This excellently researched video gives a whole new perspective on the battle and trashes several myths and is well worth a look. Incidentally tankers never mounted their vehicles from the side, as they risked crushing their foot. Also I believe Wittmann put more emphasis on destroying anti tank guns not tanks, he was attributed to being particularly good at being able to anticipate where they may be concealed .
From USA, love your videos, thank you for sharing. After playing the game WarThunder I have a new appreciation for good old plastic models, I like having something that won't be destroyed over and over again, LOL. Hope you and yours and all your friends are having a very nice day.
Ha ha . Comedy gold . Where's the zimmerit parts for the turret ? IT'S IN YOUR HAND PETER ! i can't find it anywhere - goes through all sprues .. IT'S IN YOUR HANDS PETER ! I can't believe they didnt include it ...... MWAAHAAAAA ! Sorry ..... very funny. Nice review , i have the none zimm one with older track ...yuk . M
@@MartinSparks-ef9gr Ooops! 🤭 Definitely a 'Homer Simpson D'oh! Moment there...In my defence, I do not have the advantage of the Canon 20x HD Zoom though...🤓
It’s a great kit. Thanks for the additional information about Michael Wittman very interesting. Very strange that the Model has got a nice figure of him and….. not much else..!
I remember reading about the Villiers Bocage engagement as a kid building the Tamiya 1/35 Tiger 1 (it had motors in those days and I'd ready shot up several Airfix ones with my air gun - so I was something of an expert), it seemed incredible that the Germans could ever loose with such weapons. Of course, none of it is quite as depicted, when you see the images of the destroyed vehicles they are mostly "soft-skinned" and half-tracks, also not in a single track sunken road with dozens of destroyed Cromwell's as was originally described, and that narrative failed to mention Wittmann's tigers were destroyed later that day. I think there is still a problem separating what were propaganda images from the time into real events that we take for granted now, they were after all only photographs, with no metadata proof.
The best molded on zimmerit is from Takom. Their recent Tiger I family has the BEST rendering of zimmerit. The random, sloppy and uneven troweling often seen on real vehicles is properly replicated by Takom. The best area on this RFM kit is the gun mantlet and front hull glacis plate, looks very good there
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab I have built the Grant tank Peter. That was a good model, well engineered and good fit. No interior, but that's ok for my purposes.
Amazing kit. For some reason I only had/still have a Tiger in 1/35 and another one in 1/72 scale. Both pretty basic models. Never bought a Ryefield kit before, but I can get this limited edition 5101 kit for 50 euro ( and shipping 5 euro) from a local supplier, there's no need to order it from abroad... 🤔 Thanks for the review!
Superb review,bought one on offer a few days ago waiting for its arrival though ive made a few Trumpeter/ Takom Tiger 1s still like the RFM thier nice kits as per thier Sherman firefly a lot nicer than the Dragon Firefly....
Great review, I must have at least a dozen Tigers in my stash as they seem to get better and better, from what I remember the Michael Wittmann cap looks like the band is to wide, this may be able to be corrected, not sure I will purchase this RFM offering! FYI, the road wheels don't need to grip the track as they are free wheeling, thanks for the review.
