1/35 SchPzAbt 503 Tiger Is Kursk 1943 Operation Citadel 1.Kompanie Marking Decals

A large and comprehensive marking set for 1st Company of sAbt 503 Tiger Is during the Kursk offensive "Operation Citadel". Basically, it's all about the markings and organization of the 503rd Heavy Battalion during Kursk '43, making it crystal clear. The mob did use different numeral and cross styles across the board, which can make a generic marking set bloody confusing and daunting, no doubt about it. This set aims to take the guesswork out of it, like which style of numerals and balkenkreuz were slapped on each Tiger. For instance, the mix of styles on Tiger "123", not to mention its eventual replacement turret. Or the fact that replacement Tigers "100" and "111" used a different stencil (smaller and narrower). Even the spacings between each digit, spread wide or close together, neatly aligned, sloped towards the front or unevenly applied, are now sorted. A straightforward, no-fuss approach to application.

The illustrations also show which production batch each Tiger came from, including any unique details that were chucked onto the vehicle. The whole company is covered, in one way or another (not including every possible replacement or replaced tanks that were missed out), showing the full organizational structure of the company itself.

Battalion emblems (4 variations) are provided, drawn from actual markings.

Like all big Echelon decal sets, a heap of effort went into research and creation. The Kursk '43 503 sets took an even bigger effort, over a span of 2 years, with a massive amount of info to gather, sort, and process. Just getting the info together took longer than that.

1st Company Tigers were primed to go into battle with 6th Panzer Division. Panzer Ace Kurt Knispel was from this company. Though he did pose for a snap in the cupola of Tiger "101", Tiger "131" was recorded with a whopping 16 T-34 kills, on the 10th day into the offensive, according to "Tigers in Combat I". This made some wonder whether Kurt was part of the crew of Tiger "131" instead. A replacement Tiger "100", a real early Mid version (early hull + later sprockets with machined hub cap) had a fair dinkum collection of kill rings on its Kwk 36. Exact count was 19 rings.