TANKFEST 2026

If you build WWII armor in 1/35 and you have never watched TANKFEST, this is the year to start paying attention. The Tank Museum in Bovington, UK is staging its annual live armor event from June 26 to 28, 2026, and the vehicle lineup for this edition is exceptional. Saturday tickets are already sold out. Friday and Sunday are selling fast.

Here is everything worth knowing about what is happening at Bovington this month, including a restoration story that connects directly to why many of us are at the bench in the first place.

Tankfest 2023, photo credit The Tank Museum.

What Is TANKFEST?

TANKFEST is the world's largest live display of historic moving armor. It is held annually at The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, England, home to the world's finest collection of tanks. What makes it different from a static museum visit is exactly what the name suggests: the tanks move. They drive, they maneuver, and they run in the arena in front of thousands of visitors. For a modeler who studies these vehicles from reference photos and walks around static exhibits, watching them move under their own power is something else entirely.

The 2026 Vehicle Lineup

This year's guest vehicle roster covers a wider historical range than most previous editions.

WWI Replicas: Deborah II and Musical Box

Two WWI replica tanks are making appearances in the arena. Deborah II is a Mark IV Female replica built by the Norfolk Tank Museum, reconstructed from the original vehicle lost during the Battle of Cambrai. It was created for a documentary marking 100 years since the battle and features a fully restored interior as a tribute to the original crew. Musical Box is a replica Whippet, a lighter and faster WWI tank design. Both will be on display in the First World War living history zone when not running in the arena.

StuG III Ausf. G

The Weald Foundation's StuG III Ausf. G is returning to the TANKFEST arena for the first time since 2009. For 1/35 modelers who work with Sturmgeschütz variants, watching this vehicle run is reference material you cannot get from a photo.

Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo

The War Heritage Institute's Sherman M4A3E2 assault tank, known as the Jumbo, will also be taking to the arena. One of the most heavily armored Sherman variants produced during the war.

Nashorn and Leopard 2A4

Rounding out the confirmed guest vehicles: a Nashorn tank destroyer and a Leopard 2A4, covering both late-war German armor and Cold War era NATO armor in the same event.

The King Tiger V2 Restoration: A Story Worth Following

Separate from TANKFEST but running alongside it is one of the most significant restoration projects currently happening anywhere in the armor world.

The Tank Museum launched an appeal in September 2025 to raise £1 million to restore King Tiger V2 to running condition. This is not just any King Tiger. It is the oldest surviving King Tiger in existence, built in December 1943 by Henschel, and the only surviving example fitted with a pre-production turret. It spent its entire service life at Henschel's testing facility and was captured by Allied forces fully stowed and ready to fight, although it is not believed to have ever fired a shot in anger.

After eight months the fundraiser has reached nearly half its target, driven in part by a £100,000 private donation from William Bannister, and a separate £100,000 donation made in memory of Herrick Fordham, a British Army veteran who served in Sherman tanks during the war. The Museum's workshop team has already begun restoration work, with the goal of returning it to running condition within five years.

For anyone who builds 1/35 German armor, King Tiger V2 with its distinctive pre-production turret is the reference vehicle. Following this restoration is worth your time.

Support the project and follow its progress: King Tiger V2 Fundraiser — The Tank Museum

Why This Matters to the Modeling Community

Events like TANKFEST are not just spectacle. They are reference. When you can watch a StuG III Ausf. G move under its own power, you understand the vehicle in a way that no kit instruction sheet or static museum exhibit can give you. The way the suspension behaves, the sound of the engine, the scale of the machine relative to the crew around it: all of that feeds into how you think about a build.

The King Tiger V2 restoration project is the same thing in slow motion. Every stage of that restoration is revealing details about the original vehicle that have never been documented at this level. That information will eventually find its way into references, articles, and kit research. It is the kind of project the entire modeling community benefits from, even if most of us will never visit Bovington.

Tickets and Information

TANKFEST 2026 runs June 26 to 28 at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, UK. Saturday is sold out. Friday and Sunday tickets are still available.

Full event details and tickets: TANKFEST 2026 — The Tank Museum

If you are attending, drop a comment below. And if you are following the King Tiger V2 restoration from a distance like most of us, the Tank Museum's workshop YouTube channel is the place to watch it unfold.

Jorge Damico has been building 1/35 scale military dioramas for over 40 years. Follow his builds, dioramas, and behind-the-scenes content at auttorama.com.