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  1. Kozak-001 (35015) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Kozak series of vehicles are a Ukrainian-produced Mine Resistant Ambush Protected family that are based upon commercially available chassis, but are heavily modified with armour, some of which is under the crew compartment to deflect blast from a mine or IED. It was developed in response to a need for protected troop transports for reconnaissance, patrolling and other such tasks, and was first seen in 2014, although only a few proof-of-concept vehicles were made by Practika, in competition with several other types from other manufacturers, the Kozak going through to the next stage as one of the three that met the Ukrainian Army’s requirements. The original vehicle is based upon a heavily modified Iveco Eurocargo chassis, but the -001 design is based on the Iveco Daily, which has a shorter chassis, resulting in a more compact vehicle. Looking at any of the variants side-by-side you wouldn’t think they were related to any commercial platform, as the outward differences are so great. It doesn’t have a sharply V-shaped hull in the same respect that custom designs do, but most of the chassis’ length is protected by a shallower V-shaped armoured panel that underpins the crew compartment, and in concert with the anti-trauma seating that is installed within, it satisfies the needs of the Ukrainian forces in the event of an IED detonating underneath. The exposed wheel stations would likely be sacrificed in the blast, but the diversion of the explosive energy away from the crew is the key aspect. After the initial design, and subsequent production of the Kozak-001, the improved Kozak-2 was developed, incorporating a weapons station on the roof that allows the operator protection from small-arms fire, with vision slots that are protected by armoured glass in each of the side wall panels, plus a splinter-guard with more vision slots at the front, through which the machine gun projects, either mounting an NSV heavy machine gun, or another 7.62mm weapon, depending on availability and mission requirements. The Kozak-2 entered service in 2017, and has seen plenty of active service since the invasion of Ukraine that began on 24th of February 2022. The Kit This is a reboxing of a brand-new tooling from ICM of the Kozak-2 with new parts to backdate it, and has been made in cooperation with the vehicle’s manufacturers Practika, as noted on the box top in the top right, which bodes well. The kit arrives in a top-opening box, with a captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are seven sprues of grey styrene, two identical clear sprues, a bag containing five flexible black plastic tyres, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) of a copper-coloured metal, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper, and has profiles on the rear pages to help with painting and decaling. Detail is excellent, and as it’s a home-grown product, local knowledge will have come in very handy, as will their proximity for fact checking, although the vehicles have been rather busy of late, working tirelessly to recover areas of their country still under occupation. Construction begins with the chassis rails, which have a leaf-spring attached to the front, and two double-leaf arrangements that are each made from two halves at the rear. Small armour plates and other parts are fitted to the frontmost rail sides, then the cross-members are built, with two under the engine bay, a central four-part transfer box at the midpoint, a tough braced bar behind that, and another at the rear. Under the rear suspension is an additional cross-rail, plus a braced rail that has a pair of two-part tanks applied, one on each side before mounting. The solid floor pan is detailed with a three-part representation of the underside of the engine and sump, then the chassis rails are mated to the underside on tabs, adding a short drive-shaft that links the transmission to the transfer box, ready for when the axles are completed. The front axle is a thick assembly with differential bulge near the centre, which is made from two halves, and has the rear of the hubs attached at the ends, and a damper bar that joins to the chassis via links, and the drive-shaft that links it to the transfer box. A steering actuator and two armoured plates are fitted over the newly mounted axle, adding two dampers to the rear, and a C-shaped linkage that joins the two hubs together. The rear axle is built from four parts, and is much bulkier than the front, as are the hub assemblies, which are each three parts. This is then glued to the leaf-springs, adding dampers, drive-shaft, damper bar, another cross-member, and a towing shackle at the rear. The interior of the Kozak-001, the name of which, if you haven’t already guessed means ‘Cossack’, is a spartan compartment that is designed for a purpose and nothing more, keeping weight and clutter to a minimum, as well as reducing the likelihood of small parts becoming projectiles in the event of an IED detonation. The crew seats are built first, making the back from cushion and backrest, then adding this to the base cushion and two concertina-style side panels, plus front and rear sections, taking care to line up the concertina elements to minimise clean-up. An adjustment lever is fixed under the front edge, and you should bear in mind that the seats are handed, so take care to fix the correct one to the tread-plated floor on its guide-slots. A small gear lever is made from two halves and inserted into the centre console, which is moulded into the floor. The dash is a single moulding with three decals that has the three pedals glued into the lower portion, then has the multi-part steering wheel, column and separate stalks fitted on the left side, with a gaiter and hi/low ratio knob mounted in the centre of the dash low down. The dash is mounted on a central locating guide in front of the crew seats, and behind and between them a four-part rack with crew step/jump seat that has anti-slip tread-plate moulded into it, and acts as the support for the gunner when he is in action, folding away when not in use to keep obstruction to a minimum. Two individual passenger seats are built with two-part backs, adding tubular frames to the sides and head-rest that helps prevent crew displacement, flail and neck injuries, fixing onto the seat cushion that has more U-shaped tubes glued underneath that project up and help keep the sitter’s body in position in case of a sharp sideways jolt. A back frame and a pair of shock-absorbing tubes attach the frame to the deck behind the driving crew, facing forward. The other six seats are fitted centrally in an island formation with three on each side facing sideways. The base cushions are all moulded as a single linked unit, to which the lower tubes are fitted, adding two central supports in the space between them, then adding the seat backs, which are built identically and at the same time as the first pair. This assembly is then mounted on a pair of raised rectangular areas of the floor, ready for the body to be built up. The vehicle sides are one part each, and cover the entire length of the chassis, adding radiused bullet-proof windows in the sides, a foot-plate at the front, and drilling out three 1mm holes as indicated in a scrap diagram nearby, which also advises the removal of two loops on the top of the parts. An interior skin is prepared by adding grab-handles and weapon stowage clips under the windows, with the inner face of the shooting loupes moulded into the surface. The laminated right side is offered up to the chassis, adding the front wing liner and inner panel to the engine bay at the same time, then doing the same for the left side, before working on the windscreen panel, which has two panes inserted into the frames, and two instruments applied to the centre frame on the inside. This is mated to the bonnet and two windscreen wiper blades are fitted into pockets in the bonnet before joining the two. The rear bulkhead has an inner and outer skin, then has the multi-part bumper and clear light clusters applied to the lower edge. It would be a good idea to prepare the front and rear panels at the same time as the sides, not just for ease of painting, but also to ensure that the side panels are mounted to the correct angle and can’t sag while the glue cures. The roof has four small parts fitted to the underside before it is glued in place, completed with a pair of moulded-in escape hatches and the circular cut-out for the roof-mounted weapons station. The grille is fitted to the front of the vehicle, and has a thick bumper with moulded-in reflectors for the clear lights that are installed and painted with suitable clear shades, then have protective cages folded from PE parts, with a winch housing between them. The front skirt is made from two layers and has small sensors fitted into recesses, then is assembled on the front with the bumper, and a cow-catcher that is built from eight parts, including three horizontal slats that protect the grille. The Kozak-001 has four side doors, two on each side for the driving crew and front passengers, all of which have inner and outer skins plus glazing, with grab handles fitted inside, and handles on the outside, while the front doors have wing mirrors on large C-shaped tubular frames, and the rear doors have a circular cut-out that doubles as firing loupe for the front passengers. The rear doors are similar in construction, but with a smaller fixed window near the top, inserting into the frames at the rear. All doors can be posed open or closed as you please. Inverting the model allows fitting of the anti-mine keel panel, which has the ends closed off to prevent ingress of the explosive wavefront to maximise its effectiveness in diverting the blast laterally. Mudflaps are added to the rear of the front wheels, and on both sides of the rear wheels, then the wheels are made to fill the arches. The spare tyre is built first, adding a two-part hub from either side of the flexible tyres, and mounting it under the body at the rear. The rear pair of wheels have a slightly different pair of hub halves inserted from each side, and then have a choice of two styles of dust covers fixed over the outer face. The front wheels have similar two-part hubs, with an additional centre insert, and the same choice of dust covers over the front. They all fit onto their appropriate axles, but don’t put the model on its wheels just yet. There are a pair of crew steps to be fitted onto the keel panels under the rearmost side door on both sides, then the model is turned right-side up for all the external detail to be added to it. The first item is a searchlight, which has a clear lens and styrene rear, mounting on the right wing in front of a small part near the scuttle. A perforated mount for the pioneer tools is filled with four hand-tools before it is mounted on the right rear of the body. A two-part cage is closed around the searchlight, and is completed by adding two top bars, and a bracket that stands out past the side of the wing for another mirror that is added later. Under the tools a pair of three-part brackets are mounted on recesses, and on the opposite side a pair of towing bars are fitted under the windows on pins. Two small lifting eyes are glued to the scuttle, and an LED lamp with armoured shroud fits into a pair of recesses on the left wing. What looks like a tubular convoy light in a shroud is added to the centre above the rear doors, and five rungs are glued to the left side of the rear for access to the roof, with a sixth on a bracket that hangs down below the bodywork, adding a jerrycan in its holder to the left. Grab handles are fitted between and above the side doors, on the roof above the ladder, and on the front and sides of the bonnet to ease access to all the horizontal panels, and on the right flank, a cage is fixed to the body for another jerry can. The detailing is still far from over though, as the wing-mounted indicators and roof-line repeaters are positioned, with the more exposed lower wing lights protected by four half-torus PE guards that create a cage around them on both sides. PE cages are added around the rear lights too, bending the ends to match the profile, then adding a pair of stirrups below the back doors. The left door frame accepts a two-part exhaust that allows the vehicle to plough through water up to a metre deep without stopping to prepare. The machine gun turret is based on a ring under the floor, which has triangular supports for the side panels moulded-in, fitting two grab-handles to the inside of the hatch before installing it in the D-shaped cut-out. The two side armour panels have their bullet-proof windows inserted from inside, and are then assembled onto the base, adding an Y-frame support for the machine gun, which needs a 0.8mm hole drilling to accept the weapon, moulded with a separate spent-brass dump bag on the left, and with a three-part ammo box on the right, adding a folded bipod under the barrel, an adjustment lever on the vertical support, and another part affixed to the breech. The completed gun is then lowered onto the mount, securing its pin in the hole drilled earlier, then finishing off by adding a rear-view mirror on a bracket on the left side. The completed assembly then drops into the cut-out and is rotated to lock it in place. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, all with a base coat of green, and various camouflages applied over the top. From the box you can build one of the following: Kyiv, 2016 Odessa, October 2016 Eastern Operational Territorial Unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, Autumn, 2019 South Eastern Ukraine, Autumn, 2022 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion it’s good to see that Ukraine’s military equipment being kitted for us modellers, so we can show support in some small way for their fight. It’s a good-looking kit, and apart from adding some window blinds, strap for the top gunner, and a few cables in the passenger compartment, it’s an excellent rendition of the type. Hopefully, we’ll see some of the other variants in the future. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  2. Ki-21-1a Sally (48196) 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Sally, as she was known by the Allies during WWII was a heavy bomber designed by Mitsubishi as a replacement for the Ki-20, in competition with Nakajima, who although they lost out on the design of the aircraft, were given the contract for the power plants, as their HA-5 engines were found to be superior to Mitsubishi’s offering that was originally installed in the winning design. A small number of airframes were also built by Nakajima, with a total of just over 2,000 built between them. It first flew in 1936 and was intended for long-range bombing missions against Soviet and Chinese opponents, first entering service in 1938 in operations against China. Initial experience showed that the design was lacking in some respects, extending to the crucial oxygen system that was initially found to be unreliable. The Ib was intended to address most of the issues, including the lack of armament and changes to the flying surfaces. It also had a remote tail gun installation, and could mount an additional fuel tank for extreme range missions. The type was pretty much obsolete by 1940, and mounting losses prompted the type’s withdrawal from front line service, and the sale of some of the superfluous airframes to nations that remained friendly to the Japanese Empire. Uses were still found for the type with the Japanese forces however, and the remaining aircraft were used until the end of the war as cargo transports, trainers, troop transports and communications hacks. The later variants had improved engine performance with new Mitsubishi units, some with alterations to the greenhouse behind the cockpit, which was changed to a turret on some, and removed entirely on transport variants. The Kit This is a reboxing of a brand-new tool from ICM, following on from its smaller 1:72 sibling kit that was relatively recently released by ICM. The kit arrives in a top-opening box that has a captive top flap on the bottom tray. Inside are seven sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate bag, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour with profiles for painting and decaling on the back pages. Detail is thoroughly modern, and extends to ribbing on the interior of most of the fuselage, restrained fabric depiction on the flying surfaces, full representation of the engines and a nice cockpit, plus a set of crystal-clear glazing parts. Construction begins with the fuselage halves, which have the unarmed early tail added to the rear on a keyed flange, a lozenge-shaped detail insert to make the wing root recess flush, and the side windows, ammo drums dotted around the interior, plus multiple well-detailed equipment boxes inserted in the cockpit area, O2 bottles in the wing area, and later a line of trunking that extends from the trailing edge of the wing to the tail. The mid-upper gunner’s compartment is built from a series of ribbed steps that are glued to a base with another step, which is then joined to a bulkhead at the front that forms the rear bulkhead of the bomb bay, and has ribbing along its lower portion, then the bomb bay roof is fitted out with eight bomb shackles before the sides and front bulkhead are installed, and it is then populated by four bombs that are each made from two halves, plus twin braces to each side of the stabilising fins at the rear. The bomb bay is joined to the underside of the cockpit floor, and in the recess that is part of the forward floor, detail is moulded into the top of the bomb bay, and it accepts one pilot’s rudder pedals that fit into pairs of holes in the deck. A seat with cushion is suspended over the recess, then another more substantial seat is attached to the floor at the port side with a lever to the side of it, adding a side console, throttle quadrant and two bow-tie control columns before the front bulkhead is fixed to the cockpit, plus a pair of two-part fuel tanks further back over the wing along the starboard wall, with a small equipment installation just forward. The cockpit assembly can then be inserted into the port fuselage half, adding the bomb-aimer’s position with a choice of two glazing parts, one with a cushion and vertical column, one bare, slotting into the cut-out under the nose. More ammo cans are dotted around the upper gunner’s stepped compartment, adding a clear porthole in the floor, and an internal ladder below the crew access door in the port side. The reason for the ammo cans includes side-firing and ventral machine guns, with a choice of weapons that have a plate magazine over the breech, or Type 89 machine guns, gluing the floor-mounted glazing panel into one side of the lower fuselage before it is closed. In the front, a rack of four O2 bottles are inserted in the roof of the nose, then the starboard fuselage is prepared in a similar manner as the port, fitting the wing root insert, adding glazing, instruments, machine gun ammo cans, a jump seat and the afore-mentioned trunk down the wall of the fuselage. The fuselage halves are closed around the instrument panel that has a pair of decals to depict the dials, a short pointed coaming, and centre throttle quadrant, plus the upper gunner’s seat that is suspended on four moulded-in struts that locate on corresponding depressions in the fuselage wall. You have a choice of posing the bomb bay open or closed, using a single part to depict it closed, or the four individual door parts that fold to the side in pairs with the help of a pair of retraction jacks at either end, which are all included on the sprues. The dorsal gunner’s fuselage insert is prepped by making the gun mount and dump bag that are both in two parts, and the twin guns mounted over it, which have a pair of half plate magazines fitted to the top of the breech, and a semi-circular pivot that flex-fits into recesses under the dorsal insert, after which you can glue the assembly into position in the top of the fuselage, taking care to align it minimise clean-up of seams. You have the same choice of two gun types for the nose gun that slides through a hole in the nose glazing, gluing into the nose while the canopy and dorsal glazing are fitted, being careful to paint the deck under the dorsal glazing before you add glue. The tail is begun by adding the elevator fins, which have separate flying surfaces and rudder panel, then the wings are prepared by inserting a two-part bay in each one before joining the upper and lower halves together, adding the ailerons into their slots and landing light lenses in the leading edges. They are then glued onto the wing root fairings on the fuselage, which have a lip to ensure proper location, and a slot for the short length of spar that extends from the wing to further improve joint strength. The wheels are installed under the wings before the engines and lower cowling are made up, starting with the tail-wheel slipped into its yoke, and then adding the two-part wheels to the H-frame main strut, which has a two-part support frame fitted to the front, and a long yoke with mudguard and additional V-strut that links the lower leg to the back of the bay. Four small parts are fixed to the wing inside the bays, and the lower cowlings are made up out of two halves trapping a round bulkhead, adding a pair of two-part intakes top and bottom, then sliding the lower nacelle over the completed wheels and mating the edges with the recessed lip of the lower wing surface. The engines are built-up on bulkheads with the cooling flaps moulded-in, a separate exhaust stack underneath, and a depiction of both cylinder banks, plus the front bell-housing with push-rods moulded-in, hiding the prop axle inside without glue so that the props can spin later, and fitting a wiring loom guide around the bell housing. The finished engines are covered by two cowling halves and a separate lip, gluing them to the front of the nacelles and finishing them off by adding the three-bladed prop and separate spinner. The model is completed by installing an antenna post and D/F loop over the canopy, and a curious-looking cranked pitot probe in the leading edge of the port wing that keeps the sensor out of the wing’s airflow. Markings There are five options on the decal sheet, with only two in light green-grey, one in wide camouflage stripes, another with a dense dark green squiggle camouflage scheme over green-grey, and the final choice with a fully green upper surface. From the box you can build one of the following: 60th Sentai, China, early 1939 – pre-production aircraft 60th Sentai, China, 1941 14th Sentai, probably China, 1941 105 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai, presumably 1942 64th Sentai, 1943 Decals are by ICM’s usual partner, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. As is common now with ICM kits, there is a page of the instruction booklet devoted to the masking of the canopy, using the printed shapes on the right of the page and the diagrams on the left to create your own masks if you wish. It goes up to 130 thanks to the extensive greenhouse glazing. Conclusion A nicely detailed and most welcome new tooling of this short-lived (in front line service at least) heavy bomber in its first variant, which should by now have seen the older vacform tooling from another manufacturer no-longer needed unless you like a challenge. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  3. Gotha Go.244B-2 (48224) 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Germany broke new ground in WWII in the successful use of Paratroop landings in gliders that met with some initial successes, although that method of delivering soldiers and materiel hasn’t seen much use since the end of WWII, possibly following the experiences of the Allies later in the war and around D-Day. Gotha created the small DFS 230 that was used by Fallschirmjager units during the early part of the war, and the RLM subsequently issued a specification for a larger glider that could carry 20 fully equipped troops into action, or alternatively bring equipment of an equivalent weight to the battle. Gotha’s offering was a simple tapered box on wings, but with a twin-tail boom that allowed the cargo version to unload from the rear using a simple flip-up rear fuselage, and later the troop carrier could also unload from the rear with the addition of new doors. The type entered service soon after its initial flight in 1941, with over 1,500 manufactured in various guises. The initial A series was split into troop and cargo types, with the following B series being improved from experience and sporting upgraded landing gear, plus double rear doors for faster troop exit. A further C series was intended for water landings using a boat-shaped hull to carry explosive-laden small boats to maritime targets, although that never reached service. Once Gotha we happy with it as a glider, the immediately experimented with adding engines in nacelles that extended the twin booms past the leading edge of the wings, settling on the Gnome-Rhône 14Ms for most production airframes, mounted in counter-rotating forms to reduce torque steering during take-off and landing to acceptable levels. This would allow the aircraft to both power themselves to their destination, and if they remained undamaged after landing, they could also make the trip back home to begin the process again. It also freed-up the He.111 or Stuka tow-planes that would be given other duties instead. Take-off was marginal with a heavy load however, so RATO bottles were developed to give the aircraft an extra boost, which wouldn’t be required at the other end of the journey, all being well. The Kit This is a minor but important re-tool of ICM’s recent kit of this boxy glider, that turns the model from a glider to a powered aircraft, which changed its role substantially. The kit arrives in a top-opening box covered in a painting of the aircraft in-flight with its landing gear clearly visible, and the slight upward angle to the new engine nacelles when compared to the booms. The usual captive flap on the lower tray exposes thirteen (or eleven if you count them as they arrive) sprues in grey styrene, one of clear parts, the instruction booklet in spot colour on glossy paper, and a long slender decal sheet. The first thing that’s evident on perusal of the sprues is that the wingspan is substantial, and the designers at ICM have put a lot of effort into the detail that’s moulded-into the model, especially the sections that are fabric over a tubular framework. Construction begins with the large floor space, which is made up from the fabric outer skin with visible ribbing, onto which the floor surface is added in two sections, after drilling several 1mm holes in the skin first. The forward section is then enclosed by a tubular framework that stops at the centre bulkhead, which also has short spars moulded-in, with a bulkhead between the passenger and pilot sections, adding a headrest for the pilot. The twenty passenger seats are each made from horizontal and vertical sections that are then arranged into two rows of 10 and are fitted out with diagonal braces that mate with the rear legs, plus a length of top bracketing that allow the seats to stand clear of the wall. Both rows are glued into the passenger compartment either side of the fuselage behind the central bulkhead, and a triangular section of framework is attached to the aft section of the area, following which the side walls are made up from two parts each, and either five or six windows on the sides that are applied from the inside. The walls are fixed to the floor assembly along with the roof once the cockpit is made up. This isn’t a