Yes the color of the kislux is beautiful and it is a great decision, maybe one day they will add feet and straps. It would be nice to have a bigger bag during the colder months when we have to store gloves, beanies, scarves, etc…
Pretty sure 212 was Bobby Woll’s tank as he was no longer Wittmans gunner in Normandy, and was a tank commander himself. I have a chart in a book I read that has every tank, and it’s assigned commander but I don’t have access to it at the moment. Sowa was the commander of 222 which I forget which tank he ended up commanding for Viller Bocage. I have multiple books on this battle from the British point of view and the Germans. Wittman was lucky going through the town because Capt Dye I believe had backed his Cromwell into an ambush position in a courtyard, but his gunner had gotten out to take a piss. Once crewed up they pulled out and tried to engage Wittman further down the street, but the shots were ineffective. Wittman turned his turret and destroyed the Cromwell launching the Capt out of the turret which I’m pretty sure he survived. Below will be the big bullet pts of the battle. 2nd Company of the 101st SS Panzer Battalion arrived on the night of June 12th with only 6 operational tanks. The company moved 2-3 times during the night because of artillery barrages. On the morning of the 13th the 2nd Company was parked on a side road outside of Villers Bocage. Wittman hopped into 234 I’m pretty sure when he spotted the British column approximately 200-300 yards away, but 234 had either transmission or engine problems. He changed to 222, and charged out and started engaging targets. He ordered the rest of the 2nd Company to support by fire. He attacked Point 213 where the British column was having a commanders meeting. After destroying tanks at Pt 213 he charged down the road engaging multiple different brens and half tracks at which point he entered Villers Bocage. Then destroyed multiple Cromwell tanks and Sherman OP tanks along with Stuart light tanks from the recce company. He continued through the Village till he encountered a Firefly tank which a house came apart on top of the firefly. At that point he was attempting to regroup with the rest of the 2nd Company which had advanced onto Pt 213 when a 6 pound AT gun struck his Tiger in the drive sprocket and knocked the track off. Wittman and his crew sat for 10-15 minutes shooting everything in sight with the main gun until the ammunition was expanded. They then abandoned the Tiger and fled north to the Panzer Lehr Division. The Tiger was left intact in hopes of recovery. The 1st Company of the 101st SS Panzer Battalion along with elements of the Panzer Lehr Division with Panzer IVs attacked Villers Bocage without much success. A number of Panzer IVs were destroyed along with 4-5 Tigers of the 1st Company. Before the British withdrew though I can’t remember the British Officers name had blankets soaked in gasoline stuffed in the turrets of all the Tigers disabled, and set ablaze so they couldn’t be recovered and repaired. The 22nd Armored Brigade then retreated into a Brigade Box for the evening. There is a lot of the story left out, but the big bullet points are hit. Wittman was the Company Commander and his tank was 205 which broke down while enroute to Normandy from their billeting area with transmission issues. Your “222” build is nicely done, and would’ve been a late production, but the 101st had 45 Tigers as part of its T/E of which 18 were Mid Production Tigers. The entire 3rd Company and the 3rd platoon of the 1st Company were mid production Tigers. The Battalion Stab, 1st Company Stab along with its 1st and 2nd Platoons, and all the 2nd Company were late production Tigers. The 1st Company was withdrawn in early July I’m pretty sure, and sent to Germany to refit and train on the new Tiger II/King Tiger/Tiger Royal at which point they turned over their remaining Tigers to the 3rd Company. The 1st Company returned to Normandy in late July or early August with the New Tiger IIs. Long story, but after being formed in Northern Italy from the 13th Company of the 1st SS Panzer Division the 101st sent the 1st and 2nd Companies back to the Eastern Front while the 3rd Company was sent to Belgium. On the Eastern Front the 101st was made into an oversized Company with 5 platoons with 5 tanks apiece. When they were withdrawal, and sent to France to refit and rearm they left their remaining Tigers on the Eastern Front, but the 3rd Company was in Belgium already equipped with Mid production Tigers. In Normandy there were approximately 200 total Tigers tanks. 101st SS Panzer Battalion 59 between the 45 Tiger 1s and 14 Tiger 2s 102nd SS Panzer Battalion 45 Tiger 1s 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion 59 between Tiger 1s and Tiger 2s Panzer Lehr Division had 14 Tiger 1s I’m probably missing something, but what I can remember from around 50+ plus books read on Normandy, Allied tank tactics, and German armor tactics both on the Heer and SS units. German tank commanders operated better because they typically had better equipment and situational awareness because the tank commanders typically wouldn’t “button up” the commanders hatch, and would pop up to get better awareness of the battlefield where as Allied Tank commanders would typically button up especially the Russians, and couldn’t get as good of a picture of the battlefield. It’s 1 of the reasons the hatch from the early Tigers was changed from opening straight up to a slide opening hatch because the Russians would aim for the cupola/commanders hatch to kill/severely wound the German tank commanders of Tigers.
Very good kit review Peter. Rye Field Model manufacture some very good 1/35 armour models, especially the Tiger I and the American M1A1/M1A2 families. A huge amount of parts, so not for the novice modeller, but build into a nice model. I would especially recommend the Challenger II models which are up there with the Tamiya version. My only quibbles are the parts count and the instructions need careful consideration before each step. Generally the instructions are good and show similarities with Border Model instructions. I wonder if RFM and Border are part of the same manufacturer group? I agree with the point of the lack of history and technical specifications in the instruction manuals. Unfortunately most of the Chinese manufacturers do this or have a very short vehicle history on the side of the box. I have just bought this model and will be purchasing the Magic Factory 1/48 Skyhawk next. This looks like a very good model from all the news I have heard and read. Perhaps one for a future review Peter?
