Echelon Fine Details AXT351064 1/35 SchPzAbt 503 Tiger Is Kursk 1943 Operation Citadel 2.Kompanie, Stabskompanie Decals

A complete 2nd Company and Stabskompanie marking set for sAbt 503 Tiger Is during the Kursk offensive "Operation Citadel", in a nutshell. Essentially, it's all about the markings and organization of the 503rd Heavy Battalion during Kursk '43, making it crystal clear. While the unit did use various numeral and cross styles across the companies, 2nd Company Tigers were most consistent in the use of number and Balkenkreuz styles. Although the spacings between digits varied between tanks, some were unevenly aligned. The set removes all this guesswork for each Tiger. Just pick the option and move forward.

Stabskompanie hull and turret crosses, although looking very similar to the rest of the company, actually used Balkenkreuz stencils different from the rest of the Tigers. This was discovered during the creation process. Even 1st and 3rd Company crosses were matched against them - they did not fit. The whites and blacks were of different proportions on the Stabskompanie Tigers.

The illustrations also highlight which production batch each Tiger came from, including any unique details (if there were any) that were installed on the vehicle. The entire company is illustrated except for 1 vehicle, in one way or another (not inclusive of all possible replacement or replaced tanks that were missed out), thus revealing the full organizational structure of the company itself. Of interest is that each platoon (zug) had 3 Tigers, instead of 4, and 4 platoons in total, instead of 3. Ultimately, it's still the same number of Tigers for each company, but organized differently. Tiger "243" is not illustrated as there were no images to support the artwork at the time of print. Although numerals for "243" are still provided in order to make 2nd Company markings complete.

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

Like all large Echelon decal sets, a lot of effort went into research and creation. The Kursk '43 503 sets took an even greater effort, over a span of 2 years, as there was a huge amount of information to gather, sort, and process. The accumulation of information alone took way longer than that.

2nd Company Tigers were assigned to go into battle with 19th Panzer Division.