ICM 1/35th Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf A

[Bish]

Being a 251 fanatic i know we are spoilt with Ausf C and D variants. But the A and B are different stories. Of course, Zvezda brought us an Ausf B back in 2006. But after Dragons promised Ausf A never saw the light of day i didn't think we would ever get the vehicle that started it all. So i was overjoyed last year when ICM released it.

 

So, now i finally get round to building one. I have not seen one built up or a build review of one, so, for those who may be interested, i'll try and go into as much detail as possable. My first impression of the kit was that the detail was very nice, deffinetly beyond Tamiya standard and not far off Dragon and AFV Club. Its also clear it builds up very differently from the others. Its also the first 251 kit i know of that comes with an engine. This looks very nice and while i won't be useing it on this one, i will when i do one of the /6 kits.

 

Its also clear that the box top is slightly misleading. It shows a very early vehicle on which the forward and rear gun mounts are the same and the antenna mount is on the left mudguard. The kit doesn't have these options and as i want to do a vehicle during the Polish campaign i need to fix thee things. The gun mount i can get from the spares box. The antenna i can leave out along with the radio. Its clear from pics that not all vehicles carried a radio until 1942, i believe it was just the platoon commaners vehicles and above which did before 42. And the this makes sense given the tactics for use by the 251 at the start of the war. And finally, the kit only comes with markings for the French and Russian campaigns. I'll use markings for one of the former and then add all white cross used in 39.

So, enoug of my first impressions and intentions, this is the kit, to which i am adding an Eduard PE set, MR Models resion set, Panzerart wheels and Hobby Boss tracks, if they fit. If they don't, i'll dig out some Fruils.

 

 

I started off on the lwer hull, and though it does not have the multitude of parts that Dragon kits have, its still nicely done.

 

 

Then the floor, this comes with the track guards molded on, first bg differance to other kits.

 

 

 

 

Then after a bit of PE on the inside and the side bins, the bins were added along with the rest of the lower side walls. Again the side walls are different from other kits, and certainly a beter fit than the Dragon kits, which are easy to get wrong if your not careful, so these were a joy.

 

 

 

Then got the other side all fitted. A few sink holes needed filling. And added a few other bits to the front.

 

 

 

 

 

So far, my impression is that this kit is first rate. Its quickly making its way towards the top of my favorite 251 kit list. Not far off AFV Club Ausf C level.

 

With 103 stages, the instructions do look daunting. But most of those stages only have 1 or 2 parts to fit. The above is about an hours work, not including PE, over a couple of nights and i am aleady at stage 14.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon.

[Robert Jan Scholte v. Mast]

I'm glad to see one build this kit actually. Looks very good. a comparison with AFC club would be nice to see though. I'm always concerned matching 2 builds and one seems to be completely off. So I try to stick to one manufacturer for every type of armor, truck, etc.

Will follow with great interest.

 

Kind regards,

 

Robert Jan

[Redcoat2966]

Interesting build......I've only ever built one ICM kit. A Panzer I "Flamingo" flamethrower. .....it now resides on my shelf, unfinished as a paint testing hulk. I wasn't impressed with ICM kit quality as regards mould sharpness and fit. So interested in this halftrack to see if they've improved their game. It would be nice if you could point out any issues etc as you go along.

 

Looking forward to the build on this.

 

Cheers   

Redcoat

[Bish]

Cheers guys.

 

Redcoat, i have only seen one ICM myself, a Beopanther that currently sits in my stash. ICM do seem to have come a long way, i have heard good things about some of their new aircraft kits, and from what i have seen on this so far, it gets a thumbs up from me. I'll deffinetly pint out any issues. The ones above are very minor and are more misleading in the box art than issues with the kit.

 

Robert, i have not noticed any issues with the previous 251's, but then i tend not to compare kit to kit in that way. If somone has a subject i want then i will get it, and with the 251 i'll go for who ever has the variant i want. But generally where AFV club and Dragon do the same one, i go for the former.

[Bish]

I am really liking this 251 kit, its going together nicely. Quite a bit of filling but thats for the locations points for parts that will be repleaced by AM. I have also fitted the resin seat mounts from the MR Models set.

 

 

And finished puting together the front wheel suspension.

 

 

And all the inside parts for the upper hull fitted. One minus is that there are no clear parts for the vision ports, just solid plastic. The Eduard PE set replaces these and i'll just have to add some clear styrene.

 

 

 

And everything else added to the lower hull.

