Gentlemen,
I would like to know more about Tiger 414 (or 411?) (picture attached) belonged to schwere panzer-kompanie Hummel. It seems an hybrid model, with early production main features and a late type steel wheels. It has spare track hangers in the turret side and no smoke candle discharges but the old style drum cupola, so I can suppose that it was a tank produced in june 1943(?). In the rebuilt process, steel wheels were added, but no zimmerit coating, so I can argue that it happened after september 1944(?). Are you able to provide any further info about that tank? When it was produced? When it was rebuilt? A possible camo scheme?
Thanks in advance.
Best Regards,
Luciano B.
Hmmm the picture doesn’t show.
But i do know what you are talking about though. This is not specific to 414 but more general for the tanks of Hummel and Fehrmann. Most of them were early production models that were returned to the factory for repair after they had been serverly damaged at the front. At the factory the early rubber rimed roadwheels were replaced by the late style steel rimeed roadwheels. The feifel filters were deleted but the mounting studs for them are still present.
Changes may have been made to the turrets aswell like the adding of track hangers, im not sure, but they should be early turrets.
As far as production dates … well Im just not sure, I will look in my books but I will make no promises.
Funny, I was just reading some history about early Tigers returned to action after refit from the factory with as many up level modifications installed as possible. I never realized that you could have a steel wheeled Tiger with a drum cupola, etc., but, it makes sense though.
Steve
the Tiger started out at an old training school from Schwere Panzer Ersatz- und Ausbildung Abteilung 500 in Paderborn, 411 was also at Arnhem with Heavy tank company Hummel, the when Schwere Panzer Kompanie Hummel was incorparated into schwere Panzer Abteilung 506. As the 506 was at that time being completely rearmed with the Tiger 2 the Hummel company kept its independance and its Tiger 1
Thanks a lot!
I’ll be happy to receive any info about hybrid tigers, from Hummel, Fehrmann or other tank units. I would like to reproduce one of these AFV. I’m wondering if late in the war there was an official rebuilding program of early tigers with an established number of advanced features to add to the tanks, or if these veichles were simply a result of a custom work done by manteinance crews, maybe mixing parts from different veichles…
the Fehrmann tanks were from training sites and were updated with the wheels and tracks
im working on FO3