Operation of Tébourba - Kampfgruppe Djedeida (501 Schwere PanzerAbteilung in Tunisia)

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October 4, 2021
The box art of Dragon 6608, one of the well-known product which is also the expensive Dragon kit. The price of Dragon 6608 in my hometown is twice higher as the RFM 5001U, however, I would say the cost performance of 6608 is not double higher than 5001U.
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January 2, 2022
The diary of 501 Abt. in North Africa from Dec. 1942 to May 1943. Try to summarize the final consequences of each Tiger as clear as possible.
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October 4, 2021
The reference photo was taken in mid of December 1942 when 1st Kp. of 501 Abt. approached to Manouba.
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October 4, 2021
Tiger 112 was on a stone bridge and notice that 2 Panzer III Ausf. N followed the Tiger 112. Again, this photo showed the 1st Kp. on their way to Manouba in mid of Dec., 1942.
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January 3, 2022
The ‘security guard’ of Tiger were on the bridge. Unlike the painting instruction from Dragon 6431, I did not see any tactical number on the storage bin of turret at this time.
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October 4, 2021
The Tiger 112 was lightly damaged; a lot of craters were on the left side’s armor, the 3rd fender on left of vehicle was fell off and mudguard at left rear was also dropped.
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January 3, 2022
Ammunition loading work for Tiger 112. Notice that all fenders on the left have been removed, there were bunch of kill rings on barrel and the color of barrel was darker compare to manlet.
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January 3, 2022
Reference photo of Tiger 112 with unknown location & time. It is very interesting the crewman on the very right of photo still worn the European version uniform.
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January 3, 2022
The Tiger 724 which was the former 112 in March 1943. The remaining survived Tigers from 501 Abt. have merged to 504 Abt. after a huge losses in Hunt’s Gap.
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January 3, 2022
The box art of RFM-5050 is based on this reference photo. Notice a few of kill rings on the barrel of Tiger 724.
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October 4, 2021
Project start ~~~
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 4, 2021
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October 5, 2021
The PE parts have been installed
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October 5, 2021
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October 5, 2021
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October 5, 2021
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October 5, 2021
The self-made Jerrycan shelf for Panzer III
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October 5, 2021
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October 6, 2021
The various of road wheels for Tiger and Panzer III
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October 6, 2021
The prime (XF-63) and chipped colors (XF-9) have been painted
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October 6, 2021
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October 6, 2021
The jerrycans were almost done
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October 7, 2021
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October 7, 2021
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January 25, 2022
The box art of Dragon 6431, the kit I planned to select at the very beginning.

I eventually chose Academy 13531 as substitution due to the extremely high price of Dragon 6431 in some secondary markets. In addition, most of Dragon 6431 in nowadays market places were products of rebox, the Magic tracks were not provided and only 3 jerrycans were available. So, it is not a good deal unless you could purchase an initial realeased 6431.
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October 24, 2021
The Panzer III Ausf. N from 501 Abt. during the first Operation of Eilbote in Tunisia Jan. 1943.
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January 14, 2022
The same Panzer III at the same place, the photo was taken from a different angle. The Tiger 142 and a half-track armor vehicle were in front of this Panzer III.
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October 24, 2021
The Panzer III Ausf. N with tactical NO. 134.
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January 14, 2022
Lt. Kodar was standing on the turret of Panzer III with tactical NO. 07. All the Panzer IIIs served for 501 Abt. were type N and the for those starting with tactical number '0' are armor vehicles of headquarter. Their major responsibilities are reconnaissance, providing supports to Tigers and protecting against the attacks of enemy's infantry.
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January 14, 2022
Another Panzer III Ausf. N (04) from the headquarter of 501 Abt.. Note the sand-bags on the front armor.
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January 17, 2022
The same ‘04’ Pz. III N during the Operation of Eilbote in early 1943.
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January 14, 2022
The Panzer III Ausf. N with tactical NO. 242 was destroyed and burnt out in the second Operation of Eilbote. The Tiger 231 from the same kompany was also damaged and finally destructed in this operation.
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October 24, 2021
The base coat of Panzer III was done.
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October 24, 2021
I used Tamiya new introduced XF-93 light brown for the panzer III. Perhaps I should apply RAL8000 for Panzer III from 501 Abt.?
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October 24, 2021
The color of XF-93 can be reproduced if we mix the XF-15 and XF-64 together, the ratio of them are around 5:2
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October 24, 2021
The jerrycans, cables, and some other tools have been installed on the turret and top plate
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October 24, 2021
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October 24, 2021
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October 24, 2021
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October 24, 2021
This Panzer III from 501 Abt. is now 95% completed
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November 8, 2021
By the way, let’s figure out the differences among these 3 versions of Panzer III
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November 8, 2021
Just finish the camouflage painting on this initial production Tiger I
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November 8, 2021
I am using XF-92 yellow brown as base coat and camouflage are mixture of XF-49 (Khaki) and XF-89 (Dark Green), the ratio between khaki and dark green are approximately 3:1
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November 8, 2021
The Tamiya launched XF-92 (Yellow Brown) and XF-93 (Light Brown) to represent RAL8000 and 8020. I think those 2 colors are pretty awesome and give us some choices when we do paintings for armor vehicles of DAK
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November 8, 2021
The chipping color is again XF-9 hull red
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November 8, 2021
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November 8, 2021
I will assemble wheels and link workable tracks in the next step. Hope the workable track of RFM really does ‘work’ this time.
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November 8, 2021
A lot of equipments and tools on the superstructure are waiting to be installed.
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January 1, 2022
Time to work on the road wheels of my Tiger——— The road wheel system of Tiger could efficiently reduce pressure based on the formula P = F/S; the crews should feel more comfortable when they travel on fields.
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January 1, 2022
Now I think I fully understand the stress and complain from logistics & repairing Kompany ……. The road wheel system of Tiger is really complicated and troublesome; that is why so many injured or breakdown Tigers were abandoned on battlefields.
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January 1, 2022
The tracks are done.
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 1, 2022
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January 2, 2022
The dust cover for machine gun.
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January 2, 2022
Tow cable on the left side of vehicle.
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January 2, 2022
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January 2, 2022
Rear mudguards and lifting jack were attached
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January 2, 2022
The next activity is to finish all tools and equipments on upper plate
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January 11, 2022
All the tools, tow cables and rods on upper plate are now added.

