Achtungpanzer is good for pictures, nothing more. A lot of info there is downright incorrect and all that is said there about the Tiger-B, is incorrect. Henschel nor Porsche had any hand in the design of the turrets. Krupp designed turrets. Wegman built turrets. Henschel only mounted the turrets on THEIR chassis.
The turrets, all turrets, were designed regardless of the chassis. They share only 1 thing, the turret-ring diameter. If you look at the whole VK-4501 competition between Henschel and Porsche, both proposals had basically the same turret, the roofs differed.
Fact is, chassis and turret are designed independent of each other, with only the turret ring being the part which has to fit.
The notion that the early turret and Henschel hull didn't fit is partially correct. The early turret sits high, it doesn't sit flush with the hull top.
Also, the early turrets were fitted with both monobloc and duobloc guns. The later turrets only had duobloc guns. But that again, has nothing to do with the turret. The gun and it's barrel is designed by another company.
Fact is, during the initial stages of development, turret-design for the VK-4502(P) and VK-4502(H) ran parallel, only differing that the Porsche proposal would be electricly driven, while the Henschel proposal used hydraulic drive. The turrets themselves were identical, for practical reasons. So, that fact alone blows "Porsche" turret out of the water, since that exact same turret was originally already being designed for the Henschel proposal as well.
On 19 August 1942 WaPruef 6 and Krupp discussed the turret design and found several reasons to redesign it, the main and most significant reason being that it was too labourous to construct.
It was decided to redesign the turret to eliminate the trouble of interlocking the turretfront, hence the flat faced turret design. If you take a look at the front of an early Tiger-B turret, you see a number of complex interlocks. A lot more complex than how the later turret's front face is fitted.
The rear of the turret was simplified. As is clear, the rear of the early turret can be removed almost completly when the gun has to be removed. The new design eliminated this, by allowing the gun to be removed completely through a single hatch.
A simpler gunmantlet was requiered and designed.
For those not in the know, the Porsche VK4502 contracts had been cancelled in early November 1942. The new turrets were incorporated on drawings at Henschel dated 3 June 1944.
Interestingly, the design of the early turret, was accepted on 21 October 1942, meaning that was shortly before the whole VK-4502(P) was cancelled.
Porsche however was allowed to complete 3 chassis with electric drive turrets at Nibelungenwerke, but these turrets were later ordered to be converted to hydraulic drive and be used on Henschel chassis.
