S04 was painted this way for propaganda reasons when Wittman was awarded his swords and oakleaves to the knights cross and does not represent the way in which Wittman fought. The first release Tamiya Tiger (1970's era) had these decals included in the kit.
Whittman's first Tiger was actually his training vehicle. Even when trained on the tiger, he went back to Russia at the end of 1942 and commanded a Panzer 3 Ausf J of the Leibstandate's light panzer 4th Company. He did not get a tiger until April 1943, months later, when 5 new vehicles were assigned to the front. Therefore his first combat vehicle was an early 1943 build.
Try this link for an interesting read:
http://www.panzerace.net/main/intro.asp
Hope this helps you out some.