ICM 1/35 scale Laffly V15T plastic model kit review

The Laffly V15T was designed to tow the Hotchkiss 25mm field gun. To help traverse rough terrain, the four-wheel-drive vehicle was fitted with four small, unpowered wheels — two attached to the front bumper and two to the middle of the frame to aid.

ICM’s new 1/35 scale Laffly V15T includes parts to mount a Hotchkiss machine gun. Molded in gray plastic, the parts feature good detail, fine seams, and just a few slightly raised ejector-pin marks in visible places. The machine-gun mount is thin and quite delicate, as are the front fenders. Just a hint of a mold seam marks the vinyl tires. Thin clear parts provide the windshield panes and headlight lenses. The instructions feature clear assembly diagrams with color painting charts for two vehicles. Detail painting instructions refer to ICM, Revell, and Tamiya acrylics.

Assembly starts with attaching parts to the beautifully molded one-piece frame. The frame required a bit of cleanup to remove fine mold seam lines. A nice touch is the inclusion of a jig to align the rear suspension arms.

The detailed motor consists of over 30 parts. I suggest leaving off the engine bay floor panels (parts B14 and B15) until you have built the body, firewall, radiator, and hood. I installed mine as instructed and later had to do quite a bit of tweaking to align them properly with the bottom of the hood. I added a strip of thin styrene under the hood center to bolster what is otherwise a butt joint.

The major body parts fit well, with just a little sanding needed to refine seams. I used no filler anywhere on the kit. I left off the wheels and clear parts for painting and weathering.

I started to do a little research to find a Tamiya mix for French green and found a rabbit hole deeper than a discussion about late-war Luftwaffe colors. Backing out, I used the recommended Tamiya J.A. Green (No. XF-13) and post-shaded panels by adding a little Buff (No. XF-57) to the green. While the instructions called for black leather seats, I liked the orange-brown ones on the box art, so I painted mine with Vallejo Model Color Orange Brown (No. 70.981).
The decals responded well to Microscale Micro Set and Micro Sol and laid down nicely, although getting the instrument panel aligned with the raised dials was a bit tricky.

I weathered the Laffly by dusting lower areas and wheels with thin Tamiya Flat Earth (No. XF-52) followed by Tamiya Panel Line Accent dark brown. Then I added the clear parts.

I spent about 13 hours on the Laffly. This is not a kit for a beginner, but a modeler with some experience in handling small and delicate parts should be able to produce a beautifully detailed model.