Wow, good luck with the old Hanomag; I find when dealing with really old kits like that that it is easier to just go old school and build out of box or scratch build stuff for it. Any aftermarket items money is better spent on a superior kit.

Once upon a time when the Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog was the only available kit, I had $90 some odd dollars invested in it. When Skybow and subsequently AFV Club released them, a new tooled kit was around $30.

Gamera

If it's of any use I just finished up Takom's US T30/34 and it was fantastic. Lots of small parts but fit was perfect and the instructions were way better than Dragon. If their Tigers are good as it I'd really recommend it.  

They even give you a pair of jigs made out of plastic that cement won't affect to use to glue the link tracks around- then you can slide them off and onto the model. 

 

The jig sounds like a really nice thought on their part. Individual track links can be a real pain by nature, and unless you want to shell out big bucks for some metal tracks the individual links are the way to go.

Rubber band tracks should be outlawed imo.

I'm about to order my Takom king tiger Henschel turret with Zimmerit.

Still have a few kits ahead of it though...currently working on a old Tamiya Hanomag 251 with alot of scratchbuilt extras.

Admittedly I've taken some artistic license with the interior by adding gun racks and shelving that probably never existed...still looks cool.

Wish I could post pics from my phone

If it's of any use I just finished up Takom's US T30/34 and it was fantastic. Lots of small parts but fit was perfect and the instructions were way better than Dragon. If their Tigers are good as it I'd really recommend it.  

They even give you a pair of jigs made out of plastic that cement won't affect to use to glue the link tracks around- then you can slide them off and onto the model. 

I have piles of kits that were once "the best" but are now mediocre, so I get it. I have a couple of tank companies worth of Tamiya, Academy, and Esci (and Revell and Italeri reboxes) of the M60A1/A3 tank kits, but have set those aside to deal with the better AFV Club kits.

Rob Gronovius

I've yet to lay hands on any of the Takom kits regardless of subject. I've heard nothing but good things about them though. I'm more of a modern US armor builder, so I've been getting the newer AFV Club M60A1 and A3 as well as newer Abrams kits.

I know other brands of King Tiger kits have hit the for sale forums because they have to have the best and are selling off in order to obtain the Takom ones. So pretty good deals can be had if you want a good, but not the best, King Tiger.

 

It probably sounds snobbish, but I have a stash of about 104 kits with about 80 of them being what is considered mediocre...alot of old Tamiya and academy kits, some far worse (lindberg) are probably best left in the box but I will build them.

So now I've decided not to waste any more of my time/money/storage space on more "mediocrity" lol

That probably sounds bad but it's about to the point of necessity.

I've yet to lay hands on any of the Takom kits regardless of subject. I've heard nothing but good things about them though. I'm more of a modern US armor builder, so I've been getting the newer AFV Club M60A1 and A3 as well as newer Abrams kits.

I know other brands of King Tiger kits have hit the for sale forums because they have to have the best and are selling off in order to obtain the Takom ones. So pretty good deals can be had if you want a good, but not the best, King Tiger.

The only T-34s I've built are the ancient Tamiya kits and the Dragon one. Personally I like the Dragon kit, it build without any real problems best I remember. 

I have the AFV Club kit too, which I bought because of the interior. I'm hoping to build a knocked-out Korean War T-34 with the hatches open whenever I build up the guts to try. Looks a great kit in the box. 

Academy also makes a fairly new T-34 kit which I've heard good stuff about but haven't seen firsthand myself. 

Sorry, only Tiger II I've built is the Tamiya and Dragon kits both of which lacking detail compared to the newer ones did go together without any major issues. 

Takom also makes both the Henschel and Porsche KT II with Interiors. I have the Henschel   505 unit one with interior and it’s simply a work or art. 

Now for a Tiger 1 Rye Fields Models makes the best:

http://www.themodellingnews.com/2016/11/ryefield-captures-carius-tiger-in-their.html?m=1

Rob Gronovius

The clear hull can be painted regular, you get an interior. Double check whichever Dragon kit you get. They are not all created equal. Some are much better, more accurate than others.

 

Thanks for the heads up... I'll do some thorough research for sure.

Although I am probably gonna check out the AFV kit also.

The clear hull can be painted regular, you get an interior. Double check whichever Dragon kit you get. They are not all created equal. Some are much better, more accurate than others.

Although the clear hull is a cool idea, I think I'll choose Dragon.

There are quite a few very good T-34 kits. AFV Club makes a decent one with an interior and clear upper hull to display the interior. It can be built regular as well. Dragon makes umpteen T-34 in virtually any version.

Tamiya's old ones date back to the 70s and there are Eastern European ones that come out in various boxes that are probably best left on the shelf.

There are at least 6 Takom King Tigers I can think of at the moment. Specifying that you want it with Zimmerit cuts it down to 3. 

2045 King Tiger Henschel Turret with Zimmerit. Production model of the turret. 

2046 King Tiger Porsche Turret with Zimmerit. Prototype turret run of 50 units. 

2047 King Tiger Henschel Turret with Zimmerit. Same as 2045, but the turret has a large panel cleared of Zimmerit on the turret side to build a King Tiger of s.Pz.Abt 505. This unit had a charging knight insignia in the cleared space of the turret, so while the turret is the same, the plastic part is different from 2045 to allow this to be modeled. It can ONLY make a King Tiger from this specific unit out of the box. 

Other than the turret differences, these three kits are essentially the same otherwise. Unless you are interested in the markings in particular in 2047 (it will only build a King Tiger from that unit), your best bet is to choose the type of turret you want, and buy 2045 or 2046. The other Takom King Tigers kits are without Zimmerit, or the initial production version, also no Zimmerit. 

Well, there is a version with the production turret (Henschel) and with the Porsche turret. Then each of these were issued with and without zimmerit. That's your four basic versions.

Then there's a special limited edition Ammo Mig Jimenez version that includes his high end paint already in the box. That's the Henschel turret without zimmerit.

The last one is the first initial production version (Porsche turret) so it doesn't have zimmerit either.

So your choice is based on which version you wish to model, Henschel (#2045 & #2047) or Porsche (#2046) are the zimmerit versions. The difference in turret pattern for the Pz Abt 505 is kit #2047.