Given that the manufacturer is making reasonable coin out of high-detail kits such as this, it would seem a small expense for them to hire a researcher or two on a casual basis to provide short histories for their kits, which could be incorporated into the general instructions or included separately. Instead, the onus is put on the customer to do the leg work for an accurate depiction, and for the prices charged in some instances, to me that is a blatant cop-out.
How can one tell they are talking to a masochist modeler? The modeler gets visibly excited about doing the Dragon link to link tracks and bogeys on the T28 American super heavy tank.😂
I am building this very same tank but an older Tamiya kit with Eduard Zimmerit. Still trying to work out the kinks with the Zimmerit not as nice as Takom or RFM. As opposed to your builds, my builds are mostly 2 footers. They look the best two feet away. Model on sir!
This excellently researched video gives a whole new perspective on the battle and trashes several myths and is well worth a look. Incidentally tankers never mounted their vehicles from the side, as they risked crushing their foot. Also I believe Wittmann put more emphasis on destroying anti tank guns not tanks, he was attributed to being particularly good at being able to anticipate where they may be concealed .
When it comes to armour. , RFM are up there with the best. The detail on the kits is second to none.
From USA, love your videos, thank you for sharing. After playing the game WarThunder I have a new appreciation for good old plastic models, I like having something that won't be destroyed over and over again, LOL. Hope you and yours and all your friends are having a very nice day.
@@danielschannel444 Thanks Daniel! 👍🏻 You are always welcome buddy! 🇬🇧🤝🇺🇸
There is no denying RFM makes excellent kits.
222 was his Tiger at Villers Bocage but 007 was the Tiger he was killed in at Cintheaux
That’s a fine looking Tiger and a Wittmann Tiger 222 at that. Well done!👍👏
Thanks 👍
Ha ha . Comedy gold .
Where's the zimmerit parts for the turret ?
IT'S IN YOUR HAND PETER !
i can't find it anywhere - goes through all sprues ..
IT'S IN YOUR HANDS PETER !
I can't believe they didnt include it ......
MWAAHAAAAA !
Sorry ..... very funny.
Nice review , i have the none zimm one with older track ...yuk . M
@@MartinSparks-ef9gr Ooops! 🤭 Definitely a 'Homer Simpson D'oh! Moment there...In my defence, I do not have the advantage of the Canon 20x HD Zoom though...🤓
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab that's right you didn't but IT'S IN YOUR HAND PETER ! lol . Bless . M
Oxley, Great REVIEW. Very detailed have not seen such quality before. Nick
Much appreciated! 👍🏻
It’s a great kit. Thanks for the additional information about Michael Wittman very interesting. Very strange that the Model has got a nice figure of him and….. not much else..!
Good point! 👍🏻
I remember reading about the Villiers Bocage engagement as a kid building the Tamiya 1/35 Tiger 1 (it had motors in those days and I'd ready shot up several Airfix ones with my air gun - so I was something of an expert), it seemed incredible that the Germans could ever loose with such weapons.
Of course, none of it is quite as depicted, when you see the images of the destroyed vehicles they are mostly "soft-skinned" and half-tracks, also not in a single track sunken road with dozens of destroyed Cromwell's as was originally described, and that narrative failed to mention Wittmann's tigers were destroyed later that day.
I think there is still a problem separating what were propaganda images from the time into real events that we take for granted now, they were after all only photographs, with no metadata proof.
The best molded on zimmerit is from Takom. Their recent Tiger I family has the BEST rendering of zimmerit. The random, sloppy and uneven troweling often seen on real vehicles is properly replicated by Takom. The best area on this RFM kit is the gun mantlet and front hull glacis plate, looks very good there
@@jimaltergott9326 But Jim, Their plastic is so hard it's like working with stainless steel! 🫣
@@Peter-Oxley-Modelling-Lab I have built the Grant tank Peter. That was a good model, well engineered and good fit. No interior, but that's ok for my purposes.
Nice kit Peter, the black baron looked cool.
If you invest the money for the RFM kit, you will do the research. It’s just what we modelers do.
