Introduction

ICM has re-issued two of their recent offerings for sale as a single purchase, and a nice combination offering it is. ICM has added their German Infantry 1939-1942 figure set to their offering of the Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf A, I believe that ICM is the only company to offer the Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf A in plastic at this time. So let’s take a look and see how these two kits are holding up.

Contents

This offering from ICM is protected in what is the usual high standard of ICM now and that ensures that the product reaches you in the intended condition except when severely abused by postal services. When you look in the box it is obvious that this is two model offerings packaged as one due to the figures being separate from the vehicle including instructions.

Review

The sprues of this offering look to have held up very well with no obvious moulding issues. I will say that I wish ICM would split up the sprues of larger kits in order to prevent bend distortion occurring in the mouldings. Two of the sprues that contain parts for the Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf A have obvious bowing present, but this fortunately does not look to have caused issues in this example. I refer you to the build review on the site of this model that will answer any concerns you may have.
Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf A WW2 German APC Build

Moving to the figures

Starting with an examination of the sprues leaves me with a positive outlook. There is no flash or obvious moulding issues to contend with, even seam lines are all but invisible, very well done ICM. Access to the parts looks to have been given consideration and no tight spots are obvious to me, I also like that ICM has placed the parts of the various figures in the same area of the sprue making parts easy to find.

Taking a closer look at the figures still leaves me feeling positive. The figures follow the usual configuration as regards part breakdown and one figure is also supplied with alternate heads, but this is not mentioned in the instructions. The stances are as indicated with two figures walking, a junior officer doing the pointing and an officer hiding behind a piece of paper. The build of the figures looks a little on the light/slender side, but I am not concerned about this aspect as every manufacturer seems to have their own provide physical proportions and as long as the weapons and equipment are the same scale it is all good.

The uniform detail looks to be accurate to me. The tunic has the correct four pockets with buttoned downed shaped flaps; the detail on the lower tunic pockets is a little soft, but it is there and just needs a little improvement. The trousers and boots look good, the officer having the bulged thigh area that most of us of a certain age think of where World War 2 German officers are concerned. The only part I have come across that I am not keen on is the sprue gate connection point on the officer’s cap that will make clean up troublesome; there is also my pet hate of a sprue gate connection point on the elbow of the arms. A nice part about the uniforms is that the front flap on the tunics has been provided as a separate part and so a nice natural undercut is replicated.

The heads and hands of these figures are very good, ICM in my opinion produce the most detailed fingers of any company when it comes to injection moulded plastic figures. The faces are also very good for this material and I am particular pleased with the detail present in the ears, that may sound odd or unusual, but I have started to note that many manufacturers struggle with this particular detail. Three of the heads are flat top offerings with suitable steel helmets provided, plus of course the officers cap. The other two heads provides one full head and one with a field cap in place.

Equipment wise ICM has provided the usual assortment of items such as:
Water Canteens
Gas Mask containers
Entrenchment Tool
Bayonet in Scabbard
Food containers
Binoculars
The weapons front is restricted as regards choice, but that is not really a problem as most have plenty of spares. This product provides:
An MG 34
An MP 40
A KAR 98
3 holstered side arms
The required ammunition pouches
While looking over the weapons it is good to see that ICM has started to use slide moulding in their products, on this occasion it has been utilised to provide hollowed out helmets, the muzzle of the MG 34, the shoulder rest for the MP 40 and the ammunition boxes. The last nice touch is that there are two ammunition belts provided for the MG 34, these are nicely detailed and with gentle coaxing should take any shape the user requires.

Conclusion

This combination of models from ICM offers a nice diorama potential in a single purchase. The quality of the offering is high due to the only possible weakness being the lack of photo etched elements. The aerial mount is not exactly right for the model as it should be like the artwork of the vehicle on the instruction booklet.