BarryW's 1/48 'multi-engine aircraft' Review Thread

[boatman]

HI BARRY hope you find out the details of freds wellington as you say it would honor him in memory
chris

[BarryW]

In-box Review No11 ICM Douglas Invader B-26B-50 Korean War

Now to ICM's contributions to this project. Over the last year or two I have built a few ICM kits and I have been immensely impressed. I understand that not so long ago their kits were pretty poor but they listened to criticism and upped their game so now their releases are among the best kits you can get. All their kits in this review are relatively recent releases and, I have to say, they have a pretty impressive release schedule with not just new subjects but a lot of different types of each subject. As you can see from the links below John has no less than four ICM Invader versions in his shop!
1/48 Douglas B-26B-50 Invader Korean War American Bomber ICM 48281 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 Douglas A-26B Invader ICM 48285 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 Douglas B-26С-50 Invader Korean War American Bomber ICM 48284 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 Douglas A-26С-15 Invader WWII American Bomber ICM 48283 – Scale Model Shop

I now rank ICM as among my favourite model producers.

This kit, I rather like the box art.
Parts: 245
Wingspan 447mm
Length 323mm


There is a strong inner box. The outer box was on quite tight and it was difficult to get off without tearing it.


The instructions are nice and clear.

As you can see colour call-out are for Tamiya and Revell. I find this an odd choice but Revell have boxed a few ICM kits over the last few years such as the I-16.


The instructions are nice and clear.

In my build I found the engineering to be top class.





There is a choice of three aircraft to model.




When I removed the bag of parts I found this, aftersale service actually being promoted!


The sprues are all stuffed into one bag (though the transparencies have their own). This is one area in which they can improve.


The plastic is high quality and similar to Tamiya's. The surface detail is a good as you can get anywhere,




There is no flash and no burring. Cleanly and sharply moulded and thoughtfully arranged on the sprues.

The marks on the plastic are just from the moulding process and are not sink marks, they will be invisible under your paint, varnish and weathering.
Very nice transparencies.


The nicely produced decals. My experience of how they perform is very positive.


But, of course, regardless of how good they are they are never as good as painted markings. So I have some masks for both the marking and canopy masks.


Naturally I also have some seatbelts.


Well, what can I say, what a nice kit, no problems there. If you have not tried a new tool ICM then don't hesitate and give them a try but make sure its relatively recent and check reviews to avoid their old stuff.

Highly Recommended

Next up: ICM Ju88

[Mark1]

I want to get a few more planes under my belt, will definitely be going with icm, I think you get a lot for your money!
These reviews are really helpfull Barry, especially for an inexperienced plane person such as myself,cheers.

[adt70hk]

Barry

Thanks for all the information and taking the time to post it.

ATB.

Andrew

[BarryW]

In-box Review No12 ICM Junkers JU88A-11

My first ever bomber model, when I was a child, was the Airfix 1/72 Ju88 that sat on my shelf alongside a Spitfire and Hurricane. I loved the look of that kit with the two bombs slung under each wing (though not nearly as much as I loved the Spit and Hurri..) Then, one of my first builds when I returned to this hobby was the 1/32 Revell JU88 - mmm, that build drained me with its blobs of plastic posing as detail and rather poor fit, I got it finished but I was not pleased with the result and it was one of the first to be binned when I wanted space freed up for another build. I have to say though, it was seeing that 1/32 kit on Amazon that one of the factors sparking my interest in getting back into the hobby, so it was not all bad.

So, to this kit.

Wingspan 418mm
Length 300mm
Parts 226

The rather nice box art


Some sample pages from the instructions






Two schemes are provided


I have to say that I rather fancy the plain overall RLM79 scheme, as per the box art.

Now this is going to get repetitive so I will say it once, the plastic is fully up to expectations in every way.....some sprue shots.





The decals.


Now I have not been able to find any masks for the markings on this kit or any alternative decals for a scheme I like more than the box one. I may just end up using the kit decals plus an aftermarket swastika with some marking painted on, masked by Tammy tape.

I do have some canopy masks, essential for this one.


And seatbelts.


Overall this looks a great kit and well up to expectations, which are now rather high when it comes to ICM.

Highly Recommended

Next up: ICM He111...

[BarryW]

In-box Review No13 ICM Heinkel He111 H-20

Despite being one of the mainstays of the Luftwaffe and is prolifically modelled with a lot of kits available, I don't think I have ever built one, not even the 1/32 Revell having been put off it by the JU88 experience. So this later version of the He111 in 1/48 will be interesting for me.

Wingspan 471mm
Length 344mm
Parts 355

Links to versions in John's shop
1/48 He 111H-20 WWII German Bomber ICM 48264 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 He 111H-6 WWII German Bomber ICM 48262 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 He 111H-6 North Africa German Bomber ICM 48265 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 He 111H-3 Romanian AF WWII Bomber ICM 48266 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 He 111H-16 WWII German Bomber ICM 48263 – Scale Model Shop

The very nice box art.


The instructions are in their usual style, some pages as usual.








There are four schemes provided. I am not sure which I will do yet but it is likely to be one of the more colourful ones.



The plastic this time comes in two bags (plus transparencies)


The moulds are well up the the usual ICM high standards as you can see from these examples.





The decals likewise.


I have some paint masks, canopies (definitely needed) and markings.


And, of course seatbelts.

All in all reviewing these ICM kits is quite boring, but for all the right reasons, they are consistently good. Nothing stands out about ICM, no flashes of brilliance, no great innovations and nothing that you can find that's in any way bad. Just a consistent production of competently produced kits of a high quality. This kit is no exception, Highly Recommended.

Next up: ICM Do17

[Dave Ward]

Barry,
good reviews! One consistent feature of ICM is no seatbelts!, but only a minor problem. Their replacement part service is pretty good ( contact form on their website ) - not the speediest, but hey, they are in the Ukraine!
Dave

[BarryW]

In-box Review No14 ICM Dornier Do 17Z-2

I really must do one of these Luftwaffe mainstays as a Battle of Britain era aircraft and this will be it.

Links, two boxings at SMS:
1/48 Do 17Z-2 WWII German Bomber ICM 48244 – Scale Model Shop
1/48 Do 17Z-7 WWII German Night Fighter ICM 48245 – Scale Model Shop

Wingspan 