Amazing kit. For some reason I only had/still have a Tiger in 1/35 and another one in 1/72 scale. Both pretty basic models. Never bought a Ryefield kit before, but I can get this limited edition 5101 kit for 50 euro ( and shipping 5 euro) from a local supplier, there's no need to order it from abroad... 🤔
Thanks for the review!
Great review Peter, love your historcal research. Never built AFV but you are getting me there.
You can do it! 👍🏻
Thanks for your review.
My pleasure!👍🏻
I give you a 10/10 ! 😉
Superb review,bought one on offer a few days ago waiting for its arrival though ive made a few Trumpeter/ Takom Tiger 1s still like the RFM thier nice kits as per thier Sherman firefly a lot nicer than the Dragon Firefly....
👀This is going to be good 👍.
Great review, I must have at least a dozen Tigers in my stash as they seem to get better and better, from what I remember the Michael Wittmann cap looks like the band is to wide, this may be able to be corrected, not sure I will purchase this RFM offering! FYI, the road wheels don't need to grip the track as they are free wheeling, thanks for the review.
Yes the color of the kislux is beautiful and it is a great decision, maybe one day they will add feet and straps. It would be nice to have a bigger bag during the colder months when we have to store gloves, beanies, scarves, etc…
I'll bear your spam in mind the nets time I'm making a scale model of a handbag.
Tiger day at the Tank Museum is 28th September.
@@davidbrims5825 Ooooh! 😯👍🏻
Pretty sure 212 was Bobby Woll’s tank as he was no longer Wittmans gunner in Normandy, and was a tank commander himself. I have a chart in a book I read that has every tank, and it’s assigned commander but I don’t have access to it at the moment. Sowa was the commander of 222 which I forget which tank he ended up commanding for Viller Bocage. I have multiple books on this battle from the British point of view and the Germans. Wittman was lucky going through the town because Capt Dye I believe had backed his Cromwell into an ambush position in a courtyard, but his gunner had gotten out to take a piss. Once crewed up they pulled out and tried to engage Wittman further down the street, but the shots were ineffective. Wittman turned his turret and destroyed the Cromwell launching the Capt out of the turret which I’m pretty sure he survived. Below will be the big bullet pts of the battle.
2nd Company of the 101st SS Panzer Battalion arrived on the night of June 12th with only 6 operational tanks. The company moved 2-3 times during the night because of artillery barrages. On the morning of the 13th the 2nd Company was parked on a side road outside of Villers Bocage. Wittman hopped into 234 I’m pretty sure when he spotted the British column approximately 200-300 yards away, but 234 had either transmission or engine problems. He changed to 222, and charged out and started engaging targets. He ordered the rest of the 2nd Company to support by fire. He attacked Point 213 where the British column was having a commanders meeting. After destroying tanks at Pt 213 he charged down the road engaging multiple different brens and half tracks at which point he entered Villers Bocage. Then destroyed multiple Cromwell tanks and Sherman OP tanks along with Stuart light tanks from the recce company. He continued through the Village till he encountered a Firefly tank which a house came apart on top of the firefly. At that point he was attempting to regroup with the rest of the 2nd Company which had advanced onto Pt 213 when a 6 pound AT gun struck his Tiger in the drive sprocket and knocked the track off. Wittman and his crew sat for 10-15 minutes shooting everything in sight with the main gun until the ammunition was expanded. They then abandoned the Tiger and fled north to the Panzer Lehr Division. The Tiger was left intact in hopes of recovery.
The 1st Company of the 101st SS Panzer Battalion along with elements of the Panzer Lehr Division with Panzer IVs attacked Villers Bocage without much success. A number of Panzer IVs were destroyed along with 4-5 Tigers of the 1st Company. Before the British withdrew though I can’t remember the British Officers name had blankets soaked in gasoline stuffed in the turrets of all the Tigers disabled, and set ablaze so they couldn’t be recovered and repaired.
The 22nd Armored Brigade then retreated into a Brigade Box for the evening.
There is a lot of the story left out, but the big bullet points are hit. Wittman was the Company Commander and his tank was 205 which broke down while enroute to Normandy from their billeting area with transmission issues.
Your “222” build is nicely done, and would’ve been a late production, but the 101st had 45 Tigers as part of its T/E of which 18 were Mid Production Tigers. The entire 3rd Company and the 3rd platoon of the 1st Company were mid production Tigers. The Battalion Stab, 1st Company Stab along with its 1st and 2nd Platoons, and all the 2nd Company were late production Tigers.
