Box Art / Packaging

The ICM Wehrmacht self-propelled AA vehicles is delivered in the usual rigid box and all 3 kits are tightly packed. No loose parts were present and all kits were presented with no flash and insignificant sink marks, I did notice though that some of the parts were especially fragile, this caused me some build issues later on. The clear parts were well formed and fit nicely and no PE is present for this kit. Decals were supplied for each kit though understandably there were very few.

The Kits

Upon opening and examination there is some confusion as to exactly what is what within. This is a re-boxing of sorts with all 3 of these kits being individually available under separate SKU numbers. It is not especially difficult to identify which is which kit-wise, however the bagged kits do not match in all cases the SKU numbers called out on the instructions.

Kit 35455 contains nine plastic sprues and one clear parts sprue. Oddly, the bagged parts in the box labeled as 35455 contains only the Flak 38, the tractor unit is kit 35410. All parts are well molded with little flash and some minor injection marks on interior pieces. In some cases, the parts will require sanding. The tracks are link and length with no sag molded into the pieces. In this example, the tires are molded in plastic with good thread detail. However, no rubber tires are provided within the kit. A significant portion of sprues A, B and C are not used, lots for the spares box!

Kit 35584 contains five plastic sprues and one clear parts sprue. The AA gun used on this kit is separate and is marked as kit 35714 (two are supplied for use in assembly) It has good detail on the parts with some injection marks, but all in all well-molded. It also comes with plastic molded tires. Some smaller parts have large connection points to the sprue which may result in additional difficulty. For instance, if you aren’t careful, small parts can break when trying to remove them. (Indeed this happened to me with all 3 of these kits)

Kit 35503 contains five plastic sprues and one clear sprue. It also contains and additional tree with 5 rubber tires. The AA gun again for this kit is 35714 (Zwillingssockel 36). Quite a detailed suspension with many small parts again resulting in some breakage on removal of parts from the sprue. Overall though the parts are well molded and detailed.

The Builds

Kit 35455

The following color variants were offered in the manual: a tri-color camo scheme depicted as a variant used in 1944-1945. Alternate option was for a winterized version of the same period. I chose to opt for the tri-color camo with limited weathering.

I have now built many of these ICM Maultiers, strangely all have produced different challenges, be cautious of construction and placement of the engine as it will affect the positioning and placement of the cab structure, slightly off center or out of place will result in major difficulty when finalizing the cab assembly. Construction starts with the chassis and engine construction in steps 1-19. Steps 20-30 focus on assembly of the drive shaft, front and rear axles and tracks, as well as track links (link and length type). Steps 31 onwards focus on the assembly of the cab and trailer unit. The assembly is pretty straightforward though fit is somewhat of an issue.

Once final assembly was completed, I painted the model in desert yellow (Tamiya XF-59). Some camo streaks were added using Tamiya XF-68 Nato Brown and Tamiya XF-67 Nato Green (these are the colors I normally use for German tri color camo, I blend these with a brown filter from AK Interactive.

My overall impression of the kit was that it was pretty good but let down by the fragile nature of many parts and the poor fit in some places.

Kit 35584

The options for kit 35584 were standard German Grey with a marking choice for a unit from 1^st Panzer Division, Greece, 1941 or 11^th Panzer Division, Eastern Front. I chose the eastern front example.

An easier build, however, be extra cautious of the suspension assembly and positioning, any misplaced part can result in a very unstable completed model, test fit before gluing anything!

For a small kit, assembly is pretty complex, a total of 82 construction steps are provided. Chassis, suspension and engine take 27 assembly steps, lots of detail is present in this kit. The AA Gun (Zwillingssockel 36) provided separately is called for placement in step 82, a mooring position is called out I the rear of the car for placement.

The kit was airbrushed with a Badger Sotar 2020. Easy paint job, Tamiya XF-63 German Grey with a drop of white to brighten it ever so slightly, left clean and new, small amount of pastels added to dust it up slightly. The decals that I added were minimal, plate identifiers and unit markings of Wehrmacht Eastern Front division.

Kit 35503

Finally, I put together the kit 35503 (s.E.Pkw Kfz.70 with Zwillingssockel 36). Three variants were offered; German Grey (Russia Autumn 1942), Grey/Green Ochre variant (Sapper platoon of Heavy Panzer Battalion 501, Tunisia, 1943) and Dunkelgelb appearance (Russia Summer 1943). I opted for the later Dunkelgelb depiction.

The kit was again susprisingly complex with 70 steps to construction of the vehicle, after this as per the last kit, the AA gun was to be constructed and placed. Again a complex and intricate Chassis, suspension and engine construction is involved, here I broke LOTS of parts, so many possibilities for breakage!

Painting was straightforward, Germany Dark Yellow/Dunkelgelb with some limited weathering and kit decals applied, all with no issues.

Overall impressions are pretty good, the kits are a re-box of various older kits and can be somewhat challenging.

Pros

• Good subject matter, Mobile Smaller AA units are not too commonly available.
• Nice selection of kits which could fit nicely into dioramas.
• Well packaged and presented with clear instructions and good decals.

Cons

• Expensive for what is provided in box.
• Some fit issues, many small parts making part breakage inevitable.

Many thanks though to ICM for providing the kits and to IPMS for facilitating the review.