The Initial Tiger of 501 Heavy Panzer Abt. is successfully done.
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January 11, 2022
Project completion ～～～
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January 11, 2022
The total time duration of making this Tiger is nearly a quarter. I started this project on Oct. 1st and all related activities are completed in today’s afternoon (Jan. 11th 2022).
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January 11, 2022
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January 11, 2022
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January 11, 2022
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January 11, 2022
The 2 cables on upper plate are not very easy to install, I use the super glue to fix both of them.
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January 11, 2022
Spare tracks and S-hooks are placed on rear hull. Note the racks for spare tracks are pretty narrow.
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January 11, 2022
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January 11, 2022
In next episode, I will employ the Tiger and Panzer III Ausf. N for a diorama of Tunisia in late 1942.
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January 11, 2022
To make a final conclusion, I want to say the quality of RFM-5001U is excellent; the plastic sprues are sharp and smooth, most of details are perfectly molded; the decals are thick enough and in good condition, except for the ‘Tiger 141’ on instruction booklet, RFM also provides us a great number of options to make different Tigers of 501 Abt.; the PE and 3D printed components are also amazing. Most importantly, the price of RFM-5001U is really fair comparing with Dragon’s Tiger 6608 (and I confirm that their qualities are almost identical).

If you have any idea of Initial Tiger in North Africa, then RFM-5001U might be one of the good choices. I highly recommend this kit.
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Commenti

37 4 October 2021, 02:31

Rui S
Looking good 👍

9 November 2021, 20:38

J D
Thx for your compliment, Rui.

11 November 2021, 04:49

Simon Nagorsnik
Quite nice 🐅 , want to see how it goes further!

11 November 2021, 05:04

J D
Thx for your comment, Simon.

I decide to finish the rest of work before late December. However, I am still planning a diorama for this Tunisia Initial Version Tiger and Panzer III N. I am considering tank crews and figures that I should employ for diorama.

11 November 2021, 05:38

Johne 69
Superb 👍

11 November 2021, 08:29

Tony G
Looks superb!!!

11 November 2021, 08:41

J D
Johne & Tony, Thanks for your appreciation.

11 November 2021, 14:59

Spanjaard
looking really good

11 November 2021, 16:01

J D
Thanks, Spanjaard.

12 November 2021, 00:19

R K
nice work so far!

12 November 2021, 04:53

Simon Nagorsnik
Coureos to see how your dio will look like when it's finished!

12 November 2021, 05:10

J D
To Simon:

Probably finish the diorama in the year 2022 😂. I usually work on the model buildings at weekend or holiday, I hope I can have some spare time during the weekdays in December or early January.

12 November 2021, 06:39

J D
Thx, R K. ✌️

12 November 2021, 06:40

Mathias Decommere
Following

1 January 2022, 16:02

J D
Thanks, Mathias. 🤝

1 January 2022, 16:15

Rui S
Great Work. 👍 So you have the Tiger, and now the Pz III M, and then a Dio? 🤔

15 January 2022, 13:07

J D
Thx for your comment, Rui.

I actually have a Pz III Ausf. N of 501 Heavy Abt. and I believe I have already showed that kit in the same album. I am planning to employ the Tiger and Pz. III N for a diorama of Operation of Djedeida in early December 1942.

Regarding to the Pz III Ausf. M, I only have a very brief idea and I am still doing some research for it. I am pretty sure that all the Pz III served for 501 Abt. were type N, while I am not very sure about the situation in 504 Abt. and 5th army. Some reference contexts and photos show that Pz. III Ausf. M were equipped by 5th army (including 504 Abt. abd 15 Pz. Div.), however, some other reference points that Pz III equipped by 504 Abt. and 15 Pz. Div. were type L. Very few reference photo of Pz. III M in Tunisia can be found on Google and another serious problem was that it is very hard to distinguish type L and M on those blurred photos.

I personally believe that most of Pz. III from 7, 15 Pz. Div. and 504 Abt. were Pz. III Ausf. L and there should be a few of Pz. III Ausf. M in the same organization, but the number of Pz. III M was small.

15 January 2022, 17:52