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  1. As logical follow up to the Gotha Go-242 gliders (link), ICM is to release on November 17th, 2023 a 1/48th Gotha Go-244B-2 kit - ref. 48224 Source: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ICM48224 V.P.
  2. 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 They were quickly withdrawn from active service, and the remainder were used as training vessels for other newer designs that operated until the end of the war.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
  3. 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
  4. Hi, just joining after chatting with @Dansk and @modelling minion. This build will be a bit familiar in that it is very similar to that done by @stevej60. But it will use different kits and be a lot slower and less well finished, I suspect. So…….apart from end-product (hopefully) not actually very similar come to think of it Apologies for repeating a bit of the chat thread but it describes from where I’m travelling. This is all @stevej60's fault! 😁 I saw his double Bf109 build and thought maybe I could have a go too? I only returned to the hobby at the beginning of the year so I'm still "finding my feet" as it were and hence still acquiring skills and knowledge. But I recently discovered GBs and having hardly even heard about such things before I plunged into the recent Blitz build. Failed, but thoroughly enjoyed it and wondered if I might do better in a less rushed approach. My plan is to have a go at these The old Airfix one (1986 boxing of 1976 tooling) almost OOB and will be the victim of my first attempt at mottled camo for 40 yrs: and also having never tried that with an airbrush previously it is probable that disaster is already looming. Whilst I'll try and do it justice I regard it as a potential mule for future experiments unless it turns out better. Meanwhile the one more likely to succeed is the ICM kit which is a lot newer and better thought of, I think. The box is an E3 but parts are included on the sprues to do an E7-trop. It doesn't need much in the way of decals, that I can source from the stash, to render a second JG27 desert subject with simpler un-mottled scheme. I would normally like to spend more time doing research on a particular subject. However, I was keen to join this GB and get some modelling done. I have also realised that what I used to “know” about things like WWII Luftwaffe colours is 3 or 4 decades behind the times and I’m rapidly trying to catch up and so take on board a lot of info. This is where BM is so wonderful and I will probably be asking some naïve questions; but beg forgiveness in advance if things have been discussed before. I try to work things out first so as to try and save the experten from repeating things, but I’m bound to miss stuff. Anyway, here goes. My “home” research resources are these I also have some less type-specific Luftwaffe volumes. These are supplemented by a selection of articles in a random collection of magazines from the 1970s and 1980s. And I have learnt some, but by no means comprehensive, on-line searching skills. Accordingly I have decided to do the Airfix kit in the scheme in the box. There are a couple of excellent b/w photos of “Black 8”, particularly a very sharp printing in the Shacklady book. I’ve also found this https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109E/JG27-I-MTO/pages/Messerschmitt-Bf-109E7Trop-2.JG27-Black-8-Franz-Elles-Libya-1941-01.html I suspect it has been “colourised” rather than being an original colour photo, but it allows a decent look at some of the physical details and the shape (if not the colour) of the mottling. Having said that, the colours eventually applied to my model may be very similar . With the ICM kit I’m probably going to do this scheme https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109E/JG27-I-MTO/pages/Messerschmitt-Bf-109E7Trop-1.JG27-White-6-El-Gazala-Libya-1941-0A.html There are several photos of “White 6”. Some have a mottled scheme, but I assume these are later than the plain one (also assuming they are actually the same aircraft). My preference, in order to keep modelling success more likely, is the plain sand over sky blue. I like the idea of yellow and a bit of red and white to liven things up. However, if anyone knows that these are just plain wrong, then please let me know. So I’ve set the stall out as to what I think I’m aiming at and now I need to actually get on and bash something!! But a bit more waffle first…..sorry. For the ICM kit I don’t propose to do sprue shots as these have been covered elsewhere on