The 1st Company was withdrawn in early July I’m pretty sure, and sent to Germany to refit and train on the new Tiger II/King Tiger/Tiger Royal at which point they turned over their remaining Tigers to the 3rd Company. The 1st Company returned to Normandy in late July or early August with the New Tiger IIs.
Long story, but after being formed in Northern Italy from the 13th Company of the 1st SS Panzer Division the 101st sent the 1st and 2nd Companies back to the Eastern Front while the 3rd Company was sent to Belgium. On the Eastern Front the 101st was made into an oversized Company with 5 platoons with 5 tanks apiece. When they were withdrawal, and sent to France to refit and rearm they left their remaining Tigers on the Eastern Front, but the 3rd Company was in Belgium already equipped with Mid production Tigers.
In Normandy there were approximately 200 total Tigers tanks.
101st SS Panzer Battalion 59 between the 45 Tiger 1s and 14 Tiger 2s
102nd SS Panzer Battalion 45 Tiger 1s
503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion 59 between Tiger 1s and Tiger 2s
Panzer Lehr Division had 14 Tiger 1s
I’m probably missing something, but what I can remember from around 50+ plus books read on Normandy, Allied tank tactics, and German armor tactics both on the Heer and SS units. German tank commanders operated better because they typically had better equipment and situational awareness because the tank commanders typically wouldn’t “button up” the commanders hatch, and would pop up to get better awareness of the battlefield where as Allied Tank commanders would typically button up especially the Russians, and couldn’t get as good of a picture of the battlefield. It’s 1 of the reasons the hatch from the early Tigers was changed from opening straight up to a slide opening hatch because the Russians would aim for the cupola/commanders hatch to kill/severely wound the German tank commanders of Tigers.
@@hanzusmc7898 Thanks for the extra details. 👍🏻 I did explain Woll was no longer his gunner. 222 was the one on the rampage.
I think I'd have lowered the number as a simple re-boxing....I was expecting something new, this wasn't it nice review and it is a good kit. Dane
Very good kit review Peter. Rye Field Model manufacture some very good 1/35 armour models, especially the Tiger I and the American M1A1/M1A2 families. A huge amount of parts, so not for the novice modeller, but build into a nice model. I would especially recommend the Challenger II models which are up there with the Tamiya version.
My only quibbles are the parts count and the instructions need careful consideration before each step. Generally the instructions are good and show similarities with Border Model instructions. I wonder if RFM and Border are part of the same manufacturer group? I agree with the point of the lack of history and technical specifications in the instruction manuals. Unfortunately most of the Chinese manufacturers do this or have a very short vehicle history on the side of the box.
I have just bought this model and will be purchasing the Magic Factory 1/48 Skyhawk next. This looks like a very good model from all the news I have heard and read. Perhaps one for a future review Peter?
Checkout the after the battle book Villers - Bocage Through The Lens
Given that the manufacturer is making reasonable coin out of high-detail kits such as this, it would seem a small expense for them to hire a researcher or two on a casual basis to provide short histories for their kits, which could be incorporated into the general instructions or included separately. Instead, the onus is put on the customer to do the leg work for an accurate depiction, and for the prices charged in some instances, to me that is a blatant cop-out.
Build it please bud, great review but is a joy to build? Bought the Dragon 007 meself from a historical perspective more than being a Tiger fanboy
How can one tell they are talking to a masochist modeler? The modeler gets visibly excited about doing the Dragon link to link tracks and bogeys on the T28 American super heavy tank.😂
50:21 Shouts at screen Es liegt in deiner Hand, Engländer!! Dieser große, turmförmige Klumpen!
(it's in your hand!)
@@memkiii Nein! Nein! 🤓
I am building this very same tank but an older Tamiya kit with Eduard Zimmerit. Still trying to work out the kinks with the Zimmerit not as nice as Takom or RFM. As opposed to your builds, my builds are mostly 2 footers. They look the best two feet away. Model on sir!
@@michaelnaven213 You are verykind! 🤭 Happy modelling! 👍🏻
This just looks like a slightly panicked reaction to Takom's Tiger box(es) as far as it being a special Tiger ace edition goes.
Takom made a big error with their kit not including 222 from Villers Bocage though. Dumb. 😫
Nice one Pete!
Thanks 👍