 

 

 

And some of the items to be fited after painting. This includes holders for 10 spare MG barrels. Thats seems a bit excessive but i'll fit them anyway.

 

 

Then time for some paint. After some Pz Grey, i did a very light dry brush and a couple of coats of Alclad Aqua gloss.

 

 

 

Next up will be some very light weathering, a wash and some streaks. 251 production only begain in June 39 so this vehicle would be 3 months old at most, so nothing to extreme. Also got plenty of smaller items to finish off.

 

And i have made a start on the figures, 10 in all. A mix of Dragon, Tamiya, Tristar and Miniart.

 

 

[Bish]

Got the rest of the interior fitted. Before i added the top i did some dry fitting and realised that the items on the left hand shelf were stoping the upper hull from fitting properly, so the shelf was removed.

 

 

 

 

Even with that removed the fit was still a bit tricky. I stared at the front and worked back keeping the top half in place. Its not very obvious, but the upper hull does slightly overhang the lower huill along the sides as it should. The left hand shelf was fitted as soon as the top was on.

 

 

The rear door fit is not brilliant. The hinges feel a bit flimsy. The doors don't pivot on them as on the real thing, a feature which is on the Dragon and AFV Ausf C kits. Also, when closed, the doors are skewed, they would need to be glued in place. Fortunatly, i am having them open on this. Come to think of it, all my previous 251's have either one or both doors open.

 

 

And finally the suspension. The axel arms have very small location parts and the fit is rather loose. You would ahve to be careful that the arms are all level if you are sitting it on a shelf. Fortunatly i can adjust the base i am doing if needed.

 

 

Thats all for now.

Edited August 10, 2019 by Bish

[Bish]

Can't believe its been 2 weeks, but now seeing this coming together. Final parts were added and the inside masked ready for painting.

 

 

 

 

Next came the paint, decals and a very light dry brush. The kit supplies markings for vehicles in France, Greece and Russia, but i wanted to do one in the Polish campaign. Photo's are few and far between, so i made an assumption. I used the markings for a 1st Pz Div vehicle in France 1940 and simply switched the national markings for the French campign with decals from my /6 for the Polish campaign crosses.

 

 

 

 

 

And then a pin wash which gives a nice start for the dusty look i want.

 

 

 

Just got to get the tools wheels, tracks and other bits added and then the final dusting. Next pics should be the final ones.

 

 

[Jasper dog]

Cracking along! 

I assume it's the photos but it almost looks black, or was panzer grey that dark? 

Looks a great kit, how does it compare to the afv club 251s?

(Have one on waving at me from the stash).

Great work, thanks for sharing.

[Bish]

Thanks jasper. The pics do make it look more black, someone else commented on that on anotehr site.  It doesn't look that dark in the flesh and i have not lightened this as i normally would as i want to show a new vehicle.

 

I really like this kit, and it compares very well to the AFV club kit. The AFV club are still my first choice, but of course, if you want an Ausf A, you only have one option. But its a good one.

[Bish]

Got the 251 wrapped up last night so time for the final pics. But first a few of the finished vehcile before i fitted it to the base. Final touches were to add all the last parts, some AK dust effects folowed by a flat coat and some pigments.

 

 

 

 

 

And then onto the base along with the figures. I also put the rest of the soldiers equipment onto the rails. Despite this being the most figures i have put into a 35th dio, i wanted to keep it compact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My info on Polish uniforms is none, so i just went with what i could find online and am hoping its ok. Really pleased with this kit, can deffinetly recomend it and will be getting more. This is 251 number 6 on the completed list and really glad to have it.

Thanks for following along.

[Ozzy]

Fantastic build Bish, the diorama is also fantastic. After seeing your build I’ve been looking at the radio version of this kit, for a diorama with a mini art tram. Set just at the start of the war.

[Soeren]

Wow. that model is great and the scene makes it even better. A W E S O M E

 

[Bish]

Thanks guys.

 

Ozzy, i have 2 of those, going to turn one into an Ausf B. I have not had a proper look at the radio set up yet, but given that the marking options includes Guderians personal vehicle and there are several nice photo's on that, including the radio's, i would think ICM will have done a good job on those judging by this kit.

 

Look forward to seeing that went to get to it, the tram sound slike a nice idea.

[Bullbasket]

Excellent model and well displayed.

 

John.

[Jasper dog]

Great job on the 251, colour looks spot on in the finished pics, really like the worn grubby finish to it too.

[Bish]

Thanks guys.