Review Tiger Tank Commander from Life Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi to all ,

Among the most rapidly increased arm of the german forces in the build up to WW2 was of course the Panzer troops , using initially wooden cutouts to simulate tanks in 1930's to train with as a result of the ww1 treaty at Versailles signed on 28 June in 1919 which restricted the size of the german army.
Never the less despite such humble beginnings the Panzer arm developed into a fighting elite wearing the distinctive black uniforms with the Tank commanders becoming national heroes all wearing the coveted Knights Cross at their neck .
The Panzers fought in all theatres of war from France to Russia ,Hungary, the desert and many more .
Lets look at the career of one particular commander namely :

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Oberleutnant Wilhelm Knauth​

PERSONALIA

Name: Knauth, Karl-Wilhelm
Date of birth: January 29th, 1916 (Salchendorf/Westernphalia, Germany)
Date of death: April 25th, 1945 (Oderiner See near Halbe/Brandenburg, Germany)
Buried on: German War Cemetery Halbe
Plot: 6. Row: 5. Grave: 630.
Nationality: German
BIOGRAPHY:
Several sources state as the date of death April 25th, 1945. This date is far from certain. Karl-Wilhelm Knauth was killed somewhere between April and May 1945.

Promotions:
1st June 1942: Leutnant der Reserve;
1st September 1943: Oberleutnant der Reserve;
1st March 1944: Hauptmann der Reserve.

Career:
1936 – 1938: Volunteer with the Wehrmacht;
1st September 1939: Re-entering the Wehrmacht;
12th February 1943: Panzer Abteilung 505;
5th February - April 1945: Stellvertretender Chef II. / Panzer-Regiment Brb. (I.Abt.)


Awards include


EISERNES KREUZ 2. KLASSE

EISERNES KREUZ 1. KLASSE

EHRENBLATTSPANGE DES HEERES UND WAFFEN-SS

RITTERKREUZ DES EISERNEN KREUZES

PANZERKAMPFABZEICHEN II STUFE "25"

DEUTSCHES KREUZ IN GOLD

VERWUNDETENABZEICHEN 1939 IN GOLD

As you can see a very brave and inspirational tank commander and leader , perhaps this man is the inspiration behind the latest from

As always I will provide some good reference material for you to think about :

Firstly here are some really good books:

Here we have some reference pictures for you

Continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys,

The release was announced here on PF:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/life-miniatures-new-release.74680/watch-confirm

Let us see what we are looking at :

Title: WW2 German King Tiger Commander s.pZ.aBT 503

Reference: LM-B017

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 12

Sculptor: Sang-Eon Lee

Box Art: Sang-Eon Lee


As with others from LM shipping is fast and efficient with the box being held in a new style slip over wrapping , I like this change , on the cover top we have the box art

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and at the side we have a set of pictures that shows how to make up the headphones ...excellent idea and extremely useful.

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The parts ( all packed between foam sheets) consist of the torso , the head, Binos , the headband , , 2 headphones, the switch, the headband adjusting ends , 2 sets of end pieces ( 1 spare set ) , a base and a length of copper wire.

Prep:

Torso ...plug in the normal position under the arm
Head...Plug from under the base of the neck
Binos...Casting former to remove in 2 places from rear
Headband... Remove from former in 5 places
Headphones plus other pieces ...made up as per instructions( more in next post)
Base...Nothing

Again its my pleasure to say that LM have given us a super smooth piece of resin , this applies to all .

In this part we will look at the 2 main pieces , the torso and the head

Beginning with the torso , our commander is wearing a parka to keep out the bitter cold , , these came in many style and pattern combinations often reversible , the parka is well shown with all the creases and folds , open at the neck with the hood being worn down ( very restricting for vision if up when in action) , the seams are finely done and look good , the hood itself is a mass of very natural folds with easy access to the paintbrush if you choose to paint a camo inside as per box art.

Under the parker we see a collar of the shirt again very nicely detailed and proudly worn at the neck the Knights Cross , this is very well shaped and with the edges done well , just peeking out the collar we have the ribbon , going through the clip .

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Now to the head , he is wearing the side cap , this is shown well worn as it should be with the folds ready to take the headband , at the front we have the eagle , below this we see the inverted "V" of the piping , nicely placed in this we see the national cockade , on the side we see the badge of the panzer well shaped and adding interest to the cap , the insignia of his unit, you could of course remove this and put your own insignia on of another unit.

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Around his neck we find the radio voice pieces ready to take the cables etc , well shaped again with holes already for you to use.

For me facial features are strong he looks determined and serious , wonderful details on the eyes and nose with the ears being flattened ready to take the headphones ...again an area well thought out by LM , the chin is well formed and jutting forward .
Hair is short and well kept with the strands looking good , getting shorter as it we go down the neck.

Continued in next post:

Nap

 

[Nap]

Now to the remaining pieces

Beginning with the Headphones

Firstly by using the well pictured details on the slip over this should be easy enough , perhaps a little fiddly but the end result will be extremely accurate and well worth the effort

The headphones consist of :
the headband ,
2 headphones
the headband adjusting ends x 2 ,
switch ,
2 sets of end pieces ( 1 spare set ) ,


and a length of copper wire (see picture in first part).


As you can see all parts are very well detailed particularly the ear pieces , I would suggest perhaps fitting the headphones after making them up and painting and after you have finished the actual head/torso.

Now to the Binos , nicely worked with good lens details after removing the former they fit directly to the parka front just below the 2 straps carefully sculpted onto the torso , these binos came in many types but remember the wear that developed on these ( as in pictures)



Now to the final piece ..the Base , a simple post type as seen with LM but perfectly suitable for the job , no prep needed just secure ( pin it!!) to the nicely shaped cut out on the torso.

Final Thoughts

Well another good addition to the ever expanding LM catalogue and a great subject as well , sure to be popular , yes I know its a german but that matters , what you get is a great sculpt , beautifully smooth and extremely detailed and very well cast .

The end result a nice piece to display after many an enjoyable hour or several at the bench

For information on this and others from LM go to the website at:

www.lifeminiatures.com

Thanks to LM for the review and to you all for looking in

Finally lets enjoy some more pictures of the box art ...great painting from Sang-Eon

Enjoy your bench time

Nap

 

[Jimbo]

1st class review Kev
Cheers
Jim

 

[Mark Dollery]

Top review again Kevin, (got this one on the bench at the moment!)
Mark D

 

[storm_zh]

Great review!

 

[Zastrow.cuirassier]

Another great review !
Brand should pay Nap for the quality of his reviews !

 

[Viesturs]

Great review i'm on this one at the moment also.

 

[Range Rat]

Another quality review Kev

 

[Viking Bob]

Is this your full time job, it should be. Excellent review.
Regards

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys ,

ZC .....
.........Brand should pay Nap for the quality of his reviews !...I wish ...spread my name about folks!...

...any manufacturers wanting anything do contact me !

Is this your full time job, it should be. Excellent review.
Regards

Cheers Bob ...can't be full time as I have my fashion career on the catwalk as well...LOL

Thanks for looking in guys

More to follow !

Happy modelling

Nap

 

[swralph]

Great review Nap.

 

[yoshi]

Great bust. Will be on my list.

 

[Ybrossculpts]

Hi Nap,
Thanks for the review of this lovely bust, appreciate it.
Regards
Chris.