Further reports:
Winter 2023 to Winter 2024
Summer 2023
Winter 2022/23: Working on the turret
Winter 2021/22 and summer 2022: Working on the turret
Winter 2020/21 and summer 2021: The electrical system and hull
Winter 2019/20 and summer 2020: Turret and the electrical system

Winter 2023 to Winter 2024

After a longer while here an update of the work conducted on the King Tiger.

Why only now?

Due to the coming expansion of our display facilities and the many new vehicles which we received from the Swiss Army base Thun we were forced to change priorities.

As far as the Tiger is concerned, we are currently at a state in which work steps are building upon each other and therefore seize if essential parts are missing.

The work the most striking to the eye recently was the application of a layer of Zimmerit, or better: an imitation of the Zimmerit layer.

This layer was meant as a protection against magnetic mines to be attached to the tank from non well-meaning folks. Internally we have long been discussing whether our car had Zimmerit or not since no significant proof could be found. Building and delivery of our tank took place at the transition time when factory application of Zimmerit was stopped.

When by chance we received a photo which undoubtfully showed our tank, recognizable at the rupture pattern of the barrel, immediately after the end of the war with a Zimmerit cover, we decided to put on such a layer as well.

Even though the original Zimmerit recipe is know we opted for an imitation which was easier to obtain. Great effort was made to imitate the step pattern.

Parallel to the other ongoing work we have long been chasing the items and tools attached to the side walls of the hull. It is now nearly complete, a particular nice sight are the thick towing ropes on both sides and the thinner rope to pull on the tracks.
Still missing are a long chisel and the crank to manually start the engine by rotating the flywheel.

At present the turret is temporarily placed on the hull and the view of the externally mostly complete King Tiger can be enjoyed. I am always amazed by its size when standing next to it.

Focus of our current work is on the turret travers with the working platform for the turret crew. The unit consists of the turret traverse which holds two semicircles on each side each of which consists of two segments. The front segments are bolted to the lower travers while the rear segments are mounted with hinges and can be folded up, giving access e.g. to the gas filter.
Unfortunately, the rear segments had a horrible fit and required extensive adjustment work to make them fit to the traverse and adjacent segments in both length and height

The rear vertical sheet which will later be bolted to the rear turret bottom was a particular challenge. The original was rusted off at the upper edge of the traverse. The part that was bolted to the traverse was made new and welded to the remaining original. The challenge was in that the entire piece is curved and bended at the same time. But we did a very good job on it.

The largest parts which are still missing are the engine and transmission unit consisting of the driving and steering gear.
Some time ago the restored driving gear came back to us but the steering gear is still missing. Unfortunately, only the entire unit can be tested and adjusted. We are confident to have the unit complete by the end of 2025.