Henschel & Son Tiger I Heavy Tank

Having never owned any of the 21st Century Toys versions of the Tiger I, this was my first chance to explore the Tiger in person, and I was blown away by the details on this tank. There are so many fine details on the tank that it took me a long while to look them all over, and even then I was finding new things I missed as I took the photos for the review.

JSI’s version of the Tiger comes in an interesting three-color camouflage scheme that I have not seen on any other 1:18 scale vehicle yet.  There are a lot of red and yellow hues, and it looks as if it would feel right at home in a European or Russian forest come Fall. The overall scheme is a bit more subdued than our previously reviewed Tiger I, but it does not stop all the wonderful details from showing through. From what I can tell, the JSI model retains all of the simulated “wear and tear damage” of the 21st Century Toys model, while ratcheting up the “weathering” a fair bit.

Like all previous 21st Century Toys Tiger I tanks, this model does not feature the anti-magnetic zimmerit coating as seen on the Forces of Valor Tiger I tank. Zimmerit was applied to all the German tanks from mid-war to the end, and from a realism perspective it should be on the tank. I was hoping JSI would add this to the tank when they took possession of the mold, but I imagine it would be much too difficult and cost prohibitive.

There are lots of tools and other doodads attached to the hull; A shovel, an axe, a hammer, a metal bar, two large tow cables and one small tow cable. There is also a few small pieces of simulated track attached to the turret. These pieces should all be removable, as they were on the 21st Century Toys version, but I could not get the large tow cables to come off the hull without breaking them. They may be stuck to the hull from the paint application, or they are not meant to be removed. This is kind of annoying since you need to move the tow cables out of the way to access the rear engine compartments.

Exterior continued on page 3…