Henschel & Son Tiger I Heavy Tank

The Tiger is an amazing display of molded details. Once you get your hands on one, you cannot stop exploring every detail of the piece. I would even go as far to say your eyes will be molesting this toy for hours. We haven’t even started talking about the interior yet. There are still subtle details that I notice for the first time. Even taking the pictures for this review, I felt like I was rediscovering the tank all over again.

This version of the tank, as mentioned above, is from the eastern front, which fought Russia in operation Barbarossa until the German surrender in May of 1945. The tank is colored in the eastern three color paint scheme with German Olive drab as a base color. This paint color lends itself to exposing every detail, including the textured surface. This version doesn’t sport the anti-magnetic zimmerit coating as seen on the Forces of Valor version though. Weld marks, simulated hull damage(which I mistook for my sons play wear… I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t), panel lines, bolts, hinges, and other “greebles” that cover every surface of this tank.

The hull is also covered in numerous attachments such as shovels, pry bars, tow cables, and sledge hammers so your 1:18 scale German Soldiers can get the tank out of the inevitable bog down it will have in the muck of eastern Europe. These small pieces are all detachable with a little bit of finesse. You have to be careful, 21st Century’s infamous brittle plastic holds these pieces to the hull. I haven’t broken any yet, but I’m constantly aware that I could at any moment.

The Tiger has an abundance of opening hatches for the driver, the machine gunner, the loader, and the Commander. You can actually fit five figures inside for a full crew complement, although it would be tight for the commander. The commander’s cupola also has molded periscopes and an MG-42 ring. The MG-42 with mounting bracket is included. On the interior side of the hatches are valve type locking mechanisms that just add even more detail. These types of things are unexpected and blow you away when you start fiddling around.