This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, the largest armored battle the world has ever seen. Fought by attacking German units and Russian defenders arrayed in depth, the gargantuan battle involved nearly 3,000 German tanks and more than 5,000 Russian ones. Germany kicked off Operation Zitadelle in the late summer of 1943, on 5 July. With massive losses on both sides, it was the last strategic offensive that Germany was able to launch on the Eastern Front. Dragon has a series of new and re-released kits commemorating that major battle on the way, but one of the most remarkable is a new item of a 1/35 Tiger I. What is special about this phenomenal kit is that it represents the Tiger I Early variant used by the famous German tank ace Michael Wittman. At the time of the Kursk fighting, Wittmann was serving in 13./Panzer Regiment 1, and Tiger Is were among the most lethal tank of the battle.
This new 1/35 scale release depicts a Tiger I Early-Production tank, and modelers can be assured of user-friendly assembly and enhanced detail. It is replete with Magic Tracks, plus an array of photo-etched components to give the necessary touch of class. Wittmann led his platoon at Prokhorovka with this tank, and by the time the battle was over, his crew had destroyed about 30 Russian tanks and 28 anti-tank guns. With this high-quality model, modelers can now recreate a scene from that massive armored clash at Kursk.