BM. I said previously that although it is an E3 boxing of the kit, the sprues seem to contain bits for the E7/trop as well. To check I am going to use the correct bits, I managed to download from Scalemates a copy of the ICM E7 instructions. As I suspected, it is simply to do with the canopy, spinner and air intake tropical filter. I had read in some builds of this kit that the tailwheel is undersized, and so it would seem when compared to the plans I have. That’ll irk me if I don’t replace it, and I need some spares ‘cos I have a “thing” about losing tail wheels (as Chris @bigbadbadge keeps reminding me ). The other thing I noticed is that (having had a problem with them on the more recent Airfix Bf109E in the Blitz build) the guns are very delicate in plastic. So whilst ordering the tailwheels I might have a look at resin or brass replacement armament. The rest of the kit looks quite nice with plenty of restrained detail externally and similarly in the cockpit. Crossing fingers, I think I can cope with that (but modelling is easier without crossed fingers ). Now we come to the older Airfix which I've had stashed away in the loft since I bought it when it came out in this form (Family and work took over so modelling was put on hold). I had the pleasure of building the “new” (surprisingly now 10yrs old) version in the Blitz build. What a lovely kit it was, apart from the tiny tiny pieces that kept breaking or being lost due to their size and my ham-fistedness removing them from the sprues in a bit of a rush. The older one here is “of it’s age”. It seems to be pretty good in overall outline as far as I can tell (I’ll check that further as we go along) but there’s not much in the cockpit and nothing in the wheel wells. The wings come in 4 pieces rather than the more modern(?) 3, so making a symmetrical dihedral more of a challenge. But the real issue is that it appears to have had a visitation from the Mad Rivetter of Rawtenstall!* The plastic is quite hard and I think I could file my nails on the rivets if I gave it a try. Why did they do this? Because they knew they were there and thought they should be included? This aircraft was flush-rivetted and you just can’t see them in photos from even quite close to. If one holds the wing pieces at the correct angle to the light one could convince oneself that the protrusions above the wing surface are just a bit less than 0.5mm. Being generous, let’s call it 0.2mm. Assuming I’ve done me ‘rithmatic correctly, in full scale terms that’s approx. 14.5 mm or just over half an inch!!! Talk about a drag queen ……. My dilemma is this – 1. should I just live with these things, slap the model together and get the paint going (afterall the GB theme is desert paint schemes and I also want to have a go at mottling) which deffo consigns this model to a life of muledom, or 2. do I take more time to address some of these quirks (which could be quite enjoyable) in the hope that a higher standard model will result (but with the risk that it could still end up as a mule) Any thoughts anyone? [What luxury to have this as a “problem”.] I think that’s enough rambling for now. I promise I’ll do something with plastic in the next update. And it won't be as long on text, unless someone wants a natter .. Thanks for looking. Keep safe. cheers Rob [*- Purely fictional but I liked the alliteration. Any similarity to anyone living or dead is entirely accidental. For those unsure, the place name is pronounced a bit like Rottenstorl although please don’t take that as definitive.]
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Been busy with Dads DIY for my daughters new home the last couple of month so not much time for modelling but we got rid of her yesterday she finally moved in yesterday. So should have more time now to relax and build again I built the 1/350 scale version of this back in May and then got the bigger version a couple of weeks ago at Scale Scotland show Started it at the club on Thursday night and got this far great kits and good value hopefully gives me some inspiration to get back to building again I had gone to the dark side with a Sherman build on the kitchen table. Stay Safe beefy
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. Recently completed this Ukrainian Ural 4320 in 1/72. It's the ICM kit with the Armory resin & etched APA-5D refuelling tanker & auxiliary power unit. The hoses were Tamiya flexible wire. A bit laborious trying to attach the wire to the etch frame without breaking it, which I did a couple of times so I lucked out with the other side. This was made to go alongside my Ukrainian Su-24.