training variant, but the controls are still duplicated on both sides of the cockpit for redundancy, starting with a well-detailed pair of rudder pedals that each comprise four parts. The control column differs between stations, with the pilot having a column tilted at the top with separate yoke, while the co-pilot has a straight stick for when he needs to take over, for example when landing under fire and the pilot is incapacitated. The seats differ too, as the pilot has a sturdier five-part seat that has an adjustment wheel, while the co-pilot has a simple two-part affair. These are all inserted onto a cockpit floor that is placed within the front of the fuselage at the time when the sides and roof are both added with a 15g nose weight under the floor, and the instrument binnacle with decal on the left in front of the pilot. The cockpit surround is incomplete at this stage, fitting the roof panel first, then adding the nose ‘cone’ along with another shared instrument panel on a set of braces made up from two parts, plus another decal. The floor under the pilot’s feet is inserted from outside with the fuselage inverted, plus two panels of side glazing and a single windscreen part that has an optional 0.8mm hole drilled in it to mount the guns, and a throttle quadrant from the new sprues. Take it easy if you decide to drill the canopy, as clear styrene is much easier to damage because of its brittle nature, and can star when pushed through, leaving an ugly scar. Light pressure, a blob of BluTak behind it and plenty of patience is the way to go. The wings of the 244 are necessarily long for lift, thanks to its glider heritage, and for later installation on the tips of the booms the two new engine nacelles are made in a pair from two halves, adding radiator fairings and cores before closing them up. The wings are each moulded as top and bottom skins, which have some lovely ribbing and other details moulded-in as you can see above, and have the flying surfaces as separate sub-assemblies of two parts each. Once the halves are joined, they have the new front nacelle fairings added top and bottom to where the booms will be, then have the two flap sections and long ailerons slotted into the trailing edges. This is repeated again in mirror-image of course, and the two wings are slotted onto their projecting spar sections, taking care to put them on with the leading edges and canopy pointing in the same direction. A pair of supports are added underneath in recessed sockets that have been amended for the new variant, although I’d be tempted to leave those off until after main painting was complete so they don’t get damaged or lead to rough surface texture of the paint. The aft section of the fuselage is next to be assembled, adding the windows inserted from inside of the tapered panels, and the internal framework added, then they are set apart by three more framework sections, after which the lower part with window, internal floor with steps, and roof with framework and observation window (the reason for the steps) added, to be finished off with a transparent end cap giving even better field of view, just in case they’re being stalked by a fighter from behind. The door pivots upward between the booms, and can either be glued closed, or propped open with five supports holding it at the correct angle. Again, if you are using the self-defence armament, another 0.8mm hole needs to be drilled near the hatch in the roof of the aft section. The booms are simple and made from two parts each, with separate rudders and a single two-part elevator panel with separate flying surfaces. The instructions show the completed assembly being offered up to the rear of the model, but it may be more prudent to glue one boom in place first, then add the other with the elevator once the glue is set on the first boom. A forest of actuators and mass balances are added all around the flying surfaces later, but first the Gnome-Rhone engines are built from two banks of pistons that are made from front and rear halves each, plus intake pipework, push-rods, and finally the exhaust collector and final outlet, which has a hollow tip thanks to an insert near the end. Another pipe with connector is added to give the engine a symmetrical pair of top exhausts to trail back over the cowlings, which is exactly where they go in the next step. The main landing gear is made next, based on a single strut per side that is supported on an extended A-frame that runs forward under the fuselage, and sports a two-part wheel at each end. The nose gear is suited to being towed, as it has a long beam running forward from the pivot-point, with the castor wheel behind it, and a pair of forks at the front. The props are moulded as single three-blade parts, which are sandwiched between the spinner and backplate, each one with a pin on the rear that fits into the bell-housing at the front of the engines. The final parts are used for two optional self-defence machine guns that are fixed to the top of the windscreen and in front of the observation window in the aft section of the fuselage, both having a moulded-in concertina dump bag for the spent brass, and a double C-shaped ‘snail’ mag clipped over the breech. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, both with yellow wingtips with a tail band in the same colour, and both wearing splinter camouflage over the topsides. ICM have also included a printed template for masking the copious glazing that’s present on this aircraft, which should come in handy and save some hassle, even if you’re confident masking canopies yourself. From the box you can build one of the following: Go.244B-2, 106 Special Purpose Battle Groups (KGr.z.b.V.106), Kirovohrad, 1942 Go.244B-2, Probably Hagenow, Germany, 1942 Decals are by ICM’s usual partner, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Go.242 was a quirky-looking box that appeals due to many factors, but with props it still manages to look peculiar. Detail is excellent, extending throughout the interior and within the engine cowlings, so it’s something a little bit out of the usual. Very highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  4. WWII British Aircraft Armament (48407) 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd During WWII, numerous weapons systems (as we’d call them now) were developed to fight the Axis forces, standardised for mass manufacture, and for ease of interoperability between types of aircraft in use at the time. These were adapted and improved over time in light of operational experience, the Allies finishing the war with a much more potent arsenal than it started with. This set depicts some of these designs, and arrives in a small top-opening box with a captive flap on the lower tray. Inside are four sprues of grey styrene, a decal sheet, two instruction booklets and a pamphlet advertising the recently launched ICM range of acrylic paints that we’ve reviewed on this here forum. One sprue depicts the British 18” Mk.XII Torpedo that was an air-launched variant of the earlier Mk.XI, entering service in the early 30s. The Mark.12 was the variant used by the Fleet Air Arm and RAF Coastal Command during WWII, and could be fitted with a break-off wooden tail fairing to reduce entry speed into the water, and the nose was painted red for a training round, or the less visible black for a live round, which goes against the “red for danger” methodology normally used. It is the most complex assembly of the set and has its own booklet that details construction. The torpedo is made first, built from two halves with a double row of screws and a pair of perpendicular fins at the rear, two of which are moulded-in. The optional break-off tail is made from two rectangular end panels, with a single horizontal plane stretching between them. The wooden tail includes the tail fins of the torpedo and is a straight replacement to the standard fins, then a spacer and large spinner are fitted to the front. The guts of the trolley consists of two scissor jacks, and these are both made from four parts each that are mounted onto a slotted base, then surrounded by a framework with two small balancing wheels at either end. A short axle projects from the centre of the rails, and these mount a larger wheel with integrated tyre, plus a winder at each end that operates the scissor-jacks (on the real thing). The torpedo is lowered into the cradle along the trolley’s direction of travel to finish off. The other three sprues are identical, containing parts that allow you to make the following: 3 x 1,500lb Aerial Mine 6 x GP 250lb Bomb 6 x MC 250lb Bomb 6 x MC 500lb Bomb 6 x GP 500lb Bomb 6 x SAP 250lb Bomb 6 x Bomb Rack, combination of left & right wings, plus two bomb bay racks Each bomb is made from two halves, adding end caps and parachute bundle to the mine, additional fins and circular rings to the majority of the others, and a choice of sway-braces to the bomb racks, depending on which bombs you will be mounting. Markings The torpedo and trailer have no stencils, but the bombs have stencils and designation bands around them, which are curved on the sheet to ensure that they conform to the shape of the weapon they’re intended for. Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A useful set for anyone with a need for munitions for their latest British WWII project. There are a lot of them in the box, and despite their simple construction, they have plenty of detail moulded-in. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  5. WWII Pilots of British Naval Aviation (32118) 1:32 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd As if flying in and out of an aircraft carrier wasn’t dangerous enough, during WWII the enemy tended to shoot at you if you got in visual range, and the brave British Naval fliers kept going out when bidden, often in biplane aircraft that were arguably long overdue for replacement, such as the Fairey Swordfish. Their crews were truly legendary, and frequently suffered heavy casualties, despite the German gunners having trouble predicting their advances with their automated gun directors because they were so slow. When a torpedo bomber is lining up on its target however, flying straight and steady is required for accuracy, giving the enemy gunners a comparatively easy target to aim at. The Kit This figure set is a new tooling from ICM to place on or near your 1:32 British Naval project from WWII, whether it’s a Stringbag or not. The kit arrives in a slim top-opening box with the usual captive flap on the lower tray, and inside is a single sprue in grey styrene that contains parts to make the three gentlemen that are depicted on the box art. The three figures include a rating, a pilot and an officer, all looking in (presumably) the same direction as if they are watching a colleague coming in to land. The rating is shielding his eyes against bright sunlight, and the officer is pointing in the direction of the object of their attention, while the pilot is stabilising his parachute on one shoulder, with the other hand in his pocket, wearing full flight gear that includes boots, jacket and flying helmet plus goggles. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. The pilot’s Mae West life vest is separated from the front of the figure to ease moulding, and his ‘chute is made from an additional three parts, plus his goggles are separate too, as are the straps under his chin, depicted undone in this boxing. The other figures are each detailed with their own accessories, the officer having a folder moulded into his right arm, while the rating is carrying a can of paint moulded into his hand, with a separate paintbrush resting across the top of the lid. The instructions are a combined painting and assembly guide, using black numbers to identify parts for the figures, and red boxed letters for paints, cross-referencing the letters against a paint chart on the opposite side that gives names of paint colours in Ukrainian and English, plus ICM’s own paint codes. From these you should be well able to determine which paints to use if you don’t happen to have the necessary ICM paints to hand. Conclusion Detail is excellent, as are the poses and cloth drape and folds over their limbs, making this a compelling figure set to add that human scale to your 1:32 project. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  6. Krankenpanzerwagen (35113) Sd.Kfz.251/8 Ausf.A WWII German Ambulance 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Hanomag Sd.Kfz.251 was the mainstay of the German armoured Personnel Carrier fleet, but was flexible enough to also take up many other tasks within the Nazi War Machine, from Anti-Aircraft duties to Howitzer carriage and back again to armoured reconnaissance, which led to a lot of variants. With two steering wheels at the front, the rear was carried on tracks, giving it good clearance and rough ground capabilities that a truck simply could not manage once the going got tough. It was armoured sufficiently to deflect non-armour piercing rounds from small arms fire, but with an open top it was susceptible to both grenades and aerial bombardment, where the armour would concentrate the blast and reduce the interior and its occupants to a tangled mess. The Ausf.A was used at the beginning of WWII alongside the Ausf.B, and was generally fitted with an MG.34 on the front cab wall, operated from inside. The armoured ambulance variant was of course unarmed to avoid braking convention, and in place of the military equipment normally found in the load area, it had two litters for casualties, and was crewed by medical staff. There were more than 20 official variants and more unofficial field modifications, but despite their seemingly ubiquitous nature in German service, not many were preserved after the war, and they are highly sought after now, with many examples being based upon post-war builds from Czech factories that have been made to look as convincing as possible by their restorers. While the purist may notice the differences in films, they're still a huge improvement on repainted American half-tracks from an authenticity point of view. The Kit This is a reboxing with different parts of the 2018 tooling, and extends the range to a less combative aspect of the vehicle’s operational duties. The kit arrives in a medium sized box, with a captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are six sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, and two sprues of flexible black parts. A small decal sheet is found slipped inside the glossy colour printed instruction booklet, completing the package. This is a full interior kit, and has the engine, crew compartment and a substantial number of internal parts, including personal weapons, stowage and two beds mounted on one side, with a stretcher folded against one wall to bring new patients to and from the vehicle, so the build should result in a highly detailed model. The tracks included are of the flexible variety, although a little flash is evident here and there on our sample. This is easily removed with a sharp pair of scissors or a brand-new #11 blade on a firm surface. Construction begins with the underfloor pan, which has two cross-members fore and aft, adding the sides of the tray, which is then added to the interior floor, and has stowage bins added to the sponsons over the tracks. The angular hull sides are held in the correct angle by butting up against the sides of the bins, and the rear bulkhead with door cut-out completes alignment. The engine compartment is fabricated from various panels including an armoured sump-guard, and work commences on the engine and compartment fittings. Suspension, steering gear and the block are assembled and fitted in turn, with colour call-outs to help you get the painting right, and a twin-fan radiator at the very front. The firewall is fitted out with the driver's controls with decal applied, then is inserted into a ledge within the hull, after which some engine ancillaries fit to the other side of the bulkhead. The driver's seat, bench seats and a range of tools, an MP40 and spare ammunition are installed with the upper hull plates off, while a narrow former marks the difference between the cab and crew compartment, which will be hidden under the upper hull part when it is installed. The bench seating in the rear compartment is assembled and fitted in place on the left side, adding a four-part ribbed drum at the front between the crew seats, and a single bench seat at the rear, all supported by simple legs with diagonal braces. On the right side, a litter is built from two rails with cross-members and the bed surface, inserting it in four recesses in the floor along with a blanket strapped to the walls, and a co-driver’s seat. The folded away right seats are fastened to the wall, leaving the rear seat open for the use of medical crew or passengers, adding a headrest on supports and several brackets around the edge of the lower walls. The same headrest is also applied to the left jump seat, and a handrail is fixed to the crew divide, drilling holes to accept the pegs long the flat top of the part, preferably before installation. Oddly, the model is then flipped on its back to add a steering linkage and actuator before attention turns to the upper hull. Several vision hatches and their multi-part hinge mechanism are supplied as separate parts, as are the engine compartment hatches, plus some small flush-fitting forward stowage bins. A bullet-splash strip is applied to the roof above the crew eats, but the gun mount and stowage racks are removed, as is the gun mount at the rear of the vehicle, presumably to discourage the crews from the temptation of fitting defensive armament that could result in attacks by a confused enemy. Two thin strips are applied to the lip of the upper hull, fitting a stowage box under the dash on the co-driver’s side, attaching the rack for the upper bed across the opening, and mounting a folded stretcher on the underside of the left lip, a single part that has some impressive moulding to give the impression of multiple parts, some made from fabric. The second bed is made in the same manner as the first, and is mounted as the upper and lower hull halves are joined, trapping the two hinge frames between its halves. The angled doors are then fitted to those hinges, allowing them to operate if you have been careful with the glue, affixing a fire extinguisher to the right door near the centreline. It's unusual to get this far into an AFV model without building up the wheels and/or tracks, but it's at this stage that it's done here. A V-shaped anti-roll bar is fitted to the front axle and the rear hull, fixing swing-arms and stub axles slot into holes in the sides of the chassis, with the interleaved wheels slid onto the axles both in pairs and singly, with the drive sprocket at the front. The two steering wheels are made up from two-part hubs, and have rubberised tyres fitted to them before slotting them onto the front axles, and with the three layers of road wheels installed, the tracks can be wound round the lengths, and glued with a suitable glue, probably super-glue, or CA as modellers tend to call it. The build is finished off by addition of pioneer tools, fire extinguisher, number plate, rear towing hook, spare fuel cans in two-part racks, one per door, crew step at the rear, four hoops to accommodate a tilt in foul weather, rear view mirrors, and headlamps with clear lenses on the front fenders. Markings In keeping with German armour it's either Panzer Grey or Dunkelgelb (dark yellow), the latter camouflages as the war progressed, any camouflage benefits cancelled out by the large red and white crosses painted on each side, front and bonnet of the vehicle. From the box you can build one of the following: Sd.Kfz. 251/8 Ausf.A livery Variant for North Africa, 1941-42 Sd.Kfz. 251/8 Ausf.A livery Variant for Eastern Front, 1941-42 Decals are printed on a bright blue paper, have good register, colour density and sharpness, with decals for the driver's binnacle included on the sheet. Conclusion A welcome re-release of a Wehrmacht staple with a more peaceful task in mind, that will surely find its way into many collections, and is well detailed enough to be built out of the box for diorama purposes. Very highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  7. V3000S/SSM Maultier ‘Einheitsfahrerhaus’ (35410) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The V3000 was a product of Ford’s German operation that was established before WWII as Ford Werke, and even after WWII started, Mr Ford, who was quite a fan of Herr Hitler, continued doing business with the regime, with some saying that this relationship continued much longer than it perhaps should have done. The truck was powered by a V8 petrol engine that output a respectable 95hp, with a load capacity of three tonnes and a single enclosed cabin, that while the crew compartment was angular with no consideration to aerodynamics, it kept the crew dry and warm. Initial production batches suffered from overheating issues when the weather was warmer, so later variants had larger radiators and additional vents around the bonnet to allow more cooling air into the compartment. The V3000S came into service in 1941, and was built in many forms, sometimes referred to as the Maultier when the rear axle was replaced by a track system to improve traction on poor ground, others using the long-winded Einheitsfahrerhaus, which means single cabin. As strategic resources became an issue, efforts were made to simplify production and reduce the use of metallic components, with many cabs being made from pressed wooden panels, which introduced the problem of rotting during the extreme freeze/thaw cycle that was inherent to the climate on the Eastern Front. Over 25,000 were made of all types throughout the war, and at the end of the conflict, even though Ford’s factory had led a relatively charmed life with little damage and had chosen to use slave labour despite not being forced to, the parent company was given $1.1m in war damages, and was allowed access to the profits from the WWII period. Mr Ford must have had some pretty powerful connections. The Kit This is a reboxing of a fully-wheeled kit that originated in 2010, but has had new parts added in the interim, and has also been seen in other people’s boxes over the years. It arrives in ICM’s top-opening box with a captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are five sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, small decal sheet inside the glossy colour printed instruction booklet, which has colour profiles of the decal options on the rear pages. Detail is good, and incorporates a full engine and bay, chassis, axles, tracks and cab features, as we’ve come to expect from ICM. Construction begins with the chassis rails, which are extended on top at the rear, then are fitted with three two-part u-clamps, after which the cross-braces are prepared by adding small parts to them to improve the detail. There are a total of six cross-beams joining the two rails together, then the leaf-spring suspension is attached underneath each end, adding extra parts at the front. The V8 engine is built upon a two-part block, which has cylinder heads and ancillaries added, plus air box, gear lever over the transmission box, and cooling fan at the front. The completed motor is dropped into the front of the chassis, with a two-part spare tyre on a double-rail in the middle of the chassis, then a choice of early or late radiators are built, one having directing tin-work to guide the air from the fan behind it. It is fitted to the front of the chassis, joined to the engine by a pair of L-shaped feeder hoses, which vary between the style of radiator you have chosen. The front wheels are made from two halves, with a stepped washer placed in the centre without glue to allow them to rotate after completion, so don’t overdo the glue. They are joined to the ends of the front axle, with a steering arm ensuring that the wheels turn in unison once they are glued in place and the axle is fitted to the leaf-springs under the chassis, which also received a straight bumper iron and two curved support rods to the sides. An exhaust is made from three parts, leading from the down-pipe across the chassis, then back toward a muffler, after which it dog-legs back across the chassis to exit in front of the rear axle. A sub-frame for the track assembly is provided, and must be detailed with several brackets and pivots, before the drive axle is built from two parts to create the thickness of the differential, fitting three-layered drive sprockets to each end, then making up four twin wheel bogeys with separate springs and a small return roller at the top. The rear axle is fitted to the open end of the sub-frame, and the idler wheels are installed on the simple axle at the other end, mounting the four bogeys, two per side on the remaining tubular axles. The track is link-and-length, using long runs across the top and bottom of the road wheels, adding short diagonals to the ends of the bottom run, then completing the rounded ends with eight individual links wrapped round the idler and drive sprockets. The completed track assembly is mounted on the underside of the chassis, and power is provided by a short drive-shaft from the transmission to the differential. The cab is begun by inserting the two radiused windscreen panels into the frame at the top of the firewall bulkhead, and placing the dashboard under it, applying a decal to depict the instruments. The floor panel with integral kick-board has the foot pedals and handbrake lever applied, then it is mated with the bulkhead, which has a lower section installed at the same time to extend it into the firewall and create the footwell. A short scuttle panel covers the space under the windscreen, and the engine bay’s side walls are fitted to mount the curved radiator grille between their front ends, after which the driver gets his steering wheel on a short column, then a bench seat is glued to the floor in two parts, adding the door frames on each side, and the rear of the cab that has the back cushion and a small window fitted before it is mated with the base and the roof is mounted. The doors each have handles and window-winders plus flat clear panes to keep the weather out. The tapering bonnet has two extensions added to the underside, plus a brace across the underside and a fin with logo down the centre, or there is an alternative with more grille cut-outs in the front of the bonnet that has a fin without logo and uses different parts, including a separate front that has the grille cut-outs moulded-in. The assemblies are brought together to complete the cab, which then has a choice of three styles of fenders, all of which require alteration to remove or shorten the crew steps that are moulded in. A convoy light, headlamps with clear lenses, door handles, fuel filler cap, width indicator lollipops, windscreen wipers, outer door handles and even a shovel are added around the exterior of the cab to finish it off. The load bed has a single floor part that is stiffened by adding five cross-members underneath, and four shallow risers around the edges, the headboard being higher than the others, with a cut-out for rear visibility. Two small three-part stowage boxes are made and fixed under opposite corners of the bed, then the front mudguards are fitted to reduce spatter from the tracks covering the cab, with no regard for those behind them. The headboard has a two-part frame for the tilt slotted into receivers moulded into the headboard, and the three sub-assemblies are then brought together to create the finished truck. Markings There are three options included on the tiny decal sheet, all in later war Dunkelgelb dark yellow, with one wearing a comprehensive brown and green camouflage scheme applied over the yellow, the other overlaid with a heavy coating of winter distemper paint that is starting to wear away into a mottled pattern in places. From the box you can build one of the following: Non-camouflage 1944 Camouflage 1944 Winter Camouflage 1944 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A welcome re-release of the base kit in later war tracked variation, where it more closely resembles some of Soviet Russia’s output of the time, especially around the boxy cab. Plenty of detail is apparent, and construction should be straight forward, remembering that you have a choice of radiators that then informs your choice of bonnet fittings. