History of the VK4502(P)
This vehicle is another legacy of Porsche's failed attempts to win the Tiger contracts. Using the early style suspension from the VK4501(P) and with a more ballistic design, this was put forward for the Tiger II contract. Again believing that the contract bid would be successful, fifty turrets were supplied by Krupp. These were subsequently used on the "Porsche" Tiger II but were criticised for their "shot trap" at the turret ring, but as is evident on this hull, this problem did not occur on the hull for which it was designed.
Only one complete vehicle was built and according to authoritive sources this vehicle saw action, albeit briefly, at Kummersdorf in 1945. Information on the completed vehicle can be found here.

Porsche and Henschel were once again in competition on this project. Porsche offered two versions of its prototype VK 4502(P), one with a turret at the front as the Tiger(P) Type 180, the other with a rear turret, the Type 181. The turret was developed by Wegmann. Both versions retained the electric transmission developed by Porsche. Very confident in himself and in its success, Porsche immediately began to build a batch of 50 turrets. This was hardly prudent in view of the harsh realities of war and the consequent supply of raw materials. Indeed, Germany at that time was already cut off from everything and shortages were frequent. Copper needed for any electrical equipment did not escape that reality, making it impossible to mass produce this vehicle.

Packaging
The kit is packaged in a strong cardboard box (20x13x6 cm).
- There is an instruction sheet that shows the kit parts and build instructions.
- The color picture on the box can be used as a painting diagram.
- The kit is cast in a hard yellow resin and contains 34 parts.
- The parts are separately packaged in sealed plastic bags.
- There are no decals.
- There are no separate tools.

The Kit
The kit is available by the manufacturer www.5mhobby.com and from several online model shops.

New reworked hull
The kit contains a new reworked hull with correct layout and dimensions.
Note: It’s possible that some boxes still contain the old, wrong hull. Ask for the version with the correct hull and/or check the box before you buy.

Dimensions:
(source German Tanks of World War II – F.M. von Senger und Etterlin)

Overview

Note that the height of the hull itself ought to be around 19mm.

Other parts:
The hull and turret are cast upside down and have a casting block
The other parts as turret, gun barrel, tracks and wheels are nicely cast.
- Few small air bubbles are possible, but these are easy to fill.
- Most of the parts contain some flash which is easy to remove.

My opinion
This kit with the reworked new hull is a correct kit and interesting for several modelers.
Thanks to 5Mhobby for the review sample.