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. Seems to be a new company out of Ukraine. This is a rebox of the very nice ICM 1/144 IL-62M with new, and very attractive, decals. I don’t know if Rush is just going to be doing reboxes or will eventually produce their own kits. https://www.hlj.com/1-144-scale-il-62m-ukraine-air-enterprise-rsu144001
  15. V3000S Einheitsfahrerhaus (35409) 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 it was angular and 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 thaw 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 kit that originated in 2010, but has had new parts 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 four 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 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 mating 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 leave them movable 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 bumper iron and two curved support rods to the sides. Several brackets and a towing hook are installed around the chassis, the latter on the rear cross-beam, with a locking pin inserted through the two halves. The rear wheels are paired, and have another stepped washer held between the two halves of the inner tyre, while the outer tyre is simply glued to the inner via a keyed hub. The short rear axle with separate differential housing insert is placed between the pairs, and glued to the rear springs, fixing two drive-shaft components to the engine, the forward part needing the two pins removing from its ends. The exhaust pipes leave the manifolds on each side of the engine separately, and only converge at the muffler around halfway down the chassis, with a single exhaust pipe with curved end exiting just in front of one of the rear wheel pairs, with a total of seven parts to make this assembly. A scrap diagram shows how the finished item should be laid out under the chassis once complete, marked in grey to help identify its route. The cab is begun by inserting the two rounded corner windscreen panels into the frame at the top of the 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. 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 give the winders their raison d'être. 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, two of which require alteration to remove or shorten the crew steps that are moulded in. Convoy light, headlamps with clear lenses, door handles, fuel filler cap, width indicator lollipops, windscreen wipers 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 walls 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 rear fenders are fitted with each one supported by four short strips that install on pegs in the sides of the cross-rails. The headboard has a two-part former for the tilt slotted into receivers moulded into the headboard, and the three sub-assemblies are then brought together to create the truck, finishing the build by adding two additional brackets that create a skeletal crew step beneath each door. Markings There are two options included on the tiny decal sheet, both in later war Dunkelgelb dark yellow, with one wearing a comprehensive brown and green camouflage scheme applied over the yellow. From the box you can build one of the following, although not much information is given: Non-camouflage 1944 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 “austerity” mode, where it more closely resembles some of Soviet Russia’s output of the time, especially around the cab. Plenty of detail is apparent, and construction should be straight forward, as long as you remember 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
  16. Mistel 1 (48100) 1:48 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The Mistel came about partly due to the lack of already developed heavy bombers in the German inventory, which forced them to consider using one aircraft to guide another to the target, then set it loose to crash to the ground, triggering the explosives that had been packed into the lower aircraft in advance. They usually used old, obsolete and worn-out medium bombers such as the Junkers Ju.88, with the crew compartment and nose removed, and a large stepped-cylindrical bomb unit bolted in place instead. The guiding aircraft was typically a fighter such as the Bf.109 or Fw.190, and these too were usually earlier versions due to the alterations needed to install the hardened locations that joined the two aircraft together on a trestle that separated the two with enough space to allow for props to spin and reduce the aerodynamic interference between them to an acceptable minimum. This was not a task that a pilot could tackle fresh from flying a standard solo fighter, so training rigs were made that retained the cockpit and crew, left out the explosives for obvious reasons, but otherwise had the same flight characteristics as the more dangerous “live” version. The weaponised Ju.88 had the forward section of the fuselage removed, including the cockpit and nose, to be replaced by a custom fairing that held a substantial explosive charge that would be detonated by the fuse that was mounted to an long probe in the new nose of the aircraft. The pilot in the 109 would control both aircraft on the journey to the target, line the assembly up, releasing the clamps that held his fighter in position as late as possible to increase the chances of hitting the target, letting the ju.88 dive into the ground, detonating the warhead, destroying the aircraft, and hopefully the target too. Providing it survived the process, the fighter flew back to base and carry out another mission, although attrition rates were high, as any hits on the forward part of the Ju.88 risked pre-detonating the warhead, destroying both aircraft. The Boxed Set Just like the real thing, this is a composite of two kits from ICM’s stable, the Bf.109F-4 from 2006, and