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  8. OV-10D+ Bronco (72186) 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Bronco was conceived as a light attack, long loiter aircraft of modest size, enabling it to operate from unprepared fields and roads close to the combat zone. As so often seems the case, the final design turned out to be much larger and heavier due to the requirements of the avionics and ejection seats, thus limiting its use to conventional airfields. The twin boom aircraft first flew in 1965 and was destined to serve with the US Navy, Air Force and Marines as a replacement for the ageing Cessna O-1 Bird Dog & O-2 Skymaster. The Marines were the first to take the OV-10 into service as a forward air controller platform operating both night and day missions. Whilst the Bronco is best known for its operations in Vietnam, it also served in later conflicts as late as the Gulf War before being retired from US front-line service in 1995. The USAF received Broncos in 1968 and deployed the aircraft in the Forward Air Control (FAC) role, using smoke laying methods initially, and later using laser targeting designators. Eventually after extensive modernisation to the -D model with the addition of a FLIR turret and new avionics, then another upgrade to the -D+ version that involved replacement of much of the wiring loom and further stiffening of the wings to enable it to carry more and fly harder. By this time it carried its own ground attack armament including rockets, machine guns and bombs, plus targeting equipment that gave it the capability of Light Attack Aircraft, and made it a scary prospect for the enemy to see overhead. Seven export contracts were signed with other foreign operators including Germany, Columbia and Indonesia, each having their own letter suffixes, and the very last of which will be leaving service in the near future after long service. The last action of the Bronco in US Marine service was the first Gulf War, where a mixture of As and D+s fought side-by-side bravely carrying out the Forward Air Controller (FAC) task against enemy forces, although they did suffer some losses due to equipment inadequacies and possibly owing to its relatively slow speed making it an easier target for the anti-aircraft assets of the opposition. Although efforts were made to keep the bronco in service, by 1995 it was withdrawn from active service and handed-off to other government institutions, with the job being carried out from there on by two-seat F-18s that had speed, modern avionics and plenty of self-defence capabilities to hand. The Kit This is a reboxing of the brand-new tooling from ICM, bringing the fruits of their research creating the 1:48 tooling of this aircraft to the smaller scale modeller. The kit arrives in a shallow top-opening box with a captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are four sprues of grey styrene, a rectangular sprue of clear parts, a decal sheet, and glossy-covered instruction booklet that has spot colour throughout, and profiles of the four decal options on the back pages. The level of detail on the sprues is excellent, and almost identical in terms of content as the larger kit, differing mostly in terms of sprue-count due to the comparative size of the parts, as more can be fitted on one sprue in this scale. Construction begins with the rear seat, which is made from six parts, and is inserted into the back of the cockpit floor in front of the aft bulkhead, which has moulded-in equipment boxes on the top shelf. Side consoles, control column and throttle quadrants are added, then the bulkhead between the seats is made up with rudder pedals on a cross-brace under the bulkhead between crew. The instrument panel is then cemented to the top of the bulkhead, with a decal and its own coaming moulded into the top of the part, slotting it into the space between positions. The front seat is built using the same four parts in the initial step, but with three different parts on the back that have two “ears” behind the head-box. A control column and individual rudder pedals are added to the floor, then the side consoles are fitted either side of the seat. The front bulkhead has three detail parts for the nose gear bay glued to the rear, then it is put into the front of the cockpit, to be joined by detailed tops to the side consoles. The pilot’s panel has a decal applied as it is inserted under the coaming, which has a shallow central box glued into the top, allowing it to be fitted into the front of the cockpit. The cockpit is mated to the fuselage pod floor, and is flipped over to add a pair of sidewalls with moulded-in bay doors for the nose gear bay, the top section of the nose gear strut, and a retraction jack. The nose sides have moulded-in cockpit sidewalls with plenty of detail, adding a document box to the port side, and painting them according to the colour call-outs that appear throughout the instructions. A small bulkhead with kinked pipe is inserted into the tip of the nose, adding weight of just 5 grams to be placed in the space in front of the bulkhead before you close the two halves around the cockpit. An insert is inserted in front of the cockpit, and a circular light is inserted under the moulded-in probe at the tip of the nose, adding a pair of intakes to the sides of the nose, and a strake under the rear centreline, then building up the two winglets from top and bottom halves, plus an insert that depicts the gun openings, and a wingtip to finish them off. They glue into the fuselage in shaped recesses on either side, and four raised turrets are added either side of the belly strake, with a small bay door fitted to the retraction jack in the nose bay. The nose wheel is made from two halves and is slipped between the legs of the yoke that is glued onto the upper nose strut along with a linkage, joined by a pair of gun barrels in, and four sway-braces under each winglet. A hemispherical faceted FLIR turret is inserted into a hole under the nose, which quickly differentiates this boxing from earlier variants. The upper wing is a full-span part, and has a long spar that doubles as the back of the flap bays fitted in a recess with locating ribs helping achieve the correct position. The lower outer wing panels each have 1mm holes drilled in them if you are installing the underwing pylons, then they are added to the upper wing along with the inner panels, leaving space for the engine nacelles and fuselage nacelle that will be fitted later. The four flap sections are built in mirrored pairs from three parts each, and the ailerons have two small parts added to the top and bottom before all six flying surfaces are glued into the rear of the wing, fitting an actuator to the inner edge of the ailerons, a laser warning sensor on a hump on the wing over the fuselage, and two intake baffles above where the engines will be built shortly. Firstly, the wings are mated to the fuselage nacelle from above, and the windscreen part with a clear instrument in the top framing is fitted over the coaming. The canopy roof joins the windscreen to the rear of the cockpit opening, then the two side glazing panels are fixed to the remaining gaps in the side, with no in-built option to pose either entryway open, other than taking a razor saw to them. Unless you’re very brave, that’s going to be a job for the aftermarket folks. The two engine nacelles and their booms are built in mirror image, starting by adding the main bay doors and an instrument box on one wall, then building the main gear legs onto the forward bay roof from several parts, fixing the main roof and aft bulkhead before they are trapped between the two nacelle halves, finishing off the front with the intake fairing and a two-part shaft that is linked to the back of the spinner, leaving the prop spinning if you go easy with the glue. The lower nacelle skin fits on a pair of ribs, fitting the two-part exhausts for the turbo-prop engines, an auxiliary intake and the rudder panel as the last step. Once both booms are complete, they are offered up to the wing underside, remembering to add the three-part elevator panel between the two tail fins. The Bronco had dive brakes in the shape of four fin-shaped protrusions that popped-up sideways from inside the wing, and these can be depicted deployed, or left off if you prefer, adding a pair of three-part props with spinners to the front of each nacelle. A windscreen wiper blade is fixed to the windscreen with as little glue as possible to avoid marring the screen, two small blade antennae are inserted into depressions in the top of the nacelles, and a horn balance is installed on the top and bottom of the elevator, adding a blade antenna to the port nacelle behind the gear bay. The main wheels are each two parts, and are glued to the swing-arm at the bottom of the main gear legs, adding a lateral towel-rail antenna behind the nose gear bay, and another small antenna at the rear of the port nacelle. The optional wing pylons are two-parts each, and fit under the wings in the holes you drilled earlier. Weapons There is a substantial range of munitions supplied on the sprues, as follows: 2 x LAU-33 Rocket Pod 2 x Mk.81 Snakeye Iron Bomb 2 x Mk.81 Lowdrag Iron Bomb 2 x LAU-69A Rocket Pod 2 x LAU-68 Rocket Pod 2 x Mk.82 Snakeye Iron Bomb 2 x Mk.82 Lowdrag Iron Bomb 2 x Mk.77 Incendiary Bomb 2 x LAU-10A Rocket Pod 1 x 150 gal. Fuel Tank Each weapon is well-detailed, all made from two halves, adding end caps to the tubular rocket pods, and even individual rocket tips on the LAU-10A. There is a full range of stencils supplied for the various weapons on the decal sheet, with diagrams to the sides of the four pages of profiles. An additional page in the instructions shows the correct location for the various weapons, and which are compatible with the mounting points under the wings and fuselage. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, three in various camo schemes, one in an all-over grey scheme. From the box you can build one of the following: OV-10D+ 155489 Marine Observation Sqn. 1, (VMO-1), USS Theodore Roosevelt, 1990 OV-10D+ 155494 Marine Observation Sqn. 2, (VMO-2), Saudi Arabia, 1991 OV-10D+ 155473 Marine Observation Sqn. 2, (VMO-2), Saudi Arabia, 1991 OV-10D+ 155499 Marine Observation Sqn. 1, (VMO-1), early 1990s The instruction booklet includes a half page diagram of the canopy, giving silhouette drawings of masks that you can cut yourself to avoid having to shell out for a masking set, and you can either apply tape then cut them out, or lay a clear acetate sheet over the drawings before applying tape, cutting the masks carefully with a new #11 blade to protect the instructions, and avoid the difficulties that may occur releasing the tape from the paper if they come away together. Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a reboxing of the first new tooling of this type in the new millennium, and benefits from the advances in injection moulding technology and CAD rendering that give the modeller a thoroughly modern, well detailed kit of the last Bronco variant that is complete with a host of weapons, some of which will remain in the spares box. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  9. Junkers Ju-88A-8 Paravane (48230) 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Ju-88 was designed as a schnellbomber in the mid-30s, and at the time it was faster than current fighter designs, so it was projected that it could infiltrate, bomb and exfiltrate without being intercepted. That was the theory anyway. By the time WWII began in the west, fighters had caught up with the previously untouchable speed of the 88, and it needed escorting to protect it from its Merlin equipped opponents. It turned out to be a jack of all trades however, and was as competent as a night fighter, dive bomber or doing reconnaissance as it was bombing Britain. They even popped a big gun in the nose and sent it against tanks and bombers, with variable success. The A series sported a pair of Jumo 211 engines in cylindrical cowlings producing over 1,000hp each, and was improved gradually up until the A-17. During the Battle of Britain the British defenders flew balloons, or Aerostats above their main centres of population, tied to the ground via strong steel hawsers, with the intention of snagging unwitting enemy aircraft and bringing them crashing to the ground. To combat this, some German aircraft were fitted with wire cutting blades in arrow-headed arrangements around the front of the aircraft to cut or deflect the cables and save the aircraft from becoming another casualty of the wily Brits. The Ju-88A-8 was outfitted with such a contraption, referred to as a Paravane, and to counter the extra weight the crew was reduced to three, and the engines were upgraded to Jumo 211F-1 that produced more power at higher revs to counter both the weight and drag. It wasn’t wholly successful, as the performance was worse despite the attempts to ameliorate this. They were of course only of use at lower altitudes to which aerostats could be raised. The Kit This is a new variation on the original tooling of an A-5 and subsequent A-11 that were release by ICM, with new paravane parts on a single additional sprue added to make it specific to this boxing. The box is the usual top-opening with an inner lid on the lower tray, and inside you will find nine sprues in grey styrene, one in clear, a decal sheet and a glossy covered instruction booklet with spot colour inside, and the decal options in full colour on the rear pages. If you have been lucky enough to see the other kits, you'll know that detail is right up there in terms of quality and crispness, with ICM improving leaps and bound over the last several years despite impediments, which is great news for us modellers, as they aren't frightened of tackling what to us may seem niche subject matters. Construction begins with the addition of sidewall details in the capacious cockpit area of the fuselage. Rear bulkhead, side consoles and seats are all added to the cockpit sides for a change, with an insert in the fuselage for the circular antenna and tail wheel added into the starboard side. The instrument panel is supplied with decals, and fits into the fuselage during joining. The missing floor is added to the lower fuselage panel that includes the lower parts of the inner wings and gives the structure extra strength. It also receives the rudder pedals, control column, and the two remaining crew seats before being joined to the fuselage. The tail plane has articulated flying surfaces, and the wings are supplied as top and bottom halves, with the flaps and ailerons separate from the box, having neat curved fairings so they look good when fitted at an angle. The flaps include the rear section of the soon-to-be-fitted nacelles, which are added as separate parts to avoid sink-marks, and these and the ailerons run full-span, terminating just as the wingtip begins. This variant was fitted with the under-fuselage gondola, and each side has separate glazing panels inserted from inside, and a seam running vertically through its length. It is added to the hole in the underside of the fuselage, with the front and rear glazing plus zwilling mounted machine guns later in the build. At this time the landing gear is made up on a pair of upstands that are added to the underwing in preparation for the installation of the nacelle cowlings. The engines must be built up first though, with a high part count and plenty of detail, mounting on a rear firewall that securely fits inside the cowling. Even though this is an in-line engine with a V-shaped piston layout, the addition of the annular radiators gives it the look of a radial, with their representation added to the front of the cowling, obscuring much of the engine detail. The side panels can be left off to show all that detail however, and I'm sure someone will be along with some in-scale opened panels in due course. The cooling flaps around the cowling are separate, and the exhausts have separate stacks, which aren't hollow but are large enough to make boring them out with a drill a possibility. The completed nacelles fit to the underwing over the top of the main gear installation, securing in place with four pegs, two on each side of each nacelle. The props are made from spinner, backplate and a single part containing all three blades, sliding onto a pin projecting from the engine front, which will require some glue if you want to keep them on. At this point the instructions recommend adding the canopy glazing, which consists of a choice of two faceted nose cones, and the main greenhouse for the cockpit aperture. The rear portion is made from two additional parts due to its double "blown" shape to accommodate the two rear-facing gun positions, so that the gunner's head isn't pressed against the canopy. The guns are fitted through the windscreen and the two circular ports on the rear, although no ammo feed is supplied. Under the wings the four bomb crutches on aerodynamic mounts are built up with anti-sway braces and installed, with bombs supplied that have two of their fins moulded separately, along with the stabilising struts that fit into notches in the fins. While the airframe is flipped over, the two-part wheels, tail-wheel bay doors and twin main gear bay doors are added, both having good detail and the former a radial tread. Exhaust covers are fixed over the individual exits, and a small number of actuators are glued to recesses in the ailerons. Addition of the canopy mounted antenna completes the standard build, but the paravane parts are yet to be added. There are four wing-mounted supports for the cutting blade, each one an A-frame that attaches above and below the wing. They are joined by two more angled A-frames that project from the sides of the nose, all six supporting the two blade symmetrical sections that meet up in the centre and at the wingtips. This and the other delicate parts are best left off until main painting is complete, but that’s your decision, not mine. Markings The kit includes three markings options, and although there are no Swastikas on the sheet, they are supplied in halves for those that want them. From the box you can build one of the following: Junkers Ju 88 A-8 Paravane, 5./KG 30, 1941 Junkers Ju 88 A-8 Paravane, KG 30,1941 Junkers Ju 88 A-8 Paravane, KG 51, 1941 The colours are picked out using letters that correspond to a table on the front page, which gives the names and paint codes in ICM, Revell and Tamiya ranges, so should be easy to convert to your paint system of choice. The decals are printed in good register, colour density and sharpness, with additional instrument dials included on a clear carrier film to help with cockpit painting. All the stencils are legible, with a thin carrier film cut close to the printing. As is common now with ICM kits, there is a page of the instruction booklet devoted to the masking of the canopy, using the printed shapes on the right of the page and the diagrams on the left to create your own masks if you wish. It goes up to 64 thanks to the faceted greenhouse glazing. Conclusion ICM's range of Ju.88s, He.111s and Do.17s are a good example of how far they have come in recent years, adding value to their brand, and improving their reputation with each release. The kit is well-detailed and comprehensive in what it includes, and the Paravane gear is a little bit out of the ordinary, which is always fun. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  10. Helicopter Ground Personnel – Vietnam War (53102) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd There has been a spate of new helicopter kit releases in 1:35, many of them from ICM themselves, including their CH-53 Tarhe “Skycrane” and their AH-1 Cobra series that’s ongoing, and appears to be the focus for this figure set, although other kits could well use them in different positions. This set arrives in a top-opening box with ICM’s usual captive flap on the bottom tray, and inside is a single sprue of grey styrene, a glossy instruction sheet that’s printed on both sides in colour, and a flyer for their acrylic paint range that debuted some time ago. There are four figures supplied on the sprue, two of whom are standing to inspect their charge, one leaning over for a better view. The other two are kneeling or sitting, the kneeling gentleman inspecting something low down, while the other chap is sitting atop a winglet on the box top, screwdriver in hand, contemplating his next move in repairing or maintaining the engine compartment he has open. This last figure is the most kit-specific, but could easily be re-tasked by adding a box or platform of suitable height under his backside to give his stance some support. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. Seamlines and stitching have been engraved into the surfaces, making detail painting easier, and more rewarding to the eye. Markings There are no decals provided, but over the page from the sprue diagram and paint chart are four drawings of the figures in colour, with part numbers supplied in black, and paint codes in red boxes that correspond with the chart and give codes for ICM’s own paint system, plus the generic name of the colour in question. It also lets us know that ICM’s acrylic boxed set #3023 can be used to paint the figures, which you can find in our mega review, scrolling down to the appropriately numbered set. Conclusion I’ve worn out my keyboard saying that figures provide a much-needed human scale to a model, but whilst that remains true, I’m hardly going to tell you otherwise. Excellent sculpting and natural poses make this a compelling set for anyone in the market for figures for their 1:35 helicopter. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  11. Always the First (35754) Air Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian armed forces have had to become their country’s protectors in the most practical manner, and it’s a job that they have taken to like the proverbial ducks to water. Their regular forces have been expanded by the general populace taking up arms against the invader, and their Special Forces, amongst which are the Air Assault troops, have become masters of stealth and tactics, causing many costly set-backs to the invader that helps keep Ukraine free. The title of this new box of figures from Ukrainian company ICM isn’t an immediately clear indication of what’s in the box unless you read the smaller text below or already know a little about their organisational structure. Air Assault troops are often the first to go into an area of operation, regularly behind enemy lines, causing disruption and uncertainty in the minds of the invader, which helps their brothers and sisters to do their jobs with less impediment, the enemy more concerned about which direction the bullets will come from next. They are well-equipped and armed, and due to the nature of their insertion, must be self-sufficient for the early part of operations and possibly longer, moving quickly and travelling light, which makes the choice of equipment crucial. The four figures are all standing in action poses, two aiming their rifles with legs planted wide for stability, while another prepares to toss a grenade in the enemy’s direction, giving an indication of close combat. The final figure is similarly posed, but could be dealing with a weapons jam of his suppressed rifle, or ducking incoming rounds impacting nearby. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the single sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model, especially the tactical vests, which are covered in MOLLE loops to hang pouches and equipment. Their battle dress is thoroughly modern, with integrated knee-pads on the trousers, which alleviates soreness behind the knee that you get from external strapped pads. Camouflage is a modern pixelated scheme that extends to the FAST helmets on the accessory sprues. Of course, you could always choose another colour, or you could also pick up a set of Ukrainian camouflage decals like I did, applying them to the figures in small sections, using plenty of setting solution to avoid voids and wrinkling. They’re made by a company called Breeze Decals, who are colleagues with Dora Wings, under the code 35-001 with the name “Ukraine digital camouflage pattern”, and you can find them on eBay as well as many model shops online. The accessories are on two identical smaller sprues that contain several AK74 derivatives, with a choice of different stocks, an underslung grenade launcher, and even the locally produced AK-based bullpup the Malyuk, which means baby, but it also has a more aggressive name of Vulcan-M. If you look closely, you can just about see the AK bones beneath the rifle’s skin. A light machine gun is also included, the Ukrainian variant of the PKM, which is known as the KT-7.62 that is manufactured by Mayak. One edge of each sprue has a pair of FAST helmets that are often used by Special Forces around the world, and have side rails plus a separate night vision goggle mount on the front. The last few parts are a couple of pistols in paddle-holsters, knives in and out of scabbards, optics for the weapons, and comms headset cans (probably Peltor) that are shown on the drawings, but don’t have their part numbers mentioned, but for reference purposes are parts W12 + 13. Markings Modern Ukrainian troops frequently wear digitally camouflaged BDUs and equipment, a swatch of which is shown on the painting guide, although solid colours could be used with a little research. The instruction sheet has drawings on the back of the sprue guide, which has red letters in boxes that correspond to the table overleaf giving colour names, plus the codes from ICM’s own range of paints, most of which can be found in boxed set #3025. You can find details of that set along with many others in our mega-review here. Conclusion This set represents a squad of Ukrainian Air Assault Troops in action for your next diorama or vignette, with great poses, detail and equipment to enhance realism. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  12. ATZ-5-43203 (72710) 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The URAL-4320 series originally entered Soviet service in the late 70s, and as it is still in production, they and their derivatives are almost ubiquitous in Eastern Europe. It is in use with the Ukrainian Armed Forces today, where its off-road capabilities are essential, bouncing over rutted and turned-over terrain where tanks and munitions impacts have ruined the surface over the course of the last year. The invader has also donated some additional trucks that have been left behind, which is helpful. The vehicles are painted in a striking digital camouflage over their basic green colour to help hide them in built-up areas. Keep up the good work! The Kit This is a reboxing of a kit that has its origins in the late 1990s, although there have been numerous additional parts over the years. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with captive lid to the lower tray, and inside are three sprues, tank, cab and wheel parts in grey styrene, a larger sprue in black, a small clear sprue, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet on matt paper with colour profiles on the rear. Due to the age of the kit there are some minor issues with flash here and there, but it looks to have been greatly reduced in this latest boxing, and where it remains, a quick scrape with the edge of a blade will see it disappear in moments. The cab part is slide-moulded, and a tiny amount of flash visible around the edges where the mould sections meet, probably because of the age of the mould. A little more care will be needed here to ensure you don’t accidentally remove any of the detail that should be there. Construction begins with the chassis, which is predominantly moulded in black, as per the finished colour of the underside, which is helpful to the novice. The three axles, drive-shafts, cross-members, exhaust and a representation of the underside of the drive-train are all added to the ladder chassis, and the axles are tipped with six two-part wheels with separate hub inserts. The cab interior is relatively simple, and is made from a sled-like floor to which the twin-seat part and gear stick are fitted, while the dash is given a steering wheel on the left side, and a grab rail on the right for the co-driver to stabilise himself when traversing rough terrain. These sub-assemblies are inserted into the cab from below after the numerous windows are fitted from within, adding radiator and inner arches within the engine bay, and two crew steps that are fixed under the side doors, plus lights and door mirrors to complete the cab, which is then put to the side while the tank is made. The elliptical tanker body is built from top and bottom halves, filling the gaps in the rectangular fairings to the sides of the tank. The end caps also have the rectangular profile moulded-in, as well as strengthening ribbing, adding mudguards at the front, a couple of little fire extinguishers, a mechanism in the centre, then at the rear a number plate and more mudguards. Under the tank are two rails that keep it level, and a drainage pipe in an L-shape, finishing the tank off with the circular hatch that drops into the cylindrical fairing on the top. When it is installed on the chassis, a five-part fuel tank is inserted under the left in front of the rear wheels, completing the model by adding the substantial bumper iron to the front end of the chassis rail, and adding windscreen wipers that you’ll need to scratch build yourself. Markings There are two decal options included on the sheet, but with four number plates, that’s really four with two camouflage colour options. The base colour remains the same, adding either subdued digital camouflage decals, or the brighter yellow and brown option. It’s entirely up to you and/or your references which combination you go for. From the box you can build one of the following: Armed Forces of Ukraine Armed Forces of Ukraine, camouflage version from 2021 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s not a new kit, so a little work tidying up the parts will pay dividends, although this edition is much improved over previous boxings that share the common parts. It’s a fine example of a Ukrainian workhorse that’s carrying crucial fuel for the soldiers and civilians during this terrible war, the camouflage hopefully keeping it safe from the enemy. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  13. Bristol Beaufort Mk.IA with RAF Pilots (48313) 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Beaufort was originally designed as a torpedo bomber by Bristol, using the experience they had gained in developing the then-excellent Blenheim. They were ready in time for the outbreak of WWII, and as well as their prescribed role, they were also used as light bombers, undertaking many ‘Rhubarb’ missions over enemy territory in the so-called ‘phony war’, embarking on daylight missions that saw heavy casualties, although the accidental loss tally outstripped combat losses, surprisingly. Roughly 1,200 were built in the UK, with the total being elevated to almost 2,000 by additional Australian-built airframes that were known as DAP Beauforts. They were rapidly overhauled by the German fighters and were withdrawn from frontline service as early as 1942, by which time they had also been tasked with Aerial mine-laying. From then on, they were assigned to serve away from the front, and saw extensive use as a trainer, which might go at least some of the way to explain the high attrition rate due to accidents. The Mk.IA had an improved turret fitted at the rear of the crew compartment spine, that was notable because it was more square in profile, and torpedo bombers were fitted with early ASV radars, the antennae for which were mounted on the leading edges of the wings. A further development of the Beaufort was the Beaufighter, which used important components of the Beaufort that included the wings and engines, with a new cut-down fuselage that was comparatively low and streamlined, with a powerful cannon armament under the nose that was useful in its assigned duties as long-distance heavy fighter, and later nightfighter, where it excelled. Some obsolete Beauforts were even converted to Beaufighters to make further use of the shared parts, which gave many of the original airframes a more honourable end than they would otherwise have seen. In an attempt to improve on the original Mk.I that took up the majority of production, the designers created additional variants that used other engines, had faired over turrets when they were to be used as trainers, and even a project that saw the fitment of a pair of Merlin XX engine that didn’t achieve the desired effect, so was cancelled, in much the same manner as the Merlin powered Beaufighter that managed to be “underpowered” despite the pedigree of the engines that propelled it. The Kit A lot of modellers that build in 1:48 were waiting with baited breath for this new tooling from ICM, and now it has been with us for some time, with a few boxings already on the shelves now. This new issue includes a sprue of crew figures, torpedo and trolley to sweeten the deal, and it arrives in a reasonable-sized top-opening box with their usual captive lid on the lower tray. Inside are nine sprues in mid-grey styrene, a large clear sprue, decal sheet and glossy instruction booklet that has colour profiles on the rear pages. Opening the resealable bags reveals the detail that has been lavished on this kit that includes lots of internal ribbing, a set of ribbed flap bays and flaps, a representation of both banks of the Bristol Taurus engines, detailed gear bays and bay doors, and a torpedo to complete the package. Construction begins with a narrow torpedo bay under the fuselage that is glued to a section of the aft floor, then detailed with ribs, flipped over and joined to a bulkhead that has a doorway cut in it, then has a chute made up on one side before it is attached to the rest of the interior floor, which is initially free of detail, apart from underneath, where it has bomb shackles moulded-in, and a semi-cylindrical bay toward the front of the fuselage, which will allow the torpedo to nestle into the fuselage part way. The starboard fuselage half has an insert fitted into the wing-root depression to match the crisp moulded ribbing that is all over the interior as far back as the trailing edge of the wings, and extends into the tail-wheel bay. The side windows are inserted from inside, swapping the rear one out for an opaque cover if appropriate, then the floor is mated on several slots into the fuselage sides ready for the twin spars and a good quantity of detail. The forward spar is detailed with four parts to depict the radio gear with a plotting table below it, and on the other side a section of fairing is fixed, then the assembly is glued into its slot, joining the bottom of the spar with the fuselage blank. The cockpit is a two-tier assembly that is started by joining the two halves of the side console together, adding a raised floor panel, the instrument panel with five dial decals and rudder pedals, a short half-bulkhead and the swivelling front seat. Another simple seat is made up and glued to the rear spar along with another step-like fairing, and it too is slipped into the rear slot in the fuselage and glued in place. The pilot’s seat is made up from two parts and has a bow-tie control column placed in front of it, while to the rear, an Elsan toilet is dropped onto a raised plinth in the rear fuselage floor. The tail wheel bay is made up from ceiling with two small bulkhead ends, and it is glued into the very rear, which already has ribbing moulded into the sides. The tail-wheel and strut is a single part than inserts in the bay ceiling on a peg, so can be left off until after main painting. The port fuselage half is prepared in a similar manner to the starboard, save for the optional rear window, and a 0.9mm hole that is drilled in the ceiling. Just before closing the fuselage, another detail part is fixed to the bulkhead behind the pilot’s seat, with more glued into the nose, which might be better added before you paint the cockpit. The main canopy is glued over the cockpit aperture, and the nose is glazed by four additional clear parts, and a choice of port-side aft door with a circular porthole or gun port fitted over the hole in the fuselage, which can have a Lewis machine-gun with dinner plate magazine on a spar across the opening. If you are installing the gun, the clamshell door part should be left off. The Beaufort had mid-mounted wings, so each one is separate, and made from two halves. The port wing has a small landing light bay inserted before it is closed, and a small dome is removed from the leading edge, then the clear glazing is inserted once the glue has set up. A clear wingtip is fitted, and a one-piece aileron is added and able to be offset if you feel the urge. You also must make a choice whether to fit the wing surface over the inner flaps with a trio of strakes in a nacelle extension, or a straight section with curved root fairing. The same process is carried out minus the landing light bay on the starboard wing, then both wings are slotted over the two spars that have corresponding guides moulded into the inside of the wings to ensure good location. The elevator fins are each two parts and are mounted in the usual slot/tab method, to be joined by one-piece elevators and rudder, which the latter having a pair of horns near the hinge. Two flap sections are added to each wing’s underside, then the two nacelles are made up from halves along with a bulkhead near the front, and another that is glued into the wing before the nacelles are put in place. The roof of the bay is free of any detail, and is the location that the twin strut gear legs and their actuators are fixed once they are built up. The main wheels are each two halves, and they flex-fit into the lower section of the main leg, which has a curved tubular framework added to the top section, probably to assist with the smooth opening and closing of the door bays. The lower section of the main gear forms a twin triangular framework that is linked by several cross-members before the lower section is glued into the sockets in the upper section, and has another pair of actuators added at the rear to brace the top section. Both assemblies are inserted into the bays on each level of the ceiling, then the twin bay doors with their ribbed inners are added to the sides of the bays on hinge tabs. At the same time, the bomb bay has a small insert attached to the front bulkhead to add detail to the area. Each Taurus radial engine is formed from two well-detailed banks of cylinders with a circular collector ring attached to the centre by three stators, plus a complex system of tubes installed around the circumference in between the cylinders, and another at the rear of the engine that has a square peg at the back for fixing them to the wing through the cooling flaps at the rear of the cowlings. Two holes on the top of the nacelle receive a different two-part intake, then the cowling is wrapped around the engine, comprising two halves and a pair of curved exhausts for each engine. She’s looking very much like a Beaufort now, but needs some defensive armament in addition to the optional Lewis gun in the side. The new mid-upper turret is mounted in the back of the cockpit “hump”, and is built upon a separate section of the fuselage with a circular base that receives the guns’ mount and gunner’s bicycle-style seat below the lip, gluing most of the turret into position along with a fairing lip around the end, then deciding whether to mount the clear glazing in the top of the nose, or the alternative that mounts another two Lewis guns in the nose. The bomb/torpedo bay forms a cruciform shape when viewed from below, as it was lengthened to accept the torpedo, and has the mount fitted into the wider centre section, and if not carrying a torpedo, two inserts close off the bomb bay from its two narrower sections. The bay doors are in three sections, the narrower front and rear sections having one door per side, while the wider bomb bay section has two doors each side that fold together, minimising the aerodynamic drag, as well as fitting in the space below the aircraft when on the ground. If you plan on posing all the bay doors closed, there are three additional conjoined parts to ease your path, which is always nice to see. The torpedo has been seen in a separate box before, and its build is covered on the last page of instruction steps, making it up from two halves, adding a three-part H-tail with twin spinners, and another spinner-plus-spacer at the business end. There are also five steps to create a trolley for moving your Torp about and loading it onto the Beaufort on rising scissor-links if you want to add a bit of diorama appeal to your model. The torpedo is mounted with all bay doors open, and glues onto a long curved rectangular frame in the centre of the bomb bay. While the model is inverted, the underslung nose turret can be built from three parts for the gun and two-part dome, or a blanking plate is fitted over the aperture. A pitot is also mounted under the nose, a towel-rail antenna under the fuselage, and three small outlets are mounted on the wings and just behind the bomb bay. Back on its wheels, the cockpit hump is detailed with two more antennae, and another either flush with the roof in a typical D/F loop fairing. The radar antennae are reminiscent of TV aerials, formed from a main antenna with several dipoles perpendicular, one under each wing, mounted on two brackets that fit into holes drilled in the wings earlier, and another offset under the nose on a single post. These are most definitely best left of until the very end so that they survive without damage. Figures This set has been sculpted to coincide with the recent launch of ICM’s own Beaufort, and arrives in a medium-sized, top-opening box with ICM’s trademark captive flap on the lower tray. There is a single sprue in grey styrene and an instruction sheet within, containing parts for five figures, consisting of three aircrew and two mechanics. As usual with ICM figures, the sculpting is first-rate, and parts breakdown as well as seamlines are sensibly placed to ease clean-up and construction. The aircrew are all wearing WWII period RAF blue uniforms with leather flying jackets and two are wearing Mae West life jackets over the top. The captain is wearing a flat-topped cap and carrying what looks like a log-book in his right hand, while his left hand rests in his jacket pocket. The other two crew are walking with their hands to their sides, carrying a parachute pack or leather flight helmet in one hand, and the parachute carrier is also still wearing his harness. The ’erks are wearing dark blue overalls, one in long boots is standing with his hands about to rest on what is shown to be a torpedo on the box art, while the other gentleman in short boots is kneeling, ministering to a trolley wheel on the art. Both their overalls have the word “TORP” written on the panel on their blacks, with a white square below left, denoting their specialisation, presumably so they can be tasked with jobs appropriate to their skillsets from a distance. As usual with ICM figure sets, the instructions include drawings in full colour that have the part numbers and colour codes called out in black text and red boxed text respectively, the latter cross-referring to the paint table on the opposite side of the sheet, which gives colour codes for ICM’s paint system as well as colour names in Ukrainian and English printed over a swatch of the colour itself. There is also an ICM paint set for RAF Pilots numbered #3033 that is available from Hannants if you’re in the market. It’s on our mega-review of the ICM Acrylic Paint Sets here, but you’ll need to do a little scrolling, where you’ll also pass #3018, which is another set to help you paint the Beaufort itself. Markings ICM have begun to include templates for masking material with each of their new kits, which can be found just in front of the colour profiles for you to place tape over, cut around and apply to your model, thanks to drawings above that indicate what goes where. There are four decal options included on the sheet in a variety of schemes. From the box you can build one of the following: DD959 Q, No.217 Sqn., Malta, 1942 L9965 T, Mediterranean Sea region, 1942 DX157, presumably Indian Ocean region, Spring 1944 EK979, RAF Training Unit, Bilbais, Egypt, 1944 The decals are printed by ICM’s usual partners, and include dials for the instrument panels, with good register, sharpness, and solid colours. As is common now with ICM kits, there is a page of the instruction booklet devoted to the masking of the canopy, using the printed shapes on the bottom of the page and the diagrams above to allow you to create your own masks if you wish. It goes up to 64 thanks to the copious glazing of the Beaufort. We already mentioned the ICM acrylic paint set intended to assist with painting the exterior of your Beaufort, which is set #3018, the details of which you can find in our Mega-Review here. Conclusion I was looking forward to the initial release, and this rebox with new parts and figures is great news, adding extra value to the kit, including a torpedo and trolley into the bargain. It’s another Beaufort in my preferred scale, there’s plenty of detail, and a good choice of decal options. Very highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  14. Typ 320 (W142) Soft Top (35542) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd In the 30s, Mercedes replaced their 290 chassis with the longer 320 in 1937, offering a standard or longer chassis variant, the latter being the basis for the top-of-the-range Cabriolet body format. The extra length gave the vehicle a sleeker, more sporty appearance, which coupled with a raked radiator grille, lack of light bar, and the canvas roof made it all the more streamlined in appearance. Under the bonnet was a 3.2 litre straight-six side-valved petrol engine that produced 78hp and a top speed over 120km/h or 75mph. Power was delivered via a four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on all forward gears, which was a luxury at the time. In military service as a staff car, the 320 was fitted with a shrouded convoy light on the left wing, and could also have a short mast on the same wing to display the occupant’s allegiances, battalion etc., with a spare tyre on both sides, which was a common fitment even in civilian service. In 1938 an updated model was introduced, with displacement bored out to 3.4 litres and adding overdrive to shorten the journey to top speed, although the documented HP wasn’t increased, possibly due to de-tuning of the engine to accommodate inferior fuel quality that was beginning to become a necessity as Germany geared up for war. The Kit This is a reboxing of a partial retool that was based upon the hard-top version released by ICM in 2016, depicted with a retractable hood that keeps the passengers safe from precipitation or cold. It arrives in a top-opening box with the usual captive lid on the lower tray, and inside are two large sprues and a smaller one in grey styrene, three pairs of black flexible tyres on small sprues, a clear sprue, decal sheet, and instruction booklet, where you’ll find the decals tucked away. The instructions are printed on glossy paper in colour, with profiles on the rear pages to help with painting and decaling. Detail is excellent, and extends to a full engine and transmission, plus a very crisp interior, as well as a very natural depiction of the stowed roof. Construction begins with the engine, the block and transmission being made from two halves with the sump and cylinder head added from above and below. The air box and exhaust manifold along with the down pipe are made and attached to the right side of the motor, adding the dynamo and other ancillaries to the left side, the serpentine belts and pulleys to the front with the fan, and more hoses and the distributor pot on the top. The chassis rails are each made from two parts to achieve the correct length, adding short outriggers to the outsides, and a large cross-member at the rear of the chassis that holds the rails in the correct tapering attitude, as well as having moulded-in details of the rear differential on the lower side. Two more cross-members support the frame, adding the differential, axle and drive-shaft down the centreline, and the front suspension arms with their leaf-spring and coils, plus twin coils and other parts installed over the top of the rear axle. The rear wheels are created by inserting the two sides of the hubs into the holes in the tyres so they can be slipped onto the ends of the axles, adding a two-part fuel tank in the rear at the same time. The motor and bumper are fixed in the front, and joined by a pair of wing supports and the radiator, which plugs into the pipes leading to and from the engine, then the floor pan can be lowered onto the chassis, including the rear panel below the boot in-between the moulded-in rear wings. Before turning the vehicle right-side-up, the single part exhaust and two mufflers are inserted, attaching to the end of the down pipe and a tab just in front of the rear axle. Inside the cab, the pedals, gear lever and hand brake are all installed in the left footwell and transmission tunnel, followed by the firewall that has the windscreen frame moulded-in, fitting the two-pane glazing and the dashboard before it is inserted into the space between the cab and engine bay, adding a few knobs and decals before you do. A dash pot is popped into the engine side of the firewall, and the long steering column is threaded through into the cab with the lower end buried deep in the engine bay. Both front and rear seats are bench-type, and their bottom cushions are each made from a main part with a rear edge that has a recess to accommodate the transmission tunnel moulded-in, fitting into the cab on paired pegs, and are joined by the rear cushions that have their backs glued into place before fitting. The body sides are next, inserting door cards before they are latched on pegs to the floor pan, fitting the boot panel and a two-part steering wheel, then the radiator grille that is stabilised by an X- brace that fits into holes in the firewall. The side windows front and rear attach to the sides via pegs, and the bonnet covers the engine, but with a bit of surgery it could be posed open. The two spare tyres are made in a similar three-part arrangement as the others, and are locked in place in recesses in the front wings by brackets running between the tyres and body. The windscreen has a rear-view mirror and two sun visors fitted to the top interior, and two wiper arms are added to holes in the outside near the centre of each pane at the bottom, dotting lights, handles, indicators and the convoy light around the front of the vehicle as appropriate, including a three-pointed star motif on the top of the radiator. At the rear are tiny light clusters and twin handles for the boot, fixing the rear bumper to the rear panel. The canvas hood is made from a single part, and the metal outer framework installed after it is glued to the top of the vehicle. The shape and stretching of the hood is very natural-looking, and should give a realistic impression once it has been painted. Markings There are four decal options that are the same as the previous boxing, and you’d be forgiven for thinking any colour as long as it’s black, but you’d be wrong, because there are grey and blue options for a Luftwaffe car too. From the box you can build one of the following: France, 1940 Unknown Luftwaffe Unit, 1940 Eastern Front, 1943 Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, probably 1943 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A sleek Merc for the transport of the upper echelons around the countryside, with plenty of detail that should allow a realistic replica of the type to be made. