Zvezda 1/35 Tiger I Ausf.E (Early Production) Kit First Look

By Dave Manter

First Look

The heavy tank Pz. VI Tiger was designed in 1942 by Henschel Company and still to this day it remains a symbol of German tank power even with just 1354 vehicles produced. At the time of design, it was the most powerful vehicle of all of the tanks in the world. With its frontal armor of 100mm and its powerful 88mm gun coupled with a precision gun sight, the Tiger was capable of destroying complete columns of Allied armor right up until the end of the war.

The Zvezda kit of the German Tiger I consists of 319 styrene parts molded in tan. Detail on the parts is nice and there is very little flash. Seam lines are minimal. The tracks are supplied in glueable rubber and have 2 halves for each side. Detail here is nice. Decals are provided for 2 vehicles.

Construction begins with the interior details for the turret. A full breach is provided as well as most of the turret interior fittings. Also included for the interior are the fuel tanks and radiators. A nice feature from Zvezda as these can be seen under the engine deck grates. Details on the running gears and road wheels look good right down to the raised lettering on the tires. All hatches and covers can be built opened or closed. Hull details are nice and you can even leave the covers on the exhaust mufflers opened if desired. All of the hatches have interior details provided. The main gun tube is supplied in 2 halves. Paint colors are called out during assembly.

Construction looks to be pretty straight forward and the kit has plenty of detail to build an accurate and detailed model from the box.

My sample did not have any of the shrink marks that you may have read about from others.

My sincere thanks to Squadron Mail Order for this review sample!