the Ju.88A-4 from more recently in 2015, which was very well received then, and stands up well now. The new mating parts are held on a separate sprue, and create the link between the two aircraft. The new forward fuselage and bomb section are held on another sprue that is bagged separately with the linking sprue. The decals for the two models have been merged into a single sheet too, as has the thick, glossy-covered instruction booklet, which has colour profiles on the pages following the instruction steps for each component of the twin. It’s worthy of note that ICM have printed the shapes for a set of masks for the 109 for you to lay kabuki tape over and cut your own masks without the faff of doing it live on the model transparencies, or the expense of buying a commercial masking sheet. Good to see. Inside the top-opening box with captive inner flap on the lower tray are thirteen sprues in grey styrene, two sprues of clear parts for both aircraft, a decal sheet, instruction booklet printed in colour on glossy paper, with painting and decaling profiles on the rear pages. There is also a small flyer for the ICM Acrylic paints range, and it is noted on the front page of the instructions that the set #3014 is suitable for these models, a set that we reviewed here. Junkers Ju.88A-4 (48133) 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 interception by the enemy. That was the theory at least. By the time WWII began in the west, fighters had caught up with the previously untouchable speed of the Ju.88, and it needed escorting to protect it from its Merlin equipped British Spitfires and Hurricanes. It was a sound design however, and turned out to be a jack of all trades, being of use as a competent night fighter, dive bomber or doing reconnaissance to improve the accuracy of its brethren that were engaged in nightly bombing Britain’s major cities and industrial areas. They even popped a big gun on 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 the design was improved gradually up until the A-17, at which point it was replaced by the C and D, skipping the B, which became the Ju.188 in due course. The Kit Detail is right up there in terms of quality and crispness, with ICM really improving over the last few years, which is great news for modellers, as they aren't frightened of tackling what may seem niche subjects to some. Construction begins with shortening the fuselage at the point marked by red lines on the first drawing. You can install the rear cockpit bulkhead and optionally remove the raised radio boxes from it if you feel the need, before the fuselage floor is added that includes the lower parts of the inner wings and gives the structure some strength. The two halves of the bomb cowling and nose probe are joined together, optionally cutting off the cylindrical tip of the probe to shorten the fuse, inserting the detonator insert into the front, then installing sixteen triangular clasps that are applied to shallow recesses around the rear lip of the bomb cowling. The completed sub-assembly is then mated to the truncated fuselage to replace the missing cockpit. The tail plane has articulated flying surfaces, and the wings are supplied as top and bottom, with the flaps and ailerons separate from the box, and neat curved fairings so they look good when deflected. 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 at the wingtip. 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, plus 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, so your work can still be seen. The cooling gills around the cowling are separated into sections due to their curve, and the exhausts have separate stacks, which aren't hollow but are large enough to make opening them up with a drill possible. The completed nacelles fit to the underwing over the top of the main gear installation, securing in place on 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 shaft projecting from the engine front, which will require some glue if you want to keep them on. While the airframe is flipped over, the two-part wheels and twin main gear bay doors are added, both having good detail and the former a radial tread. Markings The kit includes three markings options from the sheet. There are halved Swastikas included, although two decal options have them partly obscured by over-painted Tail numbers. From the box you can build one of the following: Ju.88A-4, 2./KG101, St Dizier, June 1944 Ju.88A-4, 2.KG101, France, Summer 1944 Ju.88A-4, probably from Einsatzgruppe 101, Burg, Autumn, 1944 Messerschmitt Bf.109F-4 (48100) The Bf.109 needs little introduction, suffice to say that it was the Luftwaffe’s mainstay frontline fighter throughout WWII, and went through many incarnations in the constant implementation of improvements to keep up with and in some cases surpass the allied fighters it was up against. The F variant was the second major redesign of the basic airframe, including a further uprated engine and the attendant strengthening of the airframe that was required, plus adding rounded tips to the wings that remained for the rest of the 109’s career. It fought in small numbers toward the end of the Battle of Britain and was finally phased out of front-line service in 1942 to be replaced by the Gustav, thereby freeing up battle-weary airframes for use as Mistel chaperones. This kit first hit the shelves in 2006, and while it isn’t the newest 109 in the world, it has all the parts you’d expect, and the flash seen on earlier pressings seems to have disappeared, which is good to (not) see. The cockpit is straight-forward, based upon an angled L-shaped floor with the central cannon breech between the pilot’s knees, and the instrument panel supported on an outcrop from the forward bulkhead with a decal to depict the dials and other controls. The clear gunsight, rudder pedals, control column and