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  15. In the Skies of China (DS7204) Ki-21-1a & 2 x Ki-27a 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Here in the West we generally consider the start of WWII to be in 1939 with the invasion of Poland by the Nazis that forced Britain and France to declare war on Germany, and the rest is history. The Japanese Empire was already committed to expansion from the mid-30s onwards, and by 1937 it has set its heart on China, launching a brutal attack on their lands and people, giving no quarter to military or civilian personnel, with around 20 million casualties and many atrocities carried out by Japanese forces that get very little coverage in the West, even today. In some ways it was a dress-rehearsal for Japan’s war with the West, fine-tuning their weapons and tactics before they awoke the sleeping giant that was the United States by their attack on Pearl Harbour on the 7th December 1941. The Ki-21 and Ki-27 were in-service during the early part of the conflict, and were used extensively in bombardment of the Chinese. Mitsubishi Ki-21-1a The Sally, as she was known by the Allies during WWII was a heavy bomber designed by Mitsubishi as a replacement for the Ki-20, in competition with Nakajima, who although they lost out on the design of the aircraft, were given the contract for the power plants, as their HA-5 engines were found to be superior to Mitsubishi’s offering originally installed. A small number of airframes were also built by Nakajima, with a total of just over 2,000 built between them. It first flew in 1936 and was intended for long-range bombing missions against Soviet and Chinese opponents, first entering service in 1938 in operations against China. Initial experience showed that the design was lacking in some respects, extending to the crucial oxygen system that was found to be unreliable. The Ib was intended to address most of the issues, including the lack of armament and changes to the flying surfaces. It also had a remote tail gun installation, and could mount an additional fuel tank for extreme range missions. The type was pretty much obsolete by 1940, and mounting losses prompted the type’s withdrawal from front line service, and sale of some of the airframes to friendly nations. Uses were still found for the type with the Japanese forces however, and the remaining aircraft were used until the end of the war as cargo transports, trainers, troop transports and communications hacks. The later variants had improved engine performance with Mitsubishi units, some with alterations to the greenhouse behind the cockpit, which was changed to a turret on some, and removed entirely on transport variants. The Set This boxed set includes three kits in a standard sized ICM box, which is a top-opener with an additional captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are three kits, which are separately bagged. They are all re-issues, the Ki-21 a recent kit while the two fighter escorts are of an earlier vintage. The Ki-21 has its own instruction booklet printed on glossy paper in colour, while the Ki-27a instructions are in black and white, while both instruction sets have decals hidden inside, the Ki-27 having two sheets for both the fighter kits. The Kit This is a reboxing with an additional sprue of a recent tool from ICM, who continue to produce new kits despite the difficult circumstances in their home country. Inside the bag are six sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate bag, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour with colour profiles on the back pages. Detail is well up to modern standards, and extends to ribbing on the interior of the fuselage, full representation of the engines and a nice cockpit, plus a set of crystal-clear glazing parts. Construction begins with the fuselage halves, which have the tail added to the rear, a lozenge-shaped detail insert to make the wing root recess flush, and the side windows, plus an equipment insert in the cockpit area, and a line of trunking that extends from the trailing edge of the wing to the tail. The cockpit floor is a long part, with a recessed front end for the flight crew, detailed by adding the rudder pedals for the pilot, and the two seats, which both have separate seat cushions. The twin ‘bow tie’ control columns are inserted into the floor in front of the seats, and near the rear of the floor are two large tanks that attach on pins. The assembly is inserted into the starboard side of the fuselage, and has a bulkhead fixed just in front of the crew steps under the mid-fuselage greenhouse. The front bulkhead has a small circular seat glued to the side of the fuselage and additional details with instrument decals, a choice of two clear chin inserts with an instrument panel, gun mount and a rack of bottles added to it during installation, with a choice of two types of machine gun for the belly window that has two spare mags nearby. The port fuselage is prepared with new (older) tail fin, wing insert and windows, plus ammo cans and forward fuselage details, more racks of oxygen bottles and a side-mounted machine gun. The fuselage can be closed around the cockpit after adding the main instrument panel, which has a centre throttle quadrant and dial decals added beforehand. The mid-upper gunner’s suspended seat is also inserted into holes, but can probably be inserted after gluing the fuselage halves together by flexing the support struts. His twin machine guns are added to a mount on a bracket, with a pair of magazines on top, after which it is fitted into the insert that is then glued into the opening in the fuselage behind the main canopy. The main canopy and greenhouse gunner’s canopy are fixed on top of the fuselage along with the nose glazing, which has a choice of two types of machine gun inserted from the inside. Completion of the earlier tail begins by adding the elevator fins from the new sprue, which have separate flying surfaces and rudder panel, then the wings are prepared by inserting a two-part bay in each one before joining the upper and lower halves together, adding the ailerons and landing lights in the leading edges. They are then glued onto the wing root fairings on the fuselage, which have a lip to improve fit and joint strength. The wheels are installed under the wings before the engines and lower cowling are made up, starting with the tail-wheel in its yoke, and then adding the two-part wheels to the H-frame main gear, which has a support frame fitted to the front, and a long yoke with mudguard that links the strut lower to the back of the bay. Four small parts are fixed to the wing inside the bays, and the lower cowlings are made up out of two halves plus a round bulkhead, and a pair of intakes top and bottom, then sliding the lower nacelle over the completed wheels and mating the edges with the recessed lip of the lower wing. The engines are built-up on bulkheads with the cooling flaps moulded-in, a separate exhaust stack underneath, and a depiction of both cylinder banks, plus the front bell-housing with push-rods, hiding the prop axle inside without glue so that the props can spin later. The finished engines are covered by two cowling halves and a separate lip, gluing them to the front of the nacelles and finishing them off by adding the three-bladed prop and separate spinner. The model is completed by installing an antenna post and D/F loop over the canopy, and a curious-looking cranked pitot probe in the leading edge of the port wing. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, three in light green-grey, differentiated by their unit markings, one with camo oversprayed, and the other in darker overall camouflage. From the box you can build one of the following: Ki-21-Ia Sally, 60th Sentai, China, Early 1939 Ki-21-Ia Sally, 58th Sentai, China, probably 1940 Ki-21-Ia Sally, 14th Sentai, China, late 1941 Ki-21-Ia Sally, 105 Hyoiku Hiko Sentai, China, presumably 1942 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Ki-27a Japanese Army Fighter x 2 Designed as a replacement for the biplane Ki-10, it was the first monoplane fighter in service with the Japanese Army after winning the competition between Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Nakajima. It was a light agile fighter that the Allies called the type the Nate, first taking to the skies in 1936, entering service over China in 1938, and although it was slower than some of its competitors, its low wing loading gave it enviable agility and turning speed that gave it the edge over the Russian-built aircraft being flown by the Chinese. Like the Zero that followed it, the pilot and internal structure of the aircraft were unprotected by armour or self-sealing fuel tanks, so when the Chinese began flying upgraded types that carried 20mm cannons, the Nate found any advantage it had previously enjoyed was obliterated, despite the superior training of its pilots and twin 7.7mm machine guns. A further disadvantage was the apparent fixation of the Japanese pilots and tacticians with flying a turning battle, whereas their opponents, which latterly included the AVG, had changed their tactics to swoop down on their opponents from altitude where manoeuvrability would do the Japanese pilots no good. Losses began to accumulate after these changes. The Nate was used extensively over China, where it was used as bomber escort, serving widely in the Pacific area, but when it encountered allied aircraft in the Philippines, it fared badly against the Brewster Buffalo, which was a second-rate Allied aircraft that was itself quickly outclassed by newer designs from American and British manufacturers. The Nate was clearly outclassed, and was withdrawn from front-line service by 1940 to be replaced by the Ki42 Hayabusa, but it continued in service as a trainer to the end of the war, at which point the remaining aircraft were loaded with explosives and converted for use in Kamikaze attacks, despite being outpaced by every Allied aircraft then in service. The Kit This kit was first released in 2006 and re-released a few times over the years, and although the detail is good with lapped panels on the surface, there is a little flash here and there, and what appears to be some mould-damage on the wings, which has introduced a few very fine raised lines that give the impression of hairs lying on the surface on first inspection. The starboard upper wing tip also has a fine crack in the outer surface that might need a little filler, though the edges appear to be raised, which should make it easier. Construction begins with the pilot’s seat base, which is a simple bucket with lightening holes to the rear, mounted on the seat back that has moulded-in rear legs. The engine is then built from the cylinder bank, adding the intake spider, moulded-in ancillary package, and a two-part exhaust ring to the rear, trapping the prop shaft inside the assembly by fitting the bell-housing to the front. The engine mount is made from a circular frame with four supports moulded-in, adding a V-shaped frame underneath, and two diagonal tubular cross-members to the sides, then setting it aside while the cockpit and wings are built. The fuselage is joined around the instrument panel, bringing both halves together and gluing them and a cooling gill to the underside of the nose, remembering to paint the cockpit side walls, which have a few ribs moulded-into the interior of the fuselage halves. The lower wings are full-span, and have the cockpit floor fitted into position in the centre, onto which the pilot’s seat, control column, rudder pedals and twin 7.7mm machine guns are fitted, painting everything before mating the fuselage over the cockpit and lower wing, then adding the upper wing halves. At the rear the full-span elevators are slotted into the back of the tail, adding the rudder and tail fairing behind it. The engine mount is inserted into the front of the fuselage, locking it in place with the upper nose panel that is inserted into the T-shaped opening along with lengths of cooling gills around the sides. The engine has a pair of trumpet-style intakes fixed to the top at the rear, adding a ring to the front, and another ring with stators that slip over the bell-housing, finishing off the engine by sliding the cowling lip over the front of the engine. The long ailerons are inserted into their cut-outs on the trailing edges of the wings plus twin actuators, fitting an optional fairing to the port wing, and the two bladed prop to the axle. The canopy is in three parts, gluing the windscreen in position and sliding the tubular sight through a small hole moulded into the front pane, then fixing the opener and sloped rear over the rest of the opening. The landing gear is fixed, and each leg is built from a strut that plugs into two choices of fairings, or ‘spats’ as they’re sometimes called. The shorter spats have a yoke with hub fitted underneath, which fits onto a circular part that in turn locates on the back of the wheel, while the longer spats cover the yoke and most of the hub, so have the wheel trapped between the two halves. The struts slip into the fairings moulded into the underside of the wings, taking care to align them with the direction of travel and each other. Markings There are four decal choices printed on a separate sheet in black and white, all wearing the same light grey/green shade that was common used in early war years, differentiated by their unit and theatre markings. From the box you can build two of the following from the box: 1. Sentai Commander Toshio Kato, Nomonhan, June 1939 84 Dokuritsu, China, 1939 10. Tutai, China, April 1940 59. Sentai, 2. Tutai, Nomonham, June 1939 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Three kits in a box the size of one is great for the size of the stash, and the Sally is an excellent new tool, while the two Ki-27as aren’t the newest kits on the block, but still have good detail, although a wee bit of work will be needed to fix the cracks on the upper surface of the wings. Don’t let it put you off even slightly. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  16. ICM Acrylic Paint Sets ICM via H G Hannants Ltd In 2021 ICM released their own Acrylic Paint range, and soon after began offering boxed sets that matched with their recent kit releases, which is good marketing, and helpful to the modellers building these kits. The sets arrive in a cardboard box with six screw-capped bottles inside, each containing 12ml of paint. The bottles are clear Polypropylene, and are capped with cylindrical tops that have knurled sides, and a one-time security seal that you break on first opening. A label on the side gives you basic information about the colour and code, a little information regarding application in English and Ukrainian, plus a bar-code. As is sensible with a new range of paints, we undertook some testing of the first issues to establish whether the paint was good for brushing and airbrushing, and what sort of finish you can achieve with their products. They have released many sets since then, and so far we’ve been reviewing them separately, which is not only time intensive for us, but also means that they’ll be scattered throughout the Tools & Paint Review area, due to the time between releases and the volume of reviews that we post. To counter this, we’ll be putting all the sets in this thread going forward, so that anyone with an ICM kit can check the availability of a suitable set, and only have to read that they have a polypropylene bottle holding 12ml of paint the once. It should cut down on the instances of déjà vu too, which is always nice. Below you can see the results of our initial testing, complete with painted spoons that help to show off the smoothness and effect that light and shade has on the colours. The individual sets will be listed below these, with photos and a note of the colours included for your reference. Testing with Airbrush I used Ultimate Acrylic Thinners to dilute the paint to spray through my Gunze PS770 airbrush, which has a 0.18 needle chucked in. The paint dilutes well once it has been mixed thoroughly, and sprays well through my airbrush, which has a smaller than usual needle that is a good test of the finesse of the pigment grind of any brand, some of which don’t spray very well though anything less than a 0.3mm needle. There were no problems with blockages at all, and the coverage was excellent after my usual ad hoc dilution method, which was probably nowhere near the 40-60% thinners or water that’s suggested on the pack. The photo below shows the five actual colours sprayed out onto plastic spoons that have been prepared by buffing with a fine grade flexible sanding stick of the kind you use in the penultimate step before buffing to a shine. As the paint dried it obtained a highly matt finish with the exception of the Oily Steel paint, which is clearly semi-gloss. The Satin Varnish also worked very well diluted with water, sprayed over the spoons that were also partially taped up to perform two functions at once. The satin patina that resulted is exactly what was expected, and the tape lifted no paint at all, despite my best efforts to do so. Bear in mind that the spoons were prepped by a buff with a very fine sanding sponge to give them a chance of adhesion. There was very little damage to the cured paint from scraping my fingernails across the surface too. There were track-marks of course, but no lifting of paint at all. Testing with Paint Brush As usual I used a #6 synthetic filbert brush from AMMO, which has slightly curved edges to keep tramlines in the paint to a minimum. The colours brushed extremely well with one exception, which was the Oily Steel. It appeared to pull up when over-brushed during application, despite the surface remaining wet, which resulted in the appearance of tiny fibre-like structures in the paint that led to a gritty finish that was also translucent even after two coats, obtaining a rather lumpy opaqueness after three coats. The rest of the colours covered perfectly after two coats with minimal brush marks visible, which was thoroughly impressive to this long-lapsed brush painter, and some were almost completely opaque after one coat, save for the fact that they were laid down over a white surface. The undiluted Satin Varnish brushed out well over the matt surface of the brush painted spoon undersides, and I had to leave it until the next day to have my evening meal. The satin effect was excellent again, and the paint was tough enough to stand up to my fingernail test without lifting, although you can’t avoid leaving tracks across the surface due to the deposition of tiny particles from your fingernail on the surface. The Sets We’ve updated this review with all the sets that we’ve reviewed over the last couple of years (how time flies!), and will keep adding the new ones so that it becomes a comprehensive reference. WWII Marder I (3003) This set contains the following colours: 1060 Middle Stone, 1071 Camouflage Green, 1050 Saddle Brown, 1038 German Grey, 1027 Gun Metal, 1002 Matt Varnish B-26K Invader (3007) This set contains the following colours: 1072 US Dark Green, 1058 Tan Earth, 1069 Extra Dark Green, 1002 Black, 1024 Silver, 2002 Satin Varnish OV-10A Bronco (3008) This set contains the following colours: 1071 Camouflage Green, 1031 Warm Grey, 1032 Blue Grey, 1026 Oily Steel, 1002 Black, 2002 Satin Varnish Laffly (3009) This set contains the following colours: 1072 US Dark Green, 1042 Pale Sand, 1052 Hull Red, 1039 Rubber Black, 1027 Gun Metal, 2001 Matt Varnish Basic Colours (3010) This set contains the following colours: 1001 White, 1002 Black, 1003 Deep Yellow, 1004 Deep Red, 1005 Dark Blue, 1006 Deep Green The rear of the box shows the following: USAAF Pilots 1944-45 (1012) This set contains the following colours: 1002 Black, 1008 Deep Brown, 1052 Hull Red, 1068 Olive Green, 1044 Basic Skin Tone, 1059 Green Ochre American Civil War Union Infantry (3013) This set contains the following colours: 1037 Dark Grey, 1026 Oily Steel, 1075 Grey-Blue, 1050 Saddle Brown, 1017 Gold, 1043 Light Flesh German WWII Aviation (3014) This set contains the following colours: 1074 Pale Blue, 1034 Dark Sea Grey, 1003 Deep Yellow, 1070 German Field Grey, 1035 Grey-Green, 2002 Satin Varnish WWII Soviet Aviation (3016) This set contains the following colours: 1032 Blue Grey, 1033 Sky Grey, 1036 neutral Grey, 1069 Extra Dark Green, 1071 Camouflage Green, 2003 Gloss varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Bundeswehr Vehicles & AFVs (3017) This set contains the following colours: 1026 Oily Steel, 1060 Middle Stone, 1072 US Dark Green, 1039 Rubber Black, 1052 Hull Red, 1073 4BO The rear of the box shows the following: WWII Royal Air Force (3018) This set contains the following colours: 1054 Chocolate, 1069 Extra Dark Green, 1037 Dark Grey, 1032 Blue Grey, 1027 Gun Metal, 2002 Satin Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: US Cargo Trucks (3019) This set contains the following colours: 1046 Blood Red, 1003 Deep Yellow, 1066 grass Green, 1068 Olive Green, 1001 White, 2003 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Try Me (3020) This set contains the following colours: 1001 White, 1002 Black, 1027 Gun Metal, 1073 4BO Green, 1011 Clear Red, 2004 Grey Primer The rear of the box shows the following: WWII Japanese Aviation (3021) This set contains the following colours: 1063 Green-Grey, 1023 Aluminium, 1025 Natural Steel, 1062 British Khaki, 1073 4BO Green, 2002 Satin Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: US Helicopter Pilots – Vietnam War (3023) This set contains the following colours: 1060 Middle Stone, 1062 British Khaki, 1002 Black, 1072 US Dark Green, 1073 4BO Green, 2001 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: WWI US Infantry (3024) This set contains the following colours: 1059 Green Ochre, 1055 Deck Tan, 1061 Green Brown, 1050 Saddle Brown, 1008 Deep Brown, 2002 Satin Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Armed Forces of Ukraine (3025) This set contains the following colours: 1072 US Dark Green, 1035 Grey Green, 1041 Buff, 1069 Extra Dark Green, 1054 Chocolate, 2001 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: US Helicopters (3026) This set contains the following colours: 1071 Camouflage Green, 1072 US Dark Green, 1001 White, 1007 Deep Red, 1027 Gun Metal, 1011 Clear Red The rear of the box shows the following: Ghost of Kyiv (3027) This set contains the following colours: 1028 Offwhite, 1033 Sky Grey, 1034 Dark Sea Grey, 1037 Dark Grey, 1038 German Grey, 2002 Satin Varnish US Aviation 1980-90 (3028) This set contains the following colours: 1055 Deck Tan, 1056 Light Earth, 1039 Rubber Black, 1072 US Dark Green, 1032 Blue Grey, 1011 Clear Red The rear of the box shows the following: Ships of the Kriegsmarine (3029) This set contains the following colours: 1007 Deep Red, 1018 Brass, 1037 Dark Grey, 1056 Light Earth, 1027 Gun Metal, 1011 Clear Red The rear of the box shows the following: Civilians (3030) This set contains the following colours: 1005 Deep Purple, 1008 Deep Brown, 1009 Deep Green, 1030 Ivory, 1047 Matt Red, 1077 Dark Blue The rear of the box shows the following: Fire Trucks (3031) This set contains the following colours: 1001 White, 1007 Deep Red, 1039 Rubber Black, 1023 Aluminium, 1060 Middle Stone, 1012 Clear Blue The rear of the box shows the following: WWII German Tank Crew (3032) This set contains the following colours: 1024 Silver, 1004 intense Pink, 1002 Black, 1036 Neutral Grey, 1070 German Field Grey, 2001 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: WWII RAF Pilots (3033) This set contains the following colours: 1077 Dark Blue, 1075 Grey Blue, 1003 Deep Yellow, 1054 Chocolate, 1060 Middle Stone, 2001 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: American Civil War Confederate Infantry (3034) This set contains the following colours: 1075 Grey Blue, 1076 Deep Sky Blue, 1036 Neutral Grey, 1055 Deck Tan, 1020 Bronze, 2002 Satin varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Personal Protective Equipment (3035) This set contains the following colours: 1045 Medium, Orange, 1035 Grey Green, 1011 Clear Red, 1039 Rubber Black, 1015 Clear Yellow, 1024 Silver The rear of the box shows the following: WWII Aircraft Armament (3036) This set contains the following colours: 1071 Camouflage Green, 1057 Ochre, 1037 Dark Grey, 1002 Black, 1072 US Dark Green, 1026 Oily Steel The rear of the box shows the following: WWII US Infantry (3037) This set contains the following colours: 1041 Buff, 1058 Tan Earth, 1031 Warm Grey, 1072 US Dark Green, 1008 Deep Brown, 2001 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Wehrmacht Trucks (3038) This set contains the following colours: 1038 German Grey, 1040 Beige, 1029 White Grey, 1052 Hull Red, 1072 US Dark green, 2003 Gloss varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Combat Vehicles Armed Forces of Ukraine (3040) This set contains the following colours: 1001 White, 1011 Clear Red, 1027 Gun Metal, 1072 US Dark Green, 1039 Rubber Black, 1073 4BO Green The rear of the box shows the following: WWI British Infantry (3042) This set contains the following colours: 1018 Brass, 1059 Green Ochre, 1071 Camouflage Green, 1062 British Khaki, 1052 Hull Red, 2001 Matt Varnish The rear of the box shows the following: Military Equipment Armed Forces of Ukraine (3039) This set contains the following colours: 1027 Gun Metal 1008 Deep Brown 1072 US Dark Green 1041 Buff 1002 Black 1073 4BO Green The rear of the box shows the following: Armed Forces of Ukraine (3041) This set contains the following colours: 1028 Off White 1072 US Dark Green 1058 Tan Earth 1062 British Khaki 1054 Chocolate 1031 Warm Grey The rear of the box shows the following: WWI & WWII Weapon & Equipment (3043) This set contains the following colours: 1025 Natural Steel 1027 Gun Metal 1035 Grey Green 1031 Warm Grey 1053 Leather Brown 1002 Black The rear of the box shows the following: WWI German Infantry (3044) This set contains the following colours: 1008 Deep Brown 1037 Dark Grey 1070 German Field Grey 1034 Dark Sea Grey 1038 German Grey 1072 US Dark Green The rear of the box shows the following: WWI French Infantry (3045) This set contains the following colours: 1075 Grey Blue 1076 Deep Sky Blue 1046 Blood Red 1055 Deck Tan 1008 Deep Brown 1002 Black The rear of the box shows the following: Luftwaffe Pilots (3046) This set contains the following colours: 1077 Dark Blue 1002 Black 1003 Deep Yellow 1054 Chocolate 1028 Off White 1024 Silver The rear of the box shows the following: Conclusion The paints were excellent through the airbrush with nothing in the way of drama during the testing process, including the metallics and varnish. The solid colours also brushed out very well, as did the varnishes. There is a little less paint in the bottles than some brands, but a shade more than others, so it’s about average. That is more than offset by the very reasonable price they’re asking for the set, even at RRP. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  17. U-Boat Type ‘Molch’ (S.019) 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Nazi Germany developed a series of mini-submarines during WWII, probably wanting to mimic the success of Italian mini-subs, but some, such as the Molch (Newt) were less-than-successful. The design of the sub had limited usefulness, as it was only able to operate in coastal regions, because it had limited range, depth and was very slow in the water. It was a one-man design that carried a pair of G7e electric torpedoes slung on each side of the lower hull, which were intended to be launched from close-range to destroy Allied shipping, preferably during darkness or in dock where they could quickly escape in the confusion. Once the type entered service late in the war, having entered production in mid-1944, it was found to be wanting, losing ten out of twelve vessels on its first mission in the Mediterranean, the remaining two of which were later destroyed by British gunfire. The next mission proved similarly costly, operating from the Netherlands, and subsequent missions, sometimes a mixed force that included the similar-looking and equally poorly designed Biber (Beaver) fared no better, losing over 70 of the 390+ Molch subs that were built by manufacturers A G Weser in Bremen. They were quickly withdrawn from active service, and the remainder were used as training vessels for other newer designs that operated until the end of the war. The Kit This is a new tooling in this scale by ICM, part of their small but expanding maritime line of kits. According to Scalemates, it’s also the first injection-moulded kit in this scale, the others having been resin, a medium that doesn’t appeal to everyone for various reasons. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with the usual captive flap on the lower tray, and inside is one sprue of grey styrene, a clear sprue, a small decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour with the painting profiles on the rear pages. Detail is good as far as any submarine model has detail, with raised weld-lines, rivets and inspection hatches where appropriate, and the model should build up quickly and easily, including a ‘cockpit’ for the solitary crew member. Construction begins with building up the main hull, starting by installing the windows in the starboard conning tower, with more in the port side. The crew compartment is built between two circular bulkheads, and has a narrow floor and curved sides, squeezed into what space remains between the mechanisms that run the sub. There is a simple two-part seat affixed to the rear bulkhead, a small console on the port side, and a steering wheel on a stalk in the centre. The completed compartment is inserted into the starboard side, and is joined by the periscope, which has a hydrodynamic teardrop profile. The port side has a solitary dial fitted on a peg in between the windows, then the hull is closed, adding a two-part fairing to the rear of the conning tower to help the water flow smoothly around it. The torpedo-like rear of the sub is made from two halves and has a screw added, with a large rudder moulded into the port half. It inserts into a socket in the rear of the hull, and there are two two-part rails fitted into recesses that run down the underside of the boat, along with a large whale-tail with dive plane at the rear. Larger rails are fixed on lugs further up the sides, with a choice of two styles of clear hatches at the top of the conning tower, through which the pilot would have a limited view of his surroundings when surfaced without needing to open the hatch. The two offensive torpedoes that it carries are each made from two halves and have their screws moulded into the rear along with the steering vanes, and once completed, they attach to the rails under the main hull on a pair of pegs, one torpedo per side. ICM have helpfully included a one-part plastic stand in the kit, which is heavily contoured and attaches to the sub by pins that locate in holes under the centre of the main hull. If you don’t intend using the stand, you may want to fill the holes, unless you can reuse them for your alternative. Markings There are four decal options on the small sheet, but subs don’t have many markings, and from the box you can build one of the following: Training sub-unit of Formation K (K-Verbände), 1944 Formation K (K-Verbände), North Sea, 1945 Formation K (K-Verbände), North Sea, 1945 South African Museum of Military History, Johannesburg, 2000s Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Although the Swastikas that option D was painted wearing are blacked out on the profiles, they are supplied in two parts for those that want to depict them as they appeared at the time for historical accuracy's sake, and their local laws don't restrict their use. Conclusion Mini-subs or midget subs as they are sometimes known are an interesting dead-end development of the underwater war during WWII. At this scale they are small, easy to build, and take up little room on the shelves, whilst offering good detail. