It's a good idea to start with the part that says "boom"

The instructions started with the turret's assembly, so that's where I started as well. After these first steps I have to keep a close eye so I don't ruin my painting by blocking some places before I even get to take the airbrush out. A Wehrmacht officer was included in the kit but as he looked so german and not modifiable to represent a finn, I left him for a future model. The model itself is going to be a "pinned down" version with all its hatches closed.

Tank made famous by the Commando comics

When I was younger I read a lot of Commando (for action and adventure) comics because my father had a good collection of them at my grandparents. They were mostly from the seventies and eighties. I still remember several stories really well (I read all them many times) and one of my favourites was about a King Tiger tank. I found the cover of a finnish version, but not the english one.

Didn't find the english version of this cover, sorry

Damnit, where can I find these things? They're lots of fun to read and you even learn a couple of german words, too! Himmel!

The turret itself
So, because I decided to build the model with closed hatches the two first steps were pretty simple. Glue the hatches shut and then add the handles. For a while I pondered if I should add transparent plastic pieces in the viewports but I quickly decided to skip this idea. It was an easy decision because they'd been badly on the way while painting - or they'd require a very delicate masking. Those masks would've most likely either blocked some areas that needed to be painted or the masking tape would've torn some paint off... So: no. I don't have that bad case of AMS so far.
So far.

For some reason the rear hatch of the tower wasn't even buildable open, which confused me a bit. At least the King Tiger I built earlier (in 2002 if my memory serves me correctly) was built so that each hatch could be opened. Not that it matters because I wasn't going to do that, I was just wondering.

One of the main pieces to be built was obviously the 88 KwK. The barrel's halves joined each other pretty nicely and there wasn't much to be filed away. There was no coaxial mg anywhere, just the holes in the frontal armor of the turret. Then again, I can't remember if you could see that one at all to begin with... so maybe my wondering is pointless.

Modifications? What modifications?

I've been googling a lot for any sort of reference for what kind of modifications the finnish army made on its tanks. The StuG assault guns got some concrete, tree trunks and stowage bins added on them. T-34's donated by the soviets didn't get either concrete or logs as armor reinforcement, but I think some of them got additional containers somewhere. Perhaps the King Tiger would survive just nicely without any extra shielding, its armor is always sloped unlike the blocky StuG's. Adding a box or two might prove somewhat problematic, for these tanks don't have too much extra space on them.

Maybe I could cut a couple sections of the skirts away and put a box on those empty slots? You know, those things that cover the tracks partially. Oh well, we'll see if any of this makes any sense or if the camoflage pattern itself with markings is enough to make this tank look finnish.