seat pan finish the cockpit, then the DB601E engine, which is quite well-detailed and includes exhaust stubs and flame-guards over the top is made up and attached to the front of the cockpit by joining the engine bearers, then a pair of machine guns and ammo canisters are fixed between the two sub-assemblies as they are joined together. With the addition of a trim wheel on the fuselage sidewall and some paint, the fuselage can be closed around the completed interior. The elevators are each single parts, and are installed in their slots, then joined later by a separate rudder that can be posed deflected. Two side cowlings are installed around the engine and the fuselage is joined to the lower wing, which is full width and has the upper halves glued to the top, then the wingtips are inserted into newly formed slots. The windscreen with bullet-proof insert is glued in place along with its fixed rear section and the canopy, which has a set of head-armour installed inside. The supercharger intake trunk is applied to the left side of the cowling, and underneath the nose the chin intake for the oil cooler goes in, then the two radiator baths are inserted into their underwing positions with the flaps put into their tracks in the trailing edge. The narrow track main gear legs are each made up from strut, captive bay door and wheel, which are narrow enough to be moulded from a single part each, and these are both laid flat into the gear bays, as the 109 has no use for its wheels in the Mistel configuration until it returns from its mission. The fixed tail wheel is a single part and slots into the rear under the tail, then it’s back to the front for the prop with two-part spinner and retaining ring. Markings Three similar markings options from the same locations as the Ju.88s (predictably) are supplied for the 109 and can be seen in the photo of the sheet above, and from the box you can build one of the following: Bf.109F-4, 2.KG101, St Dizier, June 1944 Bf.109F-4, 2.KG101, France, Summer 1944 Bf.109F-4, probably from Einsatzgruppe 101, Burg, Autumn, 1944 Joining the Kits There is a comprehensive drawing of the undersides of the 109 and top of the 88 showing exactly where the various holes should be drilled in the two aircraft to enable you to fit the supports to mount the 109. The main support parts are three V-shaped struts under the centre of the fighter, and a single support pole under the tail, plus a hollow V-shaped antenna behind the supports, probably relocated from the spine during the conversion. Conclusion The Mistels were a sign of desperation from the Nazis to an extent, although the Allies also sent some worn out B-17s and B-24s to Germany piloted by radio control, one of which famously killed one of the Kennedy family by detonating prematurely over England before his crew had chance to bail out. A nice pair of well-detailed kits depicting the less well-known phase of development of these composite aircraft from WWII. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  17. US Helicopter Pilots 1960-70s (53101) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd We’ve had two 1:35 CH-54 Tarhe or Sky Crane kits in for review from ICM lately, and they’re impressive pieces of injection moulded engineering and no mistake, regardless of your feelings on the chosen scale. This set of figures will help to convey a human scale to this gigantic helo, and it arrives in a shallow top-opening box with captive inner flap on the lower tray. Inside are three sprues in grey styrene, a double-sided colour instruction sheet, a flyer for the recently introduced new ICM paint range, and a reminder of their 6-bottle set that is suitable for this set of figures is numbered #3023, which we reviewed here a little while back. There are four figures in the set, two of whom are wearing traditional crew overalls of the era, while the other two wear standard fatigues, with their sleeves rolled-up to counter the heat of their typical arena of operation, Vietnam. All figures are standing, while one pilot has an arm and leg out as if stepping up to the entry of his aircraft, and both overall clad crew have shoulder holsters with a sidearm that is a separate part attached to the junction of the straps under one arm. All the figures have peaked caps, and some can be holding a crew helmet that is found on the smaller sprues in two halves, joining up down the centre to create the hollow inner, which has ear cups for comms moulded into the lining. There are two subtly different styles of helmets, one that has no visible equipment around the sides of the face, and another that has clasps for oxygen masks or other equipment to the sides, and there are two of each type available. All the crew have flat tops to their heads for the caps, so if you decided to make them wear the helmets, you may have to do a little padding to get the correct ‘sit’ on the pilot’s head, or just add a blob of filler to simulate the rest of his head. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the main 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. Conclusion These figures are the perfect accompaniment if you want to give viewers a sense of the scale of this immense aircraft without creating a gigantic diorama. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  18. WWII US Infantry Acrylic Paint Set (3037) ICM via H G Hannants Ltd ICM have recently released their own brand of acrylic paints on the market, and are creating some kit specific sets to go with their major releases, of which this is one. The set arrives 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 with 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 and a bar-code. This set provides the major colours to assist you in painting your American Soldiers, recently included in the US Military Patrol kit from ICM themselves, and you will find the following colours in the box: 1041 Buff 1058 Tan Earth 1031 Warm Grey 1072 US Dark Green 1008 Deep Brown 2001 Matt Varnish The paint is thick in the bottle, with plenty of headroom between the surface of the paint and the lip of the neck. I dropped a glass stirring ball into each bottle, and they took a few seconds to disappear beneath the surface, indicating their viscosity. On the rear of the pack is an example of the usage of these colours using the kit mentioned above, using drawings of the figures included with that kit. During testing, 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. Apart from the varnish, the other paints all dry to a matt finish. In past tests, the Satin Varnish 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 the best chance of adhesion. Using a brush, the colours cover well two coats with minimal brush marks visible. Conclusion The paints were excellent through the airbrush with nothing in the way of drama during the testing process, including the Oily Steel and Satin Varnish. The solid colours also brushed out very well, as did the varnish, but what happened to the Oily Steel is a mystery to me at this stage, possibly a bad mix, or some other oddity peculiar to my bottle or batch. 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
  19. WWII US Military Patrol with G7107 Truck (35599) 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. 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 six 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 crew, three of which are stood or seated in or around the vehicle, plus the driver, who is sat down with his hands and feet arranged to match the pedals of the vehicle. 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. Markings These vehicles were usually left in their factory-applied scheme of olive drab, but were personalised with unit and other markings. From the box you can model one of the following machine: Decals are printed 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 Maybe it wasn’t very high profile at the time, but this was an almost ubiquitous vehicle in the battle against the Axis forces, that helped to carry out the crucial task of keeping the front-line supplied with weapons and supplies, as well as acting as a cheap and rugged transport for troops when they were out on extended patrols. 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
  20. Personal Protective Equipment Acrylic Paint Set (3035) ICM via H G Hannants Ltd ICM have recently released their own brand of acrylic paints on the market, and are creating some kit specific sets to go with their major releases, of which this is one. The set arrives 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 with 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 and a bar-code. This set provides the major colours to assist you in painting your Chernobyl Liquidators or the new Feat of Divers set from ICM themselves, and you will find the following colours in the box: 1045 Medium Orange 1035 Grey Green 1011 Clear Red 1039 Rubber Black 1015 Clear Yellow 1024 Silver The paint is thick in the bottle, with plenty of headroom between the surface of the paint and the lip of the neck. I dropped a glass stirring ball into each bottle, and they took a few seconds to disappear beneath the surface, indicating their viscosity. On the rear of the pack is an example of the usage of these colours using the kit mentioned above, and also depicts some of the figures that have been released as part of ICM’s Chernobyl series of vehicle and figure kits, which at time of writing extends to six boxings… so far. The suitable kits for this set are Radiation Monitoring Station 35901, Rubble Cleaners 35903, Deactivators 35904 & Feat of Divers 35906. During testing, 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. Apart from the varnish, the other paints all dry to a matt finish. In past tests, the Satin Varnish 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 the best chance of adhesion. Using a brush, the colours cover well two coats with minimal brush marks visible. Conclusion The paints were excellent through the airbrush with nothing in the way of drama during the testing process, including the Oily Steel and Satin Varnish. The solid colours also brushed out very well, as did the varnish, but what happened to the Oily Steel is a mystery to me at this stage, possibly a bad mix, or some other oddity peculiar to my bottle or batch. 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 thickness of the paint, and 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
  21. Chernobyl #6 Feat of Divers (35906) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd In 1986, during the last few years of the Soviet era, April the 26th to be more precise, a supposedly routine test that had been put off during the hurry to commission reactor No.4 was started. It did not go at all well. Due to a design flaw in the reaction moderating control rods, instead of the reactor output reducing to a safe level during this shut-down practice, it ran away and steam voids within the cooling system allowed the temperature to increase, causing an explosion that resulted in the meltdown of the reactor, spewing out radioactive particles via the displaced “lid” of the reactor, which was blown off in the initial explosion, as was the roof of the building. Two workers were killed outright immediately, another two were badly burned, and many of the others were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation over the coming hours, especially the firemen that were in attendance first, before the true extent of the disaster was known. During the initial days following the meltdown, concerns arose that the mixture of molten fuel rods, graphite and concrete that is known as Corium was burning through the thick floor of the reactor, and if