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  18. AH-1G Cobra - Early Production (53030) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated production Gunship or Attack Helicopter to see US service as a new type of weapons platform. During the Vietnam war the US Army began to see the need for armed helicopter to escort its (mostly) unarmed UH-1 Hueys into combat. Fortunately, Bell Helicopters had been independently investigating helicopter gunships as early as the late 1950s, so in 1962 Bell was able to display a mock up concept to the US Army, featuring a 20mm gun pod, and a ball turret mounted grenade launcher. It was felt by the Army to be lightweight, under-powered and unsuitable. Following this the US Army launched and Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition, which gave rise to the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne heavy attack helicopter that proved to be too technologically advanced and therefore risky for its time, eventually being cancelled in 1972 after 10 years of development (some things never change). Despite the failure of the AAFSS programme, Bell stuck with its idea of a smaller, lighter gunship and invested its own money developing the AH-1 further. They used as many of the proven components they could from the UH-1 platform, adding these to a newly designed slender fuselage that had a minimal frontal profile, making it harder to hit. When The US Army later asked for plans for an interim gunship for use in Vietnam, Bell was in a fortunate position to be able to offer the ready-made AH-1, or the Bell 209 as it was called internally. Given the work Bell had already done, the programme was completed in a relatively rapid eight months and won the evaluation battle against the competition. In 1966 the US Army signed an initial contract for 110 aircraft. Some slight modifications were made to the production airframes, replacing the heavy armoured glass canopy with Plexiglas to improve performance. Wider rotor blades were fitted and the original retracting skids were replaced by simple fixed units. The G model was the initial 1966 production model gunship for the US Army, with one 1,400shp (1,000 kW) Avco Lycoming T53-13 turboshaft. Bell built over 1,100 AH-1Gs between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras would go on to fly over a million operational hours in Vietnam, losing approximately 300 to combat shoot-downs and accidents during the war. The U.S. Marine Corps would use AH-1G Cobra in Vietnam for a short period before acquiring more damage resilient twin-engined AH-1J Cobras. The M-35 Gun System was a single M195 20mm cannon (a short-barrelled version of the six-barrel M61A1 Vulcan) on the port inboard pylon of the AH-1G, with 950 rounds of ammunition stored in boxes faired to the side of the aircraft. The system was primarily pilot controlled, but featured dual controls so it could be either pilot or gunner controlled by an M73 sight. The AH-1 went on to serve the US Army until it was replaced by the AH-64 Apache, the last one leaving active service in 1999. The Kit This is a new boxing of the recent 1:35 kit to match the wave of 1:35 helicopter kits we’ve had lately, many from ICM themselves. The kit arrives in a reasonable-sized top-opening box, with a captive inner flap on the bottom tray, and inside are five sprues of grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour on glossy paper in A4 portrait format, with colour profiles on the rear pages for the decal options. Detail is crisp throughout, including engraved panel lines, plus recessed and raised details, all of which should result in a highly detailed model without a pressing need for aftermarket. Construction begins with the armoured crew seats, each made from five parts, the shell for which differs between them. The completed seats and control column plus pedals are all inserted into the nicely appointed cockpit tub, adding ancillary stick and a quadrant to the side consoles in the front cockpit, and a collective in the rear cockpit that is similarly mounted on the side console. The rear instrument panel is inserted into a coaming with a box on top, and a decal is applied over the moulded-in dials to add detail, the same is applied to the front cockpit, although without any box on top. A complete change of pace is then made, assembling the rotor base, some of which is visible once installed, especially if you leave the hatches open, so be sure to make a good job of aligning the circular sections in between the bulkheads and louvres, which takes up more than a page of the instructions, and as you can imagine, it must be fitted between the fuselage halves during closure. Some small parts are inserted into the fuselage halves from inside, plus the tail fin halves are mated with a long overlap for strength, and surprisingly, you are instructed to install the tail rotor, locking it in place with a washer, and inserting the actuator crown into depressions in the outer side. The two rotor base assemblies are inserted behind it and a blank bulkhead in front are glued into the port fuselage half, with another quilted bulkhead in front, and the cockpit assembly is inserted in the nose, adding insulation and armour panels in the sidewalls during closure of the fuselage halves. The base of the exhaust is inserted in the rear of the rotor cowling, adding a beacon with clear part on the top, then gluing the nose and a choice of two separate cones, one with a probe competing the front. As with many chopper kits, the underside is a separate insert, and while it is inverted, there are a couple of small parts such as optional antenna or cover, skid wire, and two fairings on the lower side of the rotor/engine cowling. A further insert and fairing is added to the front of the underside behind the gun turret, which is built up next from a cylindrical fairing, and option of a centre-mounted 7.62 mm Minigun, a pair of miniguns, or one minigun and a short tube that could be a 40mm grenade launcher. A drop-down searchlight is placed in a recess behind the turret, and a pair of tie-down loops have holes waiting for them on either side of the underside. A short exhaust lip fairing is installed on the rear of the trunk, and a choice of two style of tips are fixed to the top of the tail. The Cobra’s winglets are where the external weapons are stored, and these are built up from top and bottom halves, with a three-part combined tip and shackle on each one, plus another three-part pylon mid-span. Each pylon receives an insert with anti-sway braces, then they are inserted into depressions in the side of the fuselage. One decal option has an additional 20mm minigun under the port winglet, with ammunition storage in panniers on each side of the fuselage, linked together by a shallow feeder that inserts into a slot in each one, and into the breech of the weapon via the rear of its nearest panier. The gun itself is moulded in two halves, with additional details on the sides, a rendition of the muzzles applied to the front, and a mounting adaptor to allow it to fit onto the pylon. A tiny clear light is added to the wingtips and two more on wedge fairings behind the stabiliser fins on each side of the boom that were installed earlier. The skids are each a single part, and join to the sides of the fuselage on long pegs for strength, one on each side. The narrow cockpit has a similarly narrow canopy, starting with gluing the combined roof and windscreen part in place after fixing a small instrument binnacle to the frame according to the accompanying drawing, then adding the individual panes to the sides, with stays included if you wish to pose them open to expose the detail within. The turboshaft engine can be exposed by choosing different parts for the cover, with the same option being available on both sides, adding hinges or inserts depending on which option you choose. Creating the twin rotor blades involves building each one from two halves, aligning them on small ribs and thereby avoiding sink marks from the parts being too thick. The rotor head itself is a well-detailed assembly that is made from top and bottom halves, and has extra detail fitted before it is joined together, trapping the blades in position, then applying actuators to each one that joins to a lifter-ring moulded into the rotor shaft with an additional layer supported by a pair of tapered links. Then it’s just a simple matter of lowering the rotor assembly down into the hole in the top of the fuselage and deciding whether to glue it in place or not, and if so, at what angle to the line of flight. To move a Cobra around the base while the rotors aren’t spinning, a set of wheels are fitted onto the rear of the skids, each one made from four parts including the wheels. At the front of the skids are two towing arms that have a small wheel moulded in, locked onto the skids by a small part underneath, then they are joined together at the forward end, so it can be hitched up to a tractor to transport it. The model itself is finished, but there is a choice of additional weaponry, should you so desire. Three different rocket pods are included, as is a gun pod, just in case three miniguns isn’t quite enough firepower. 2 x M200 19-tube Rocket Launcher 2 x SUU-11A 7.62mm Minigun Pod 2 x M260 7-tube Rocket Launcher 2 x XM-158 7-tube FFAR Rocket Launcher The tubular rocket pods are built in halves, plus end caps with details moulded into them, while the bare XM-158 pack is made from two halves, plus a semi-cylindrical mounting plate, and end caps. The gun pod is again made from two halves, with a muzzle insert in the tapered front. Markings There are five decal options on the sheet included with the kit, all wearing US Dark Green overall and operating in Vietnam, with the differences in fixtures and fittings as well as the personal markings of the aircraft separating them. From the box you can build one of the following: 66-15272, 334th AHC, Platoon ‘Playboys’, Bien Hoa, 1967 67-15756, 227th AHB, Lai Khe, 1969 68-15063, 2nd Battalion, 20th Aerial Rocket Artillery, Tay Ninh, 1970 68-15209, 114th AHC, Vinh Long, 1970 69-16442, 227th AHB, Vietnam, 1970 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The instrument decals for the crew panels are printed predominantly in white on a black background, so little in the way of colour-matching will be required. Conclusion If you’re a 1:35 AFV or helicopter modeller, or even a wider aircraft modeller that has taken up the recently burgeoning 1:35 scale outpouring, this kit will be good news. It has plenty of detail, a choice of decal options, and should build up into a good replica of this early attack helicopter. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  19. Biplanes 1930-40s (72210) Polikarpov U-2/Po-2, Heinkel He.51A-1 & Kawasaki Ki-10-II 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd Biplanes were the de facto standard for aircraft from the very beginning of aviation through the Great War into the 20s and 30s, before the all-metal monoplane came to prominence, taking the technology developments of WWI to the limit of the format, and many of these aircraft were considered suitable were eventually pressed into service as pilot trainers. Docile handling characteristics and simplicity is important when a novice pilot is at the controls, and nasty quirks that might surprise an inexperienced aviator aren’t welcome. The Boxed Set This set from ICM contains three kits in a single box that represents good value and compact storage of three kits in the space of one, with the kits separately bagged and with their own instructions. There are a total of four sprues in grey styrene, a single sprue of clear parts for one of the kits, and two small pieces of printed acetate sheet that provide the windscreen for the other two. Each kit has its own decal sheet that is hidden inside the instructions, which has profiles for painting and decaling either on the rear pages, or on a separate black & white sheet slipped between the pages. Detail varies between the three kits, as they are from differing eras of ICM’s history, with the newest having the best details, as you would expect. All the kits have good fabric surface texture moulded-in that depicts the ribbed fabric structure that typically covers the flying surfaces and fuselages of such aircraft. Polikarpov U-2/Po-2VS (782243) Originating toward the end of the 1930s, the U-2 was intended as a flying trainer, but progressed to other duties as it went through its long career, with large numbers between 20,000 to 30,000 being made, and the last aircraft was withdrawn from service in 1985 with a central American country. It is best known for being a WWII basic trainer, where it was used for a great number of pilots’ first trips into the blue as they learned their trade. The kit arrives in a resealable clear foil bag, and inside are two sprues of grey styrene and one of clear parts. As this is the newest kit, arriving on shelves in 2020, it is reproduced here in its original form as a trainer, and the detail is crisp thanks to the improvements that ICM have made to their design and tooling process over the years. Construction begins with the starboard fuselage side, which has the ribbing moulded inside, and is detailed by adding more parts, after which the two instrument panels and aft bulkhead are made up from two parts each, to be trapped between the fuselage halves in slots that divide the area within, whilst drilling out a flashed-over hole in the spine behind the cockpit for later use. The fuselage has its tapering nose made from two halves, adding various small parts to the sides of the cockpit area, and two short windscreens that are located on pins that insert into the fuselage. The lower wing is full-span and includes the cockpit floor, but you must first drill out four holes in each wing, as instructed by the measurements on the drawing, before adding the linked pairs of rudder pedals and control columns into the floor. The two seats are nicely detailed, building up from four parts for the seat and tubular arms, with a further two that make up the mounting frame, both inserting into small rectangular recesses in the floor. Once detail painting has been done, the fuselage can be lowered over the wing, taking care not to ping any of the small parts off as you do. The elevators are moulded as a single part that fits into a slot in the tail, locating the rudder and triangular actuators to the rear, and a tail-skid bay roof, plus four diagonal struts to support the elevators from beneath. Each lower wing tip has a curved bumper skid glued under it, as novice pilots aren’t renowned for their flying skills initially. A rectangular part inserts into a recess under the starboard wing root, then you can build the gear legs from two V-struts and an axle between them, after which you have a choice of gluing two wheels to the ends, or making up a pair of two-part skis that fit on the ends of the axle where the wheels would normally sit. Your choice of gear and style of tail-skid are glued into position under the airframe so that it can stand on its own wheels/skis for the next steps. The rear gunner’s weapon is mounted on a tripod behind the aft cockpit, and has a large magazine fixed to the gunner’s left side, after which the four bombs are made from two halves plus perpendicular fins and an annular ring to the very rear, each one having two shackles and a rail, fitting under the wings by the holes you drilled earlier, which is a clue not to drill all the way through the wing! You can build the five-cylinder radial Shvetsov M-11D engine with or without a contoured fairing, which requires the omission of a small box between two cylinders, and the removal of a raised portion on the shallow bell-housing to accommodate the fairing part that covers most of the detail. The 2-bladed prop is fixed in the centre of the engine by sliding a pin through from the rear, then adding the air intake “spider”, followed by the exhausts that are made from four parts, and are fitted in position at the nose in the following steps. The upper wing is also full-span, and has four Z-struts applied to holes in its underside along the length, two interplane and two cabane struts that will link the upper to the lower wings after you’ve rigged the model. The last page of instruction steps shows the completed model, and a twin-view rigging diagram that is highlighted in red, as is the fact that you will need to provide your own rigging material. Markings There are either three or four decal options on the sheet, depending on your point of view, as one aircraft is shown in two colour camouflage, and again in the winter with an almost complete covering of winter distemper over the top, and skis in place of the wheels. The third option is an aircraft in tan/green/black with blue undersides, depicted after it has been comprehensively hit by the patriotic graffiti stick, while the fourth is shown in the same scheme as a Polish airframe with no graffiti. From the box you can build one of the following: U-2VS of the 213rd NBAD (Night Bomber Air Division), Summer, 1943 U-2VS of the 213rd NBAD (Night Bomber Air Division), Winter, 1942 Po-VS of the 46th Tamansky GvNBAP, Spring, 1945 Po.2VS of the 2nd Polish NBAP ‘Krakow’, Lublin Area, Summer 1944 Kawasaki Ki-10-II (72311) This was Japan’s last biplane fighter during the latter half of the 1930s, and while the exterior was fabric-covered, the structure beneath was all-metal, adding strength to the airframe, but also increasing the weight. After the initial production run, the II was built with a longer fuselage and wing extensions to help improve performance and aerodynamics. It was used in action against China before what we in the West call the beginning of WWII, but it was obsolete by the time the fighting extended to include the Allies, so was relegated to use as a trainer for the most part, although it was also occasionally tasked with reconnaissance, which must have been a little bit terrifying. All the kit’s parts are on one sprue, and it was originally tooled in 2006 so has a few slight spots here and there, although nothing that could be considered a deal-breaker, but overall the detail is good. The clear windscreen is provided on a printed slip of clear acetate, which has the facets of the screen marked on it, to make bending of it to shape an easy task. Construction begins with the cockpit, which consists of a floor onto which the seat back, rudder pedals and control column are added, then this and the instrument panel are trapped between the two fuselage halves, fitting the frontal cowling and gun trough insert, inserting the spinner through the cowling and securing it with a plastic washer before you fix them in place. The elevators are each a single part that butt-joins to the tail, and would benefit from being pinned to increase the strength of the bond, while the rudder fits on the tail fin with two hinge-points making the joint strong. The windscreen is cut from the acetate sheet, and folded along the printed lines to create a faceted screen that curves around the front of the cockpit cut-out, adding a small hole at the bottom centre to push the tube gunsight through. The lower wing is full-span, including a small portion of the nose cowling, and the upper wing is mated to the four Z-struts, adding two rods behind the cabane struts and an aerial near the centre of the upper wing. A rigging diagram on the following page picks out the wires in red to assist you, using your preferred thread to complete the task in your chosen manner. The landing gear is fixed, and consists of two main struts with moulded-in rear supports, adding a distorted X-brace between them, which also has the axles for the wheels on the bottom ends, accepting the wheels once the glue has cured. The final task is to glue the three prop blades into the spinner, taking care with alignment, as they’re one of the most prominent aspects of any prop-engined aircraft. Markings There are two decal options included on the sheet, both wearing the same Japanese pale green scheme, but differentiated by their unit markings and stripes. From the box you can build one of the following: Captain Tateo Kato, 64. Sentai, China, 1938 77. Sentai, China, 1938 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Sorry about the B&W profiles, but they’re all that’s available. Heinkel He.51A-1 (72193) After Hitler’s Germany disregarded the Versailles treaty, their first fighter was the Heinkel 51, a biplane with a metal framework, but fabric covered. It was already obsolete when it entered service, so only around 150 were built before production moved to the improved B model that solved many of the issues identified once the aircraft was in service. This kit originates from a tooling done in 2005, and all the parts are found on one sprue, with a tiny amount of flash on one or two of the parts that will take a few seconds to scrape away using the edge of a sharp blade. Detail is good for the age and scale, but there are bound to be a few small aspects that you may consider worth cleaning up. The inclusion of a printed acetate windscreen part should give the cockpit a little extra realism thanks to the more scale-like thickness of the sheet. Construction begins with the cockpit, adding the seat and control column to the floor, which has the rudder pedals moulded into it. The floor and instrument panel are then trapped between the fuselage halves, adding a cowling front and gun troughs to the nose, along with two banks of three-part exhaust stubs, and barrels into the gun troughs. The elevators and rudder butt-joins to the tail, and again would benefit from pinning for strength, then the windscreen is cut from the acetate sheet and bent along the printed lines to create the thee-faceted windscreen. The two-bladed prop is inserted into the cowling front before it is glued in place, secured by a styrene washer at the rear, which should remain mobile if you are careful with the glue. The two lower wings are substantially shorter than the uppers, and they butt-join to the fairings in the side of the fuselage, and once again, pins would strengthen the joint. Each wing has two struts near the tips, and the full-span upper wing is further supported by a pair of Z-shaped cabane struts. A pitot probe is installed on the upper of the lower port wing, and a pair of aerial posts are inserted into recesses in the upper wing tips. There is a radiator housing under the join between the fuselage and wings, which is made from the core and cowling, plus a splitter that fits horizontally in the front portion of the housing. A step for the pilot is provided, and two small fairings are removed for this variant. Finally, the landing gear is built, shortening the tapering struts by 2mm for this early variant before the two-part spats are glued around the wheel and fixed to the flat end of the strut. Considering the cut-and-shut nature of this area, it would be a good idea to run a pin through the cut section and the spats to ensure they stay together during handling. The last diagram shows front and side profiles of the finished model with the rigging picked out in red, for which you can use your preferred rigging material, whether it is EZ-Line, invisible mending thread or fine wire. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, shown in black & white profiles on the pull-out sheet of the instructions. Both are in German markings, and as they were flown during Hitler’s Reich, they wore red tail-bands with a white-backed swastika in the centre. The decals for these are supplied without the contentious swastika, but there are black “window frame” decals elsewhere on the sheet that could be cut to create a swastika if you are going for historical accuracy and your local laws permit it. From the box you can build one of the following: He.51A-1 3./JG233 Bad Aibling, 1936 He.51A-1 3./JG132, Richthofen, Doberitz, 1937 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A gaggle of biplanes from the final era of their dominance of early aviation, available in a boxed set to save you space in your stash, and at a great price-point to tempt you. