter th Rear deck on a 45 degree angle. Plus th fact that th Farmer stated that He found 2 unexploded Typhoon Rockets sitting be side th Tiger, leads a lot to believe( including Me) that a British Typhoon fired th Rockets, although th British deny that any Planes were in th Area during th Attack. The FireFly just couldn't make that shot. Magic Bullets aside !

@ SPUD - There was a series on th BBC - Who Killed Michael Wittmann ,sorta like th Battle Field Detectives ( is that th one you saw ?) , They deduced that one set of Fireflies - That were Originally credited with th Kill were too far away( right hand side across a field 900 yds. -effective range is 800 yds.). The other FireFly was 170yds. ( IIRC) hiding behind a Wall ,slightly infront & on th Left hand side of th Tiger) - He's now been credited with th Kill ( Magic Bullet Man).

@ SHUTTERACE - Th Tamiya Late Tiger is a good kit, but will take a lot to make it accurately - If you're into that type of building - http://tiger1.info/kits.html - Awesome Site - David Byrden is Da' Man ! Stay Tuned Bud !!

@ SCOTTY G - Thanx Bro !! ;D

@ SCOTT M - - Well someone's Gotta take this Maserati for a Drive ! It's a very complete box of Sprue ! Tons of X-tra stuff ! Who needs to Retire. I bought it to build it ! I've seen some of th Prices ... They rival th Fine Molds 1/72nd Falcons !! ;D

-

 

[geegad]

What a tank and what a tank commander especially around the bocage where he kicked our arse looking forward to seein this come along panzer

Is it going into a ??? I want this model the ideas are endless

Geegad

 

[spud]

ya Panzer that was the show,

 

[panzerace007]

What a tank and what a tank commander especially around the bocage where he kicked our arse looking forward to seein this come along panzer

Is it going into a ??? I want this model the ideas are endless

Geegad

GEE - There are also decals in this kit to portray 009 - which was in front of Wittmann when He got Hit. I think that 009 got taken out too, I can't remember. I'll look it up. I think I can find th Plot Plan where they outline each tank, it's position & if it was taken out !


SPUD - Yeah ! That's a Great Show .... I actually have it on DVD .... shhhhh. . ;D Burned for Me by a Very good friend on Mine !

- - http://www.panzerace.net/english/pz_bio.asp?page=7

5/5 Michael Wittmanns Last-Battle
Now th Guy that's Hosting th Program, when He went to th Farmer's House & talked to his son , IT really aggravated Me when this Guy put on Wittmann's Throat Mic- That Guy has not earned the Right or Respect to wear Wittmann's Mic !!

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Well... :-\

after reading No Holding Back: Operation Totalize, Normandy, August 1944 by Brian A. Reid I personally think the Canadian Firefly is the most logical choice for the kill shot. I didn't see that BBC show but from what I read and what I've seen in map descriptions of the actions that day, it doesn't really match this magic bullet idea. From what I've been shown by others more knowledgeable in this, the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry firefly kill shot makes total sense.

Also, looking at the position of the knocked out Tiger in the picture, it makes perfect sense to me that the Canadians would have knocked a few track pins out and towed the tank forward to take it's tracks (which are missing from the tank in the photo) to use as supplemental armor (as can be seen on countless Canadian/British Shermans) which would explain why the turret and tank are so far apart. Which (other than some farmers supposed knowledge of what unexploded RAF ordnance looks like) is the largest supporting feature of that photo that leads people to believe it was an air strike.

When looking at confirmed artillery kills or air strike kills of armor, they are very obvious in their exterior destruction as well as the internal destruction. Tiger 007 seems to be in rather good shape on the exterior, which is much more common to internal explosions.

*just my opinion ;D


Then again, I believe that while Michael Wittmann was indeed a great commander and tactician, his legend is very much bigger than he ever was. He was merely another bit of the German propaganda and not quite as much the mythological creature the glamorous stories have created.

If he was, he surely would never have gotten himself brewed up by a lowly *Sherman tank...

*(or rocket in your opinion).