it was to reach the large ‘bubbler’ water pools located beneath, the resulting steam explosion could dwarf the initial meltdown, with the potential to irradiate large areas of Europe, making it uninhabitable for an extremely long time. The decision was taken to drain the pool, and three men were chosen to undertake this dangerous mission, two of them because they were familiar with the layout of the corridors under the reactor, the other as shift supervisor. The two engineers were Valeri Bezpalov and Alexei Ananenko, and their supervisor was Boris Baranov. They took their lives in their hands for the greater good and from a sense of duty, donning diving suits and respirators to protect them from inhaling any radioactive particulate. They walked through the flooded corridors, sometimes up to their waists in radioactive water, and eventually achieved their goal of opening the valves that would drain the pool and prevent a catastrophic steam explosion. These men were erroneously reported to have died soon after their brave mission, but this wasn’t the case as the two engineers are still alive, the supervisor dying from heart failure aged 65, which may or may not have been related to his exposure to radiation. Their bravery was eventually rewarded by the Order of Courage from the Ukrainian President, although they had to wait many years before official recognition was given. As it turned out however, the Corium was dripping slowly into the pool, cooling as it did so, without the likelihood of the predicted explosion, but this wasn’t known at the time, and in no way detracts from the men’s bravery and selflessness. The Kit This kit is a new tooling from Ukrainian company ICM, who have been working through several kits to honour the bravery of all the men that worked to reduce and mitigate the effects of the meltdown on the populace of Europe and beyond, a task that is still ongoing at time of writing. It is number 6 in the line, the others having been reviewed on this forum already. The kit arrives in a top-opening box with the usual captive flap on the lower tray, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a printed cardboard backdrop, and an instruction sheet with drawings of the figures on one side, plus a sprue diagram and paint chart on the other side. ICM’s figure sculptors are exceptional, creating realistic figures that have sensible parts breakdown to minimise clean-up. There are four figures in this set, comprising three divers and one military assistant that is reaching up to adjust the equipment of one of the divers before he ventures into the tunnels. Each drawing on the instructions shows the part numbers as well as the paint codes that are shown as red boxed letters that correspond to the table on the opposite page, giving the colour names in Ukrainian, English and ICM’s relatively recent acrylic paint range, which also advises you that their six-bottle set #3035 is suitable to paint this kit. The three divers are dressed head-to-foot in thick, baggy diving suits, complete with a tight-fitting head-piece, and traditional goggles, which have clear parts supplied for added realism. Their air tanks are strapped to their backs and are made up from three small tanks and a regulator under a fairing that has a flexible hose exiting each side and going over the shoulders, joining the mouth-piece at the front. Two of the divers have already donned their masks, while one still has his around the upstanding collar at his neck. They are all stood upright in stances that imply their resignation to the task in hand as you can probably imagine, especially if you have seen the superb HBO mini-series Chernobyl. The third diver is adjusting the seating of his mask with both hands, while the assistant is wearing Soviet military uniform, plus a face mask to help reduce ingestion of radioactive dust, and is reaching up to assist his colleague with his mask. The backdrop is made from thick card with a matt printed front surface that replicates the area where the divers entered the catacombs, with the smouldering reactor #4 in the background, complete with its candy-striped chimney. It folds up into a three-sides of a rectangle that will retain its shape with a little glue or tape on the tab that is present on the short side, which has the kit number printed on it in white. The scene is well-depicted, and even has a couple of fire engines and one of the helicopters that dropped loads of sand/boron mixture on the exposed reactor in the hope that it would keep the radiation in check, at least temporarily. Conclusion The sculpting on the figures in this set is crisp and realistic, showing some small differences between the equipment worn by the individual divers, with separate hoses, masks and heads adding to the detail. A great tribute to those brave me. Very highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  22. URAL-43203 Military Box Vehicle of the Ukraine Armed Forces (72709) 1:72 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd The URAL-4320 originally entered into 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 shell holes 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 heritage 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, load box and cab parts in grey styrene, a larger sprue in black, two small clear sprues, a large decal sheet and the instruction booklet on glossy 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 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 little flash is visible around the edges where the mould sections meet, probably as a result 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. The load area is also slide-moulded to obtain detail on all sides of the exterior, and the window cut-outs on the diagonal roof sections. Construction begins with the chassis, which is predominantly moulded in black, as per the finished colour of the underside, which is helpful. 