Hobby Boss 1:16 Tiger I

[LSP_K2]

I'm so delighted to finally have this kit in my hands, that I thought I'd share a couple of photos (and thoughts). Box art shows a really cool zimmerit finish, but there's no evidence of any at all in the kit itself. This is a bit of a letdown, but not insurmountable. I may or may not add zimm to mine, but probably will, as it just looks so cool.

 

[LSP_K2]

First up, the turret. Not really a lot to say here, save for the fact that there is absolutely no surface texture on this kit, none at all, at least that I’ve seen so far, but is pretty easy to add, so no big deal there, really. There are weld seams where one would expect to find them, mostly, but there’s no doubt whatsoever that more will need to be added to create a more authentic representation. HB has taken some major shortcuts here and there regarding details in this kit, such as the molded closed loader's hatch here, and molded-on stowage bins. Some of this will create problems down-the-line, but probably also reflect why the kit is fairly inexpensive to begin with.

 

 

 

[LSP_K2]

Upper hull looks pretty good, basically, though once again, molding all of the mud guards in-place, may certainly complicate things later. Much has been simplified, probably to reduce parts count, and will therefore require additional work to get right, though at least overall proportions look good so far. Note molded in-place jacking block and forward hatches,... not cool.

 

[LSP_K2]

Lower hull: Here's where the R/C nature of the kit rears it's ugly head. There are no hatches, drains or anything else molded into hull bottom, none, just a gaping maw for the batteries, switches and whatnot. This is, of course, totally bogus, and will require a fair mount of work to correct. Fortunately for me, I have a whole boat load of references on the Tigers, as it's my all-time favorite German tank, and I've been collecting books on them for years and years and years.

 

Pretty cool, is the fact that markings are provided for no less than seven different Tigers, a real nice touch. By far my single biggest problem here though, will be to keep my hands off of it until I get some other stuff wrapped up first.

 

[Rockie Yarwood]

Looks like a challenging project - looking forward to following along!

[Erwin]

I made one when it first came out.

It builds without any problems at all.

 

Great kit for it's money.

[ironman1945]

Hey Kevin

 

Thanks for posting. Didn't realize it was such a rudimentary kit, meant for R/C

 

Hmm. I have the Tamiya 1/16 RC Tiger I early waiting in the stash..... but I've been thinking about making it a Tiger I late.

 

Perhaps the Hobby Boss kit would be a good source to kit bash such a project.

 

Cheers

 

Dave/Ironman1945

[Rick Griewski]

Thanks for the show and tell.  I know what you mean about keeping hands off of the new and “shiny” kit when it bats it’s pretty eyes.  

[panzerrob]

To put zimmerit on it I would recommend this set:

https://www.modellbau-koenig.de/en/Vehicles/Military-1-24/Accessories/PE-Parts-other/Zimmerit-fuer-Tiger-I-Mid-Hobby-Boss-1-16

 

With regards,

Rob

[Confusionreigns178]

Hi.

 

I would very much agree with what Panzerrob says above. The ATAK Zimmerit is expensive, but the quality is excellent and it's all designed to fit like a glove. Personally, I would be way too concerned about messing the Zimm up if I attempted to add it with putty or similar and this flexible resin set gave me my "get out of jail for free card".  

 

A lot of folk are pretty critical of the Hobbyboss Tiger, but - for the price - I think it constitutes very good value-for-money. There is also a rubber / latex version of the Zimm out there, which is made to fit the big Heng Long Tiger 1. There's a Youtube video of someone adapting the rubber Zimm to fit the Hobbyboss kit and the end result looks pretty good. The rubber version is more "obvious" than the ATAK stuff, but which one to use is an individual choice. I happen to have a spare rubber Zimmerit set, if you are interested.

 

Good luck with the build. I have seen two completed kits and they look amazing. You can add as much detail as you want to the kit - the potential to super-detail is huge.

 

Cheers.

 

Chris.  

Edited November 11, 2020 by Confusionreigns178
Correcting a typo.

[LSP_K2]

13 hours ago, ironman1945 said:

Hey Kevin

 

Thanks for posting. Didn't realize it was such a rudimentary kit, meant for R/C

 

Hmm. I have the Tamiya 1/16 RC Tiger I early waiting in the stash..... but I've been thinking about making it a Tiger I late.

 

Perhaps the Hobby Boss kit would be a good source to kit bash such a project.

 

Cheers

 

Dave/Ironman1945

 

I'd love a Tamiya kit, but could never find one at a decent price. Also, and from what you said, that's an early version, and I really prefer the cupola from the mid tiger. Doing a mix and match? It might well work, but I couldn't say with certainty.

[LSP_K2]

4 hours ago, panzerrob said:

To put zimmerit on it I would recommend this set:

https://www.modellbau-koenig.de/en/Vehicles/Military-1-24/Accessories/PE-Parts-other/Zimmerit-fuer-Tiger-I-Mid-Hobby-Boss-1-16

 

With regards,

Rob

 

Excellent. I may well have to chase down that set, for sure. The HB kit does provide, much to my surprise, fairly heavy zimm shaping P.E. pieces, but the pattern they would produce, looks like it would be more at home on a 1:35 scale kit.

[Troy Molitor]

Just curious.  What does this puppy cost?  

[LSP_K2]

7 minutes ago, Troy Molitor said:

Just curious.  What does this puppy cost?  

 

$120 (plus shipping) seems to be fairly common. Cheap, when one considers that most of the Trumpeter kits are $300 (or more). I had read quite a lot about this kit before purchasing, and decided that it would be well worth the price, despite several minor detail errors and a complete lack of follow-through in some areas. I'll try to take more photos this afternoon, illustrating highs and lows, and there seems to be quite a few, especially after the treat that the Jagdtiger has been, a kit that in itself is not quite as nice as it could have been.

[ironman1945]

5 minutes ago, LSP_K2 said:

 

$120 (plus shipping) seems to be fairly common. Cheap, when one considers that most of the Trumpeter kits are $300 (or more). I had read quite a lot about this kit before purchasing, and decided that it would be well worth the price, despite several minor detail errors and a complete lack of follow-through in some areas. I'll try to take more photos this afternoon, illustrating highs and lows, and there seems to be quite a few, especially after the treat that the Jagdtiger has been, a kit that in itself is not quite as nice as it could have been.

Kevin

 

More pics would be much appreciated.  At $120, it makes me think an RC Mid Tiger kit bashed with the Tamiya kit may be possible, depending on how this kit looks.

 

Cheers!
 

Dave/Ironman1945