 

[spud]

thats the very show.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

I love the little reenactment that shows the turret blow off, land on the ground and then fade to the photograph. lol

Only one problem, there are tracks on the tank in the reenactment but no tracks on the tank in the photograph. The only way to get that Tiger off her tracks is to knock out a couple pins and tow her off them. For all we know, the turret could have been balancing precariously on the deck and only fell off as they yanked her forward. Either way, the explosion didn't place those two object where they are in the photograph like the little video shows.

Meh, all that money spent on study and fancy computer graphics and they completely miss that detail... ???

 

[spud]

lol i supose some one has to make a mistake along the way.

 

[Quaralane]

Looks like that should be a VERY nice buildup

 

[schweinhund227]

Good pick Erik !

at least is wasn't Kurt Meyer's Last ride !!! that would have Fuelled the Fire even more !!!
We all know what a man he was !!! anyway... all for the good of History !

Have at her !

Norm...

OUT !

 

[panzerace007]

KEN,

Ya' know what ? You bring up some very Sound points. I've been mislead. I didn't even think of those Missing Lynx ! I figured that th Germans may have recovered them , but considering how those Yeomanry would have advanced, th Germans would've had Zero chance for recovery. (?) I also didn't know that th Canadians would've picked up th Trax as X-tra armor, it certainly makes good sense ! Well , Thanx for throwing that out there. ;D Now ... I'm gonna have to check into gettin that book.

I too believe that Wittmann was just a Dude doin' his thing & not th Teutonic Mythos that He was made out to be by th "Establishment" . None-th-less a Very Good Tanker !!

Spout on, Great Sage of th Allied Advancement ! lol Is there any more to th story from that book ? I'd be interested in hearing it. ;D

@ NORM - Gotcha' ! Meyer was a bit extreme to say th least. I think his last ride was a Mercedes Hearse in '51. Stay tuned Bro !!

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

LOL, I wouldn't say mislead bro, I'm only stating what I think makes sense from my point of view from what I've read here and there. Unless someone uncovers some lost footage, we will only have speculation and theories to go by and the truth will remain a mystery. These discussions are always interesting as long as they are kept civil and all that. I could be just as mistaken as the next guy. ;D

There are tons of photos of British/Canadian Shermans over loaded with spare track for protection against the 'faust and 'schreck, most often it's Allied track but there was a discussion (on ML maybe?) way back in time showing photos of German Tiger, Panther and PnzrIV tracks being used as supplemental armor, stuff they gathered along the way and the like. I may even have some in some of the books here on the shelf. Wasting perfectly good track wouldn't make sense so they probably starting out with German track and replaced it with worn out Allied tracks as time went by?


Regardless though, because even if the Germans had recovered the tracks from Wittmann's tank, they still would have had to tow the tank at least the distance equal to the length of the tank to get them off the tracks, right? Which would place the tank itself much closer to the turret before doing so, which totally contradicts the reenactment video.


As far as the book, it's all Allied man, describing the Canadians plan aimed at breaking through German defenses south of Caen and trapping them in Normandy by linking up with Patton's Third Army. You wouldn't like it. ;D

 

[Chiefpettyofficer]

Regarding the tracks for extra Armor...

Many german Panzers were equipped with extra tracks to add some armor. They were modified basically at the eastern front to absorb hits from the russian PTRD Antitank-rifles and mine bursts. This extra armor were useless against tank shells.

I dont think this tracks of Wittmans Tank were recovered from the german Army. One of them had a total weight of ct. 3 tons. That requires some more than a few man or simple tools. A recovery vehicle is needed to lift the Tank and pull the track off the ground. And all under enemy fire? Aside from this, Tiger tracks had a short life. They were used up soon.
So, track recovery is not worth worrying about

 

[panzerace007]

KEN,

You know We'll keep it civil. ;D . I just find it had to believe that a FireFly penetrated th Armor of th Tiger. Every thing I've read & even in that Video -Who Killed WIttmann , it mentions that th Only penetration was on top of th Engine Deck. Does Your Book recount any of the Canadian Tankers & What They found. Did any one even look at th Tiger ? I know at th Time No one Knew who was in that particular Tiger, but normally Tankers take notice of where They Popped an Enemy ..... ?

It's all good discussions !!