Darren Baker takes a look at the King Tiger with Henschel Turret Late Production in 1/35th scale from ICM.

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Thanks!

Thanks for the review, Darren!

I note that ICM has also not attempted to depict the release clips on the tools, something that Dragon now does on their Smart Kits (and even Tamiya has reluctantly started to include). For those of us who don't enjoy folding microscopic pieces of etched brass, these are are a highly desirable feature.

As it stands, ICM's kit is only a slight improvement on Tamiya's offering of twenty years ago (I'm not outraged by the lack of clear periscopes--they appear gloss black in real life).

Nice review Darren.

Can I ask if the track pulling cable usually on the right side of the hull is included? I didn't see it on the sprues or the cad images ICM released. If it's not present, the decal options are certainly incorrect for an Ardennes vehicle and likely incorrect for the 2 March 45 options too.

Molded-on side skirts is a bizarre choice to me. I makes it difficult to show any missing skirts or depict damage. Why add individual transmission & engine plates but then mold the side skirts on the hull?

The strangest thing though is the mantlet being molded with the barrel halves. I can't understand why they would do this, especially as they have provided separate parts for the mantlet. Good luck cleaning the seam around the mantlet cover and where the barrel enters the mantlet!

I think I will just stick with their trucks.

this tank maybe fought the war in crimea.

No.

I only know of about 6 surviving examples of this tank in the entire world, and none are anyway near restored to operation level

I have a recollection of Saumur's being a runner when I saw it back in the 1990s.

As a point of interest, Henschel did not make any Tiger B turrets, Krupp did. The turret is correctly known as the Serienturm or production turret.

Am I reading this right? A 2016 release with no PE and no clear parts? I'm curious as to what part of the market they are aiming at.

The not $80 a kit crowd.

Zvezda just did the same thing but used older Dragon molds. So this is to compete with Zvezda not Meng or Takom. As already said the "not $80 kit crowd"

Like me.

But why not a Panther A update of their still nice Panther D kit?

You certain it wasn't part of the fabled Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava?

That's right Stephen! I even found a little-known photo from that action. The Light Brigade were never put up against anything bigger than Mark 1s.

Excellent review Darren, as always!
The "Highs" and "Lows" seem to be mixed up, I'm afraid...

Matthew: You are correct it is missing and well spotted, the cable is present in the artwork, but absent from the model.

Israel: You are correct, but it was a deliberate mistake to check it was being read; that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Thank you all for reading and taking the time to provide feedback, it is appreciated.