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  20. Ki-21-1b Sally (48195) Japanese Heavy Bomber 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Sally, as she was known by the Allies during WWII was a heavy bomber designed by Mitsubishi as a replacement for the Ki-20, in competition with Nakajima, who although they lost out on the design of the aircraft, were given the contract for the power plants, as their HA-5 engines were found to be superior to Mitsubishi’s offering that was originally installed in the winning design. A small number of airframes were also built by Nakajima, with a total of just over 2,000 built between them. It first flew in 1936 and was intended for long-range bombing missions against Soviet and Chinese opponents, first entering service in 1938 in operations against China. Initial experience showed that the design was lacking in some respects, extending to the crucial oxygen system that was initially found to be unreliable. The Ib was intended to address most of the issues, including the lack of armament and changes to the flying surfaces. It also had a remote tail gun installation, and could mount an additional fuel tank for extreme range missions. The type was pretty much obsolete by 1940, and mounting losses prompted the type’s withdrawal from front line service, and the sale of some of the superfluous airframes to nations that remained friendly to the Japanese Empire. Uses were still found for the type with the Japanese forces however, and the remaining aircraft were used until the end of the war as cargo transports, trainers, troop transports and communications hacks. The later variants had improved engine performance with new Mitsubishi units, some with alterations to the greenhouse behind the cockpit, which was changed to a turret on some, and removed entirely on transport variants. The Kit This is a brand-new tool from ICM, who continue to produce new kits despite the difficult circumstances in their home country. We’ve been reviewing its smaller 1:72 sibling kit that was relatively recently released by ICM, and up until today I was quite jealous that this kit wasn’t available in my preferred scale. That’s now been rectified, and I couldn’t be happier unless I was given a big bag of free money. The kit arrives in a top-opening box that has a captive top flap on the bottom tray. Inside are seven sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue in a separate bag, decal sheet and the instruction booklet, which is printed in colour with profiles for painting and decaling on the back pages. Detail is thoroughly modern, and extends to ribbing on the interior of most of the fuselage, restrained fabric depiction on the flying surfaces, full representation of the engines and a nice cockpit, plus a set of crystal-clear glazing parts. Construction begins with the fuselage halves, which have the armed tail added to the rear on a keyed flange, a lozenge-shaped detail insert to make the wing root recess flush, and the side windows, ammo drums dotted around the interior, plus multiple well-detailed equipment boxes inserted in the cockpit area, and later a line of trunking that extends from the trailing edge of the wing to the tail. The mid-upper gunner’s compartment is built from a series of steps that are glued to a base with another step, which is then glued to a bulkhead at the front that forms the rear bulkhead of the bomb bay, and has ribbing along its lower portion. Fire extinguishers are lined up in pairs on the port interior over the bomb bay, then the bomb bay roof is fitted out with eight bomb shackles before the sides and front bulkhead are installed, and it is then populated by four bombs that are each made from two halves, plus twin braces to each side of the stabilising fins at the rear. The bomb bay is joined to the underside of the cockpit floor, and in the recess that is part of the forward floor, detail is moulded into the top of the bomb bay, and it accepts one pilot’s rudder pedals that fit into pairs of holes in the deck. A seat with cushion is suspended over the recess, then another more substantial seat is attached to the floor at the port side with a lever to the side of it, adding a side console, throttle quadrant and two bow-tie control columns before the front bulkhead is fixed to the cockpit, plus a pair of two-part fuel tanks further back over the wing along the starboard wall, with a small equipment installation just forward. The cockpit assembly can then be inserted into the port fuselage half, adding the bomb-aimer’s position with a choice of two glazing parts, one with a cushion and vertical column, one bare, slotting into the cut-out under the nose. More ammo cans are dotted around the upper gunner’s stepped compartment, adding a clear porthole in the floor, and an internal ladder below the crew access door in the port side. The reason for the ammo cans includes side-firing and ventral machine guns, with a choice of weapons that have a plate magazine over the breech, or Type 89 machine guns, gluing the floor-mounted glazing panel into one side of the lower fuselage before it is closed. In the front, a rack of four O2 bottles are inserted in the roof of the nose, then the starboard fuselage is prepared in a similar manner as the port, fitting the wing root insert, adding glazing, instruments, machine gun ammo cans, a jump seat and the afore-mentioned trunk down the wall of the fuselage. The fuselage halves are closed around the instrument panel that has a pair of decals to depict the dials, a short coaming, and centre throttle quadrant, plus the upper gunner’s seat that is suspended on four moulded-in struts that locate on corresponding depressions in the fuselage wall. You have a choice of posing the bomb bay open or closed, using a single part to depict it closed, or the four individual door parts that fold to the side in pairs with the help of a pair of retraction jacks at either end, which are all included on the sprues. The dorsal gunner’s fuselage insert is prepped by making the gun mount from two parts, a dump bag that is also two parts, and the twin guns mounted over it, which have a pair of half plate magazines fitted to the top of the breech, and a semi-circular pivot that flex-fits into recesses under the dorsal insert, after which you can glue the insert into position in the top of the fuselage, taking care to align it carefully to minimise clean-up of seams. You have the same choice of two gun types for the nose gun that slides through a hole in the nose glazing, gluing into the nose while the canopy and dorsal glazing are fitted, being careful to paint the deck under the dorsal glazing before you add glue. The tail is started by adding the elevator fins, which have separate flying surfaces and rudder panel, then the wings are prepared by inserting a two-part bay in each one before joining the upper and lower halves together, adding the ailerons into their slots and landing light lenses in the leading edges. They are then glued onto the wing root fairings on the fuselage, which have a lip to ensure proper location, and a slot for the short length of spar that extends from the wing to further improve joint strength. The wheels are installed under the wings before the engines and lower cowling are made up, starting with the tail-wheel slipped into its yoke, and then adding the two-part wheels to the H-frame main strut, which has a two-part support frame fitted to the front, and a long yoke with mudguard and additional V-strut that links the lower leg to the back of the bay. Four small parts are fixed to the wing inside the bays, and the lower cowlings are made up out of two halves plus a round bulkhead, adding a pair of two-part intakes top and bottom, then sliding the lower nacelle over the completed wheels and mating the edges with the recessed lip of the lower wing surface. The engines are built-up on bulkheads with the cooling flaps moulded-in, a separate exhaust stack underneath, and a depiction of both cylinder banks, plus the front bell-housing with push-rods moulded-in, hiding the prop axle inside without glue so that the props can spin later, and fitting a wiring loom guide around the bell housing. The finished engines are covered by two cowling halves and a separate lip, gluing them to the front of the nacelles and finishing them off by adding the three-bladed prop and separate spinner. The model is completed by installing an antenna post and D/F loop over the canopy, and a curious-looking cranked pitot probe in the leading edge of the port wing. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, all but one in light green-grey, differentiated by their unit markings, the final markings having a dense dark green squiggle camouflage scheme over the green-grey. From the box you can build one of the following: 60th Sentai, China, 1940 60th Sentai, 2nd Chutai, China, 1940 Hamamatsu Army Flying School, Japan, probably 1941 25 Hikodan Shireibu Hikohan, Japan, 1943 Decals are by ICM’s usual partner, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. As is common now with ICM kits, there is a page of the instruction booklet devoted to the masking of the canopy, using the printed shapes on the right of the page and the diagrams on the left to create your own masks if you wish. It goes up to 130 thanks to the extensive greenhouse glazing. Conclusion A nicely detailed and most welcome new tooling of this short-lived (in front line service at least) heavy bomber, which should put the older vacform tooling from another manufacturer out to pasture. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  21. G7107 in German Service with Infantry (35588) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Chevrolet G506 truck formed the basis of a range of 4x4 load-carrying vehicles that could carry up to 1.5 tonnes of cargo or equipment. They were initially made under the 4100 code, then moved to the 7100 range, and usually had a standard enclosed cab, with a 3.9L straight-6 engine under the bonnet, with a four-speed “crash” (non-synchro) gearbox putting down a little over 80hp through all four wheels. It rapidly became the Allies’ standard light truck, and served in substantial quantities with the Allies in the West, the Soviets in the East, and the forces fighting Japan in the Far East. There were a lot of variants, some in US Army service, others in USAAF service, with almost 50,000 of two specific types, the G7107 and G7117 sent over to the Soviets under the Lend/Lease program. The G7017 had a cargo bed with canvas top, while the G7117 was the same except for the addition of a winch to give it some static pulling power. They were well-liked by their drivers and crews, and were adapted to other tasks due to their ubiquity, such as being used by the Soviets to carry Katyusha rockets on a stripped-down flatbed. A small number were obtained by the Germans after over-running Allied forces, or by repairing broken-down vehicles that hadn’t been correctly disabled before the crew evacuated or were captured. In typical WWII German style, they couldn't resist repainting them and pressing them into service with their own troops, regardless of the repair and maintenance difficulties they would eventually encounter when things inevitably went wrong. The Kit This is a reboxing with added figures of a recent kit from ICM, and is one of a range that is now available from them. It’s a full interior kit, with engine, chassis, cab and load area all included along with some very nice moulding and detail, particularly in the chunky tyres, plus the four figures of course. It arrives in one of ICM’s medium-sized top-opening boxes with the usual captive inner flap, and inside are eight sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, decal sheet and glossy instruction booklet with colour profiles on the rear pages. Construction begins with the ladder chassis, which has leaf-springs fore and aft, cross-braces and rear towing eye fitted to create the structure, then has the rear bumper irons, fuel tank, transfer casing and front axle installed, before the engine is built up based on the straight six-cylinder block, with carburettor, dynamo and transmission added, plus the pulleys and fan at the front, and a short drive-shaft at the rear that links to the transfer box in the middle of the chassis. The rear axle is made up and fitted with another drive-shaft, while the front axle gets the steering arm installed, which keeps the twin ball-jointed hubs pointing in the same direction, providing you’ve not been over-enthusiastic with the glue. The exhaust and its manifold slip into the underside of the chassis from below, and the battery box attaches to the outside of the ladder chassis next to a pair of tread-plated steps, then from the left of the engine, the air box and intake are attached to finish it off. The crew cab is next, beginning with the dashboard that inserts in the front bulkhead along with a top panel complete with decal for the dials, then is joined with the cab floor and decked out with a pair of levers, gear stick and hand-brake on the floor, three foot pedals and the steering wheel on a long column that slides through a hole in the diagonal floor section in front of the pedals. The driver and co-driver share a bench seat that is made up from back, cushion and a C-shaped surround that fits into the rear of the cab and has the back wall with small radiused window, then the roof fitted, after which the doors are made up with handles, winders and glazing, fitting within the frame in the open, or closed position. On the front of the firewall a vent is glued to the scuttle panel, and two reservoirs are attached, then the cab is mated to the chassis along with a couple of additional engine ancillaries and linkages to the front axle. The radiator is laminated from core, surround and tin-work, with a bezel fitted to the front and the assembly is then applied to the front of the engine, attaching to the chassis and input/outlet hoses that are already there. The cowling sides and front fenders are installed to permit the front grille to be attached, plus the bonnet and a large front bumper iron that runs full width, and is quite literally a girder. Behind the cab a spare tyre is placed on a bracket near the exhaust, and attention turns to the load bed. The load bed floor is a single moulding with a ribbed texture down the walkway, and a thick rear section with hooks, and the optional reflectors moulded-in, which are removed for three quarters of the decal options. The same is true of the shallow sides, which also have a series of tie-down hooks fixed along their lengths, and the front upright gets the same treatment. An upstand incorporating two vertical pillars is glued to the front, and a pair of sides that consist of siding on five pillars per side are made up and are added to their locations, while underneath the floor is stiffened by adding four lateral supports, a trapezoid rear valence with lights, and four vertical mudguard boards and their supports. The front valance has a hole with a length of tube for the fuel filler to travel, and the final position of this tricky part is shown in a scrap diagram to help you with placement. It’s time for the wheels to be made up, with singles at the front, each made from two halves each, and twin wheels at the rear axle, put together with two two-part wheels each, and two hub parts added to the finished pair. Each wheel slips over its respective axle, and is secured in place by a central cap. There is a choice of steps when completing the load bed, as the lower portion of the sides can be built either vertically to make maximum use of the cargo area, or with the lower sections flipped down to form seats for the transport of troops. This is accomplished by using a different set of supports, fitted vertically for stowed, or diagonally below for deployed. Both options then have the five tilt hoops fixed into the tops of their pillars to finish off. The model is finished off with front light with clear lenses, door handles, bonnet clasps, wing mirrors, and a choice of open or closed front windscreen parts, which requires the fitting of alternative wipers to accommodate the horizontally stowed screen, which has small supports fitted diagonally against the A-pillars, as shown in scrap diagrams at the end. Figures There are four German Wehrmacht figures, and they come as separate torsos, legs, arms, heads and helmets/hats. Shoulder bags, weapons and all the usual parts such as gas mask canisters, water bottles, entrenching tools, ammo pouches, pistols, binoculars, weapons and bayonets are included, most of which are found on the smaller sprue. The smallest sprue contains two lengths of link for the MG34 that is included, which were sometimes carrier over the shoulders for easy access in event of contact with the enemy. An officer is included looking at a map, while another soldier points with one hand, with an MP40 in his other. The other two figures are depicted walking, one with an MG34 over his shoulder and a scarf of bullets round his neck, the other with boxes of ammo in his hands, and his rifle slung over his shoulder. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. Painting call-outs are included for the ICM paint range, with colour names in English and Ukrainian for those without access to one of the many online paint conversion tools. Markings There is just one option shown on the instructions with no decals required, and that vehicle is painted in German Panzer Grey, probably applied straight over the olive drab of the original vehicle by its new owners to avoid so-called friendly fire incidents. Conclusion Maybe it wasn’t very high profile at the time, but this was an almost ubiquitous vehicle in the battle against the Axis forces, and in this instance FOR the Germans, helping to carry out the crucial task of keeping the front-line supplied with weapons and consumables, as well as acting as a free, rugged transport for Nazi troops when they were out on patrol. It is all moulded in great detail as we’ve come to expect from ICM. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  22. ZiL-131 Military Truck of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (72816) 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The military ZiL-131 chassis was a 6x6 general purpose truck chassis that was capable of transporting 3.5 tonnes, developed from the earlier ZiL-130 civilian truck. Its versatility made it useful for many tasks when suitably fitted out with an appropriate cab and load area for the assigned task. The power was provided by a 7 litre V8 petrol engine that gave it a top speed of 50mph under ideal conditions, but it was off-road with all six wheels under power that it came into its own, although 6-7mpg was far from economical compared to a more modern vehicle. The cabs were fitted with standard Soviet-era equipment to give the drivers a sense of familiarity, although cost-saving was probably a bigger motivator to those making the decisions. Their presence in many of the former Soviet states is almost ubiquitous, and they have provided excellent support for the military of Ukraine, providing transport of goods, equipment and troops to and from the front in their fight against the aggressor that invaded their country in 2022. The Kit This range of kits was originally started by little-known company Omega-K as a truck with canvas tilt in the 90s, before the tooling was taken over at the turn of the millennium by ICM, since when it has been re-released many times and with various alterations to the basic kit and its chassis. This boxing arrives in a relatively small top-opening box that has a captive lid to the lower tray, and inside are five sprues and two loose cab parts in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a large decal sheet and the instruction manual, with colour profiles on the rear pages showing the decal options. Even though its base kit is of a certain age, the detail is excellent throughout, and small amounts of flash are easily removed to expose the detail. Construction begins with the six road wheels that are all moulded in two halves with chevron tread, and have a separate hub cap for extra detail, with just the seam to clean up in the middle, conveniently located at the centre of the tread pattern where it won’t be damaged. If you want to add some weighting to them, a quick swipe with a coarse sanding stick should do the trick, after which you can glue the wheels with the flat-spot at the bottom. The cab is a nice slide-moulding that has a little flash here and there, but it’s well worth the effort to remove it, as I found out when I tested one by scraping the seams. After this, the cab floor with various controls and steering wheel is inserted from below, then the clear windows, windscreen and headlamps are inserted to the front, with cages finely moulded, although suffering a little flash that will take care to remove, but again it’s worth the effort. Door mirrors, a small spotlight and a fire extinguisher on the rear corner finish off the detailing of the cab, after which the running gear is begun. The ladder chassis is a single moulding, adding the underside of the engine, transfer box, drive-shafts and various tanks around the ladder, then the twin axles at the rear and single front axle are both inserted below the rails on leaf-spring suspension with the axles interlinked by numerous drive-shaft elements, and a steering link for the front. Underneath, the twin exhaust pipes from the manifold merge into a muffler then make their way out to the side as a single pipe, looping up and over one of the rear axles to exit between them. The load bed is moulded as a single part, adding a pair of chassis rails lengthways, stowage box and fuel can, plus four mudflaps for the rear wheels and light clusters on each of the rear corners. The sidewalls have a series of rails along the top portion, fitting simple bench seats along their length, then gluing them to the bed, finishing off by adding the headboard and tailgate to complete the assembly. The three sections of the model can then be mated by fixing the cab and load bed to the chassis, with a rack that holds the spare wheel and a large box between the two, whilst adding the chunky bumper iron to the front, the twin fuel tanks in front of the rear axles, and adding a pair of towing/tie-down hooks to either side of the radiator. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet that depict the two different digital camouflage schemes, the brighter one introduced the year before the invasion. From the box you can build one of the following: Armed Forces of Ukraine Armed Forces of Ukraine, camouflage version from 2021 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion There’s a little flash to scrape away here and there, but it’s worth it to get to the detail, which is pretty good for the scale and the age of the original kit. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  23. WWII German Military Medical Personnel (35620) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd It’s a sad fact that war causes not just death and privation, but also injuries from cuts and bruises to horrific injury and amputations. The quicker that a wounded soldier receives medical attention, the better the chance of them surviving, which is today referred to as the ‘Golden Hour’, so an integral part of any fighting force is a medical corps that receive basic medical training, and travel where the soldiers go. They also go into battle with the regular soldiers wearing nothing but a Red Cross arm-band to save them from being targeted for death at the enemy’s hands… hopefully. The cry of “medic!” is foremost in a soldier’s mind when he or one of his comrades are injured, and the medics don’t hesitate to put themselves into the same situations that caused the soldier’s injury in the first place. Many medics have become casualties of war themselves due to the frontline nature of their duties, and many a soldier owes their life to these brave and often selfless medical practitioners. The Kit This figure set arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of the subject on the front, and a captive flap on the lower tray. Inside are three sprues in grey styrene, one containing the figures, and two their accessories and a collection of weapons, which would typically be only have been carried by their patients. There are four figures in the box, one of them the patient that is lying prone on the ground, while the other three medics crouch over the casualty, busily tending to their needs. One chap is holding a drip bottle as high as he can in an attempt accelerate its progress, while the gentleman in the forage cap seems to be offering comfort or holding a bandage in place on the casualty’s leg, while the final medic has the patient’s ankle raised while the bandage is applied or adjusted. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. Because of their forward-leaning crouching poses, some of the boots, hands and forearms are separate from their limbs, and you will need a little wire to replicate the feeder tube from the drip bottle. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. The accessories include the standard kit that all German troops would start out with, such as canteen, cylindrical gas mask container, stahlhelms, mess kit, bayonet in a scabbard, and an entrenching tool. Equipment such as binoculars, rifles, MG34 with bipod, MP40 and various ammo and map pouches are also provided in case you wish to add them to your scene. There is also a set of webbing laid out flat on the ground on the main figure sprue, as if it has been removed before treatment began. The instruction sheet has a sprue diagram on one side above a colour chart that has colour swatches and ICM colour codes, with an incitement to check out their colour set #3022, which contains many of the colours you’ll need. On the opposite side are drawings of the figures, which have colour codes called out in letter codes in red boxes, and the individual parts in black along with the letter of their sprue. You’ll need to apply a little common sense to the location of some parts where the join isn’t visible, but it’s nothing that a few moments of contemplation and test-fitting won’t resolve. Conclusion This set will be best used in a diorama or vignette, although they could just as well be painted and placed on your cabinet shelf without going to the trouble of creating a scene. Great sculpting and poses from ICM, as usual. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  24. Sikorsky CH-54A with M-121 Bomb (53055) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd With the advent of the helicopter, their ability to rise vertically into the air led them to lifting heavy loads, and by the end of the Korean War, there were already Heavy Lift choppers in service, most using piston-engines as their motive force, which was a limitation both in terms of power and reliability – a very important factor when you aren’t flying, but are instead beating the air into submission with your rotors. The peculiarly ungainly-looking CH-60 Mojave was reaching the end of its service life, and Igor Sikorsky had already identified the need for a very heavy lift helicopter with the S-60 that was powered by WWII era radial engines. The design was the basis for the Tarhe, but updated and given the more powerful and reliable turbo-shaft engines that were just coming into production. The engines for the nascent CH-54 were created in conjunction with Pratt & Whitney, adapting one of their new JT12 jet engines to their requirements. In an effort to keep the weight of the airframe down, the designers gave the Tarhe a cut-down skeletal fuselage, with only the crew compartment boxed in. This compartment also contained a rearward-facing cab that gave the crane operators an excellent view of proceedings, as well as limited control over the height and attitude of the airframe, as the CH-54 had an early form of fly-by-wire that allowed the duplicating of controls in a secondary location, but with the effectiveness of the controls lessened to reduce the likelihood of accidents due to sudden movements caused by the crane-operator. The advanced control system also gave it such luxuries as altitude control, reducing the workload of the pilots during extended hovers. The US Army recognised the potential of the type after a short testing phase, and took over 100 airframes on charge that would see extensive use in Vietnam. A civilian version was created too, called the S-64 Skycrane, while in army service it was often referred to as just ‘The Crane’. Because of its size, The Crane was capable of carrying enormous loads that were hitherto impossible to lift vertically, if at all. It was able to carry a Sheridan Tank, an M101 Howitzer, or up to 90 fully kitted out soldiers in a passenger pod that could be slung under the skeletal bodywork. There’s some fantastic diorama fodder right there. One of the more unusual tasks allotted to the Tarhe was carrying a huge 10,000lb bomb that was nicknamed the ‘Daisy Cutter’, although its proper designation was M-121. It was intended to explode above ground to clear landing areas for helicopters, but could also be used to clear foliage and enemy equipment, booby-traps and other unwanted obstacles away. It was packed with TNT and had an effective blast radius of 60m, but the shockwave could incapacitate or injure NVA troops up to 500m away. The Tarhe was an expensive method of delivery with limited range however, and the C-130 took over the job eventually, unloading the bomb via the rear load ramp. The bomb was superseded with a more powerful BLU-82 once stocks of the M-121 were depleted. The Tarhe was eventually withdrawn from service in the late 80s, as the airframes were ageing and the new Chinook was taking over in military service, the Tarhe finally leaving National Guard service in the early 90s. Due to their usefulness however, many of them were bought by civilian operators, especially Erickson Air-Crane of Oregon, who also took over type approval to ensure their ongoing airworthiness. The Kit This is a rebox of a brand-new tooling from ICM with a new sprue for the bomb, and while I initially rubbed my chin sceptically over the chosen scale, it makes an awful lot of sense when you consider what it can carry. The master tooling is the first of its kind in this scale, and in fact we’ve not been very well served in any scale as far as the Tarhe goes, other than a really old kit in 1:72 from another manufacturer. It arrives in a long top-opening box with a wrap-around painting of the type in action, and inside are a deceptive two lower trays with the usual captive lids, all of which is held in by tape. Take care when opening the box, as it could surprise you when the second box drops out. Once the boxes are open, the sprues have been spread evenly across the two trays to reduce the likelihood of damage to some of the lovely detail that’s within. There are fifteen sprues in grey styrene, one of clear parts, a relatively small decal sheet, and a moderately thick instruction booklet printed on glossy paper with colour profiles in the rear. It’s difficult to get a feel for the scale of the finished model from the sprues, but the length is stated on the box of 774mm or 30.4” long, and 225mm or 8.9” tall. The width isn’t given, but each rotor is 28cm or 11” long, so allowing for the extra width of the centre boss it should be a little more than twice that wide. Detail is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM in recent years, with finely engraved panel lines, raised rivets where appropriate, and crystal-clear canopy parts, which will be very visible on the finished model. Without a shadow of a doubt someone will manage to create a diorama that uses the cables to support the finished model above its load to give the impression of flight, and if they also manage to make the blades rotate, they may just achieve modelling godhood. Construction begins with the stepped cockpit floor, which is kitted out with rudder pedals for both pilots, adding the instrument panel and supporting centre console with decals to the centre, then fixing collective and cyclic sticks in position, followed by the seats that are each made from rear frame, seat pad and back cushion, locating in holes in their adjustment rails moulded into the floor. Another seat is made up from a solid base and two cushions, gluing in position on the lower section of the floor, facing aft and forming the first part of the crane operator’s cab. A partial bulkhead separates the front seats from the rear, adding another to the side of the seat that has a small console with joystick sprouting from the centre. Another L-shaped column is added on the inner side, and a short frame with an instrument panel and decal attached to it at the side of the cut-out, which is fleshed out with a pair of curved bulkheads. At the front of the cockpit, the nose cone is mounted in front of the instrument panel, then the sides and underside of the cockpit structure closes in much of the area. Turning the assembly around, the rear is closed in with a panel that wraps under the edge, and under the crane-operator seat, a foot rest with twin supports is slotted into the edge. The back of the cockpit has a lot of glazing, starting with five radiused panes in the starboard corner, one more on the port by the crane-op’s seat, and a large wrap-around section enclosing the operator’s cab. Much of the fuselage of this behemoth is skeletal, and is built up as a separate assembly, including internal bracing to ensure your Tarhe doesn’t become a Droopee. The process starts with the underside of the fuselage structure, which is made from three overlapping lengths that have location grooves for the bracing that comes later. Firstly, the winch is made from two halves that form a drum, capped off with two nicely detailed parts that turn it into a bobbin, which is supported between two angled trunnions that are each laminated from three parts, and braced at one end by rods and by the bobbin at the rounded end. It is glued between two vertical braces that have two more braces slotted in across the front and rear of the winch bay, fixing two exterior panels to the end of the cross-braces, plus another that is slotted in nearer the front. Take care here, as there are two slots, and the aft-most is the correct choice. At the same time, a cross-brace that supports the main landing gear sponsons is added from underneath, and this slots into all four thicknesses, as does another short brace behind and one more in the front, making the assembly stronger, and once it is glued to the underside of the fuselage it should be very strong. On the tapering tail section two more bulkheads are shown being added, but in the next step a longitudinal brace is shown already fitted, which I suspect is part D11, but test fit to reassure yourself when you build yours. The two tail sides with moulded-in fin hides the tail internals, joining together at the tip of the fin, and secured by adding the rear surface, and cutting a raised area off the underside. The topside of the fuselage is then boxed in with three panels, the largest having a hole in the centre for the rotor head later. The full length of the beast can be seen for the first time now, when you mate the cockpit to the front of the fuselage, gluing the side extensions to the bare section to create one assembly. An overhead console is decaled and detailed with levers, and is fixed to the rear bulkhead of the cockpit alongside another, after which the cockpit roof is laid over the area, followed by the windscreen and side doors that give your Tarhe a face. Two small two-part “ears” are made up and inserted in recesses near the rear of the cockpit, as are a couple of other small humps and bumps, the uses for which will become clear later. On the port fuselage side, a thick trunk of cables is fixed to the side and overlaid by a pair of C-shaped assemblies that are each built from three parts. The CH-54 had long legs that allowed it to pull its loads close to the spine to reduce sway, and these are next to be made, starting with a pair of two-part wheels, and the sponsons that support them, each one made from four surfaces, plus the struts, which have a two-part sleeve around the upper area, separate scissor-links and two tie-down hooks, fitting to the end of the sponson by the flattened rear of the outer sleeve. The nose wheel is also two-part, and fits on a short oleo with a one-part scissor-link under the nose. The winch head is also two parts and is added to the winch mechanism while the main gear sponsons are slipped over the supports and the nose wheel is put in place. The tail rotor head is a complex assembly that should remain mobile after construction, made up from eleven parts and fitted on the back of the tail fin along with a small bracing rod at the front. There are also several external trunks added individually on the starboard side and down the leg sponsons, some of which are overlaid by a protective panel near the front, and yet more small lengths are dotted around all over the place, making for a complex, detailed surface that should look more realistic than moulded-in alternatives. The drive-shaft for the tail rotor is also external, and runs up the back of the fin through some additional brackets, and terminating at the bottom with a four-part universal joint. More scabbed-on panels are fitted to the back of the fuselage, and a pair of optional aerodynamic fairings are supplied for the sides of the main gear sponsons. This isn’t even close to the final layer of detail yet, but we take a break from detailing to build the main rotor head next. The rotor-head starts with a bell-housing that has two input shafts from the twin turbo-shaft engines, the main portion of which is two parts, plus two-part end caps that is then placed on a circular base, and has the shaft cover and ring fitted to the top, adding a number of actuators and rods to the side, plus a housing with pulleys and equipment that mounts on the back of the head. The basic assembly is then mated with the opening in the top of the fuselage, after which there are a host of small wires/actuators/hoses that link the two assemblies together. A scabbed-on box is fixed to the fuselage behind the rotor off to one side to accommodate the drive-shaft for the tail rotor later, and a bulwark slots into a groove just in front of the rotor-head, followed by the drive-shaft, which slots through a support and dives through the tail to emerge behind the fin at the universal joint. A two-layer cover is placed over the drive-shaft around half way back, possibly to protect it from blade strikes, but it’s not the only piece of equipment that is sited on the fuselage top, which includes what appears to be a radiator assembly and some kind of exhaust, both installed behind the rotor-head, an area that is getting busy already. More parts are added further enmeshing the various assemblies, then it’s time to build the two engines. The Pratt & Whitney engines are identical in make-up until they reach the exhaust stage, which is handed. The front section is made from thirty-five parts before the handed exhausts are made, each one a mirror-image of the other, and built from eight more parts. The motors are mounted on the top deck with an M-brace between them, adding a few more small parts around them, then building up two intake filter boxes from sixteen parts each, handed to each side, with a scrap diagram showing how they should look from the front. They mount in front of the engine intakes on the ears we made earlier, and have two Z-braces front and rear between them. There are four auxiliary winches for load stabilising placed around the front and rear sides of the fuselage, with a four-part assembly making each one, and locating on a pair of brackets moulded into the fuselage sides. More detail is applied to the cockpit in the shape of four clear lenses underneath, a towel-rail and blade antenna, two more externally routed wires around the rear, and crew step plus three ladder rungs on each side, with two more around the rear. Grab-handles, door handles and windscreen wipers are next, followed by yet more grab handles on both sides leading up to the cockpit roof. More aerials are fixed at the root of the tail boom, and at the very rear, a three-part bumper is fitted under the fin, then an asymmetrical stabiliser is mounted on the opposite side of the fin to the tail rotor. Most traditional choppers have two rotors, and despite its size the Tarhe conforms to that layout, and the tail-rotor is first to be made, starting with the two-part rotor base that accepts the four individual blades, and a two-part actuator crown in the centre. It fits to the axle and should be able to rotate if you’ve been sparing with the glue. That’s the easy, simple part over with, now you must do it again on a much larger scale and with six blades. Work starts with the axle, the lower end of which slips through a centre boss and is covered by the six-point star assembly, which has another smaller star fixed to the centre, six D-shaped inserts added to the tips, and T-shaped spacers added vertically to separate the top rotor “star” from the bottom. The top portion is made up identically to the lower apart from the spacers, then it is closed over the rotor holders after gluing them in place on the lower. Each blade holder then has its four-part actuator mechanism installed over the top, and the whole assembly is topped by a three-part spinner cap. The final act is to insert each of the six blades into the holders, then drop the completed rotor into the rotor-head. The Bomb I resisted the urge to call it “da bomb”, because I’m mature, but the sprue can be found in its own bag, with the instructions buried in the booklet at step 189. The bomb is built from two halves with a rear bulkhead, and when complete, it looks like a large shell. The retarding parachute pack is two parts that attach to the rear bulkhead with straps holding it in position, and the fuse is attached via an extender to ensure it lives up to its nickname and doesn’t bury itself in the ground before detonating. A short length of chain is made up from individual links that are put together without glue, using nine to create the connection to the aft shackle on the casing. The front shackle mounts on an eye that passes through the crane hook, and the whole assembly is fitted with bracing frame on each side. Markings There is just one decal option on the sheet included on the sheet, and unsurprisingly, it’s green. Many of the decals are for the blades, but there are also national and airframe markings, plus the instrument panel decals and some stencils. From the box you can build the following: 67-18416 with M-121 bomb, 478 HHC (1st Cavalry Division), Phu Bai Air base, Autumn 1968 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This will make a superbly detailed model, and its size will draw some admiring or envious glances if you take it to a show. Detail is excellent, construction is sensible, and it is a new tool of this monstrous machine. Did I mention it also has a massive bomb? Very highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  25. Kozak-2 Ukrainian MRAP-Class Armoured Vehicle (35014) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Kozak Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle was developed in response to a need for protected troop transports for reconnaissance, patrolling and other such tasks, and was first seen in 2014, although only a few proof-of-concept vehicles were made by Practika, in competition with several other types from other manufacturers, the Kozak going through to the next stage as one of the three that met the Ukrainian Army’s requirements. The original vehicle is based upon a heavily modified Iveco Eurocargo chassis, but this 2015 design is based on the Iveco Daily, which has a shorter chassis, resulting in a more compact vehicle. Looking at any of the variants side-by-side you wouldn’t think they were related to anything, as the outward differences are so great. It doesn’t have a sharply V-shaped hull in the same respect that custom designs do, but most of the chassis length is protected by a shallower V-shaped armoured panel that underpins the crew compartment, and in concert with the anti-trauma seating that is installed within, it satisfies the needs of the Ukrainian forces in the event of an IED detonating underneath. The exposed wheel stations would probably be sacrificed in the blast, but the diversion of the explosive energy away from the crew is the key aspect. After the initial design, the improved Kozak-2 was engineered, incorporating a weapons station on the roof that allows the operator protection from small-arms fire, with vision slots that are protected by armoured glass in each of the side wall panels, plus a splinter-guard with more vision slots at the front, through which the machine gun projects, which can either mount an NSV heavy machine gun, or a 7.62mm weapon, depending on availability and mission requirements. The Kozak-2 entered service in 2017, and has seen plenty of active service since the unlawful invasion of Ukraine that began on 24th of February 2022. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling from ICM of the Kozak-2, and has been made in cooperation with the vehicle’s manufacturers Practika, as noted on the box top in the top right, which bodes well. The kit arrives in a top-opening box, with a captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are seven sprues of grey styrene, two identical clear sprues, a bag containing five flexible black plastic tyres, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) of a copper-coloured metal, three decal sheets, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper, and has profiles on the rear pages to help with painting and decaling. Detail is excellent, and as it’s a home-grown product, local knowledge will have come in very handy, as will their nearness for detail checking, although the vehicles have been rather busy of late, working tirelessly to recover parts of their country still occupied by the invader. Construction begins with the chassis rails, which have a leaf-spring attached to the front, and two double-leaf arrangements that are each made from two halves at the rear. Small armour plates and other parts are fitted to the frontmost sides, then the cross-members are built up, with two under the engine bay, a central four-part transfer box at the midpoint, a tough braced bar behind that, and another at the rear. Under the rear suspension is an additional cross-rail, plus a braced rail that has a pair of two-part tanks applied, one on each side before mounting. The solid floor pan is detailed with a three-part representation of the underside of the engine and sump, then the chassis rails are mated to the underside on tabs, adding a short drive-shaft that links the transmission to the transfer box, ready for when the axles are completed. The front axle is a thick assembly with differential bulge in the centre, which is made from two halves, and has the rear of the hub attached at the ends, and a damper bar that joins to the chassis via links, and the drive-shaft that links it to the transfer box. A steering actuator and two armoured plates are fitted over the newly mounted axle, adding two dampers to the rear, and a C-shaped linkage that joins the two hubs together. The rear axle is built from four parts, and is much bulkier than the front, as are the hub assemblies, which are each four parts. This is then glued to the leaf-springs, adding dampers, drive-shaft, damper bar, another cross-member and a towing shackle at the rear. The interior of the Kozak-2, which if you haven’t already guessed means ‘Cossack’, is a spartan compartment that is designed for a purpose and nothing more, keeping weight and clutter to a minimum, as well as reducing the likelihood of small parts becoming missiles in the event of an IED detonation. The crew seats are made first, making the back from cushion and backrest, then adding this to the base cushion and two concertina-style side panels, plus front and rear sections, taking care to line up the concertina elements to minimise clean-up. An adjustment lever is fixed under the front edge, and you should bear in mind that the seats are handed, so take care to fix the correct one to the tread-plated floor on its guide-slots. A small gear lever is made from two halves and inserted into the centre console, which is moulded into the floor. The dash is a single moulding that has the three foot pedals glued into the lower portion, then has the multi-part steering wheel, column and separate stalks fitted on the left side, with a gaiter and hi/low ratio knob mounted in the centre of the dash low down. There are three undocumented decals for the dials and controls on one of the sheets, two of which are pretty obvious where they go, but remember to paint the instrument binnacle black before you put the decal on. The dash is mounted on a central locating guide in front of the crew seats, and behind and between them a four-part rack with crew step/jump seat that has anti-slip tread-plate moulded into it, and acts as the support for the gunner when he is in action, folding away when not in use to keep obstruction to a minimum. Two passenger seats are built with two-part backs, adding safety tubing to the sides and top that helps prevent flail and neck injuries, fixing onto the seat cushion that has more U-shaped tubes glued underneath that project up and help keep the sitter’s body in position in case of a sharp sideways jolt. A back frame and a pair of shock-absorbing tubes attach the frame to the deck behind the driving crew, facing forward. The other six seats are fitted centrally with three on each side facing left and right. The base cushions are all moulded as a single linked unit, to which the lower tubes are fitted, adding two central supports in the space between them, then adding the backs, which are built at the same time as the first pair. This assembly is then mounted on a pair of raised rectangular areas of the floor, ready for the body to be built up. The vehicle sides are one part each, and cover the entire length of the chassis, adding radiused bullet-proof windows in the sides, a foot-plate at the front, and drilling out four 1mm holes as indicated in a scrap diagram nearby. An interior skin is prepared by adding grab-handles and weapon stowage clips under the windows, with the inner face of the shooting loupes moulded into the surface. The laminated right side is offered up to the chassis, adding the front wing liner and inner panel to the engine bay at the same time, then doing the same for the left side, before working on the windscreen panel, which has two panes inserted into the frames, and two instruments applied to the centre frame on the inside. This is mated to the bonnet and two windscreen wiper blades are fitted into pockets in the bonnet before joining the two. The rear bulkhead has an inner and outer skin, then has the multi-part bumper and clear light clusters applied to the lower edge. It would be a good idea to prepare the front and rear panels at the same time as the sides, not just for ease of painting, but also to ensure that the side panels are mounted to the correct angle and can’t sag while the glue cures. The roof has four small parts fitted to the underside before it is glued in place, completed with a pair of moulded-in escape hatches and the circular cut-out for the roof-mounted weapons station. The grille is fitted to the front of the vehicle, and has a thick bumper with moulded-in reflectors for the clear lights that are installed and painted with suitable clear shades, then have protective cages folded from PE parts, with a winch housing between them. The front skirt is made from two layers and has small sensors fitted into recesses, then is assembled on the front with the bumper, and a cow-catcher that is built from eight parts, including three slats that protect the grille. The Kozak-2 has four side doors, two on each side, all of which have inner and outer skins plus glazing, with grab handles fitted inside, and handles on the outside, while the front doors have wing mirrors on C-shaped tubular frames, and the rear doors have a circular cut-out that doubles as firing loupe for the front passengers. The back doors are similar in construction, but with a smaller fixed window near the top, inserting into the frames at the rear. All doors can be mounted open or closed as you please. Inverting the model allows fitting of the shallow anti-mine keel panel, which has the ends closed off to prevent ingress of the explosive wavefront, which would reduce its effectiveness. Mudflaps are added to the rear of the front wheels, and on both sides of the rear wheels, then the wheels are made to fill the arches. The spare tyre is built first, adding a two-part hub from either side of the flexible tyres, and mounting it under the body at the rear. The rear pair of wheels have a slightly different pair of hub halves inserted from each side, and then have a choice of two styles of dust covers fixed over the outer face. The front wheels have similar two-part hubs, with an additional centre insert, and the same choice of dust covers over the front. They all fit onto their appropriate axles, but don’t put the model on its wheels just yet. There are a pair of crew steps to be fitted onto the keel panels under the rearmost side door on both sides, then the model is turned right-side up for all the external detail to be added to it. The first item is a searchlight, which has a clear lens and opaque rear, mounting on the right wing in front of a small part near the scuttle. A perforated mount for the pioneer tools is filled with four hand-tools before it is mounted on the right rear of the body. A two-part cage is closed around the searchlight, and completed by adding two top bars, and a bracket that stands out past the side of the wing for another mirror that is added later. Under the tools a pair of three-part brackets are mounted on recesses, and on the opposite side a pair of towing arms are fitted under the windows on pins. Two small lifting eyes are glued to the scuttle, and an LED lamp with armoured shroud fits into a pair of recesses on the left wing. What looks like a tubular convoy light in a shroud is added to the centre above the rear doors, and five rungs are glued to the left side of the rear for access to the roof, with a sixth on a bracket that hangs down below the bodywork, adding a jerrycan in its holder to the left. Grab handles are fitted between and above the side doors, on the roof above the ladder, and on the front and sides of the bonnet to ease access to all the horizontal panels, and on the right flank, a cage is fixed to the body for additional storage. The detailing is still far from over though, as the wing-mounted indicators and roof-line repeaters are positioned, with the more exposed lower wing lights protected by four half-torus PE guards that create a cage around them on both sides. PE cages are added around the rear lights too, bending the ends to match the profile, then adding a pair of stirrups below the back doors. A plate is glued to the left door frame to accept a two-part exhaust that allows the vehicle to plough through water up to a metre deep without stopping to prepare. The right door frame has another assembly made up from five parts, which looks like an emergency flasher, but clearly isn’t. The machine gun turret has a pair of smoke grenade launcher assemblies made up with three barrels each on a carrier plate that is fitted to the front corners of the assembly. The two side armour panels have their bullet-proof vision panels inserted from inside, and are then assembled onto the base, which has a circular ring with bayonet lugs fixed to the underside, and moulded-in stiffeners on the top surface to keep the armour at the correct angle, even under fire. The D-shaped crew hatch is given a pair of handles, and is then fixed into position in the turret floor, adding an A-frame mount for the machine gun, which needs a 1.2mm hole drilling to accept the weapon, which is built up from a breech with moulded-in barrel that is clamped between two mounting halves, with handle added to the rear and ammo feed on the top, linked to a three-part ammo box as it is slipped into the splinter shield, which also has two vision blocks inserted from within. The completed gun is then lowered onto the mount, securing its pin into the hole drilled earlier, then finishing off by adding a rear-view mirror on a U-bracket, a hand-traverse wheel on the underside, and a wire across the back of the turret. The completed assembly then drops into the cut-out and is rotated to lock it in place. Markings There are four options on the decal sheet, all with a base coat of green, and various digital camouflages applied over the top. From the box you can build one of the following: KOZAK-2, 35th Separate Marine Brigade of Ukraine, January 2021 KOZAK-2, 36th Separate Marine Brigade of Ukraine, August 2021 KOZAK-2, reconnaissance unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, November 2022 KOZAK-2, an unknown unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, autumn 2022 Decals are by ICM’s usual partners, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. As previously mentioned, there are three instrument decals supplied on one of the sheets, but these don’t appear to be mentioned on the instructions, so you’ll need to apply a little deductive reasoning to locate them, as A3 isn’t so obvious where it should go. Conclusion The brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has put focus on Ukraine’s defence systems from an outsider’s point of view, and it’s good to see that their equipment is being kitted for us modellers, so we can show support in some small way for their fight. It’s a good-looking kit, and apart from adding some window blinds, strap for the top gunner, and a few cables in the passenger compartment, it’s an excellent rendition of the type. Hopefully, we’ll see some of the longer-wheelbase variants in the future. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
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