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 are fixed under the side doors, plus lights and door mirrors to complete the cab, which is then put to the side while the load bed is made. The bed floor is a single part that is stepped and has raised areas to accommodate the rear wheels, with plenty of support structure underneath, and mudflaps added on each side of the double rear axles. A small section of the floor is removed before installation of the upper, then an extending aerial on a bracket, spare tyre, and stowage areas are fitted around the rear and underneath. At the front of the load box, there are various piece of equipment related to climate control fixed high up above the cab, a cluster of small windows on the diagonal sections of the roof, and optional extra parts on the flat part of the roof to complete the detail. When it is installed on the chassis, a five-part fuel tank is inserted under the left front of the bed, completing the model by adding the substantial front bumper iron to the front end of the chassis rail. Markings There are two options included on the decal 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, but it’s an example of a Ukrainian workhorse that’s carrying crucial goods for the soldiers and civilians during this terrible war, this time with protection from the elements, and a likelihood that it could also serve as a radio truck. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
  23. Hi all, I finished this lovely 1/48 O-2A Skymaster last night. It's the ICM kit, from a Revell box. I used AOA Decals, a Yahu instrument panel, Aerocraft Models landing gear legs and New Ware masks for the clear parts. Painted with MRP. Not much to complain about with this kit. Enough detail OOB, and mostly excellent fit. Just two pics this time, as it's not terribly interesting from the rear quarters. Thanks for watching, Pete
  24. Bristol Beaufort Mk.I British Dominions Air Force (48312) 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’, undertaking 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. 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 waited with baited breath for this new tooling from ICM, and now we have several boxings and we’re still very happy about it. This new issue arrives in a reasonable-sized top-opening box with their usual captive lid on the lower tray. Inside are eight 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 in a separate bag to complete the package. As the strapline “WWII British Dominions Air Force” suggests, all the operators for the decal options are, or rather were Dominions of the British Empire during WWII, including New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa. 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 in 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 begins again in 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 sloped fairing is fixed, then the assembly is glued into its slot, joining the bottom of the spar with the internal floor. The cockpit is a separate assembly that is started by joining the two halves of the side console together, adding a raised floor panel, the instrument panel with six 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 oval bulkhead ends, and it is glued into the very rear, which already has ribbing moulded into the sides. The tail-wheel and strut are moulded as one that 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 pair of 0.9mm holes that are drilled in the ceiling. Just before closing the fuselage, another detail part is fixed to the bulkhead behind the pilot’s seat, with another 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 for some variants, 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 should 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 a couple of 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 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 mid-upper turret is semi-conformal to the back of the cockpit “hump”, and is built upon a section of the fuselage with a circular base that receives the guns’ mount and gunner’s bicycle-style seat below the lip, gluing the front of the turret into position, then creating a platter for the two Lewis guns, one of which is mounted at 90° to the other to fit within the confined space, plus an armour plate at the rear of the breech with a letterbox for the gunner to peer through. This is emplaced on the mount, and is closed in by adding the rear glazing. It is inserted into the aperture behind the wings, and is faired-in by a single horse-shoe shaped part that cuts down on the whistling as it flies along. 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 optional post at an angle on the roof. 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 a generous five decal options included on the sheet, all but one of them having the early war green/brown camo on top, and grey, sky or black undersides. The different option is in green/grey with black undersides. From the box you can build one of the following: N1089 or N1106 P, No.489 Sqn. RNZAF, Fall, 1941 L9802 GX-S, No.415 Sqn. RCAF, Thorney Island, November 1941 753 O, 36 Coastal Flight SAAF, Wingfield, Capetown, Spring 1942 761 W, 27 Coastal Flight SAAF, Spring 1942 N1030, No.149 Sqn. RCAF, British Columbia, June 1943 The decals are printed by ICM’s usual partners, and include dials for the instrument panels, with good register, sharpness and solid colours. Conclusion The ICM Beaufort is an easy nomination for the definitive kit of the type in 1:48, and deserves the plaudits despite being the only kid on the block. There’s plenty of detail, a sensible build process and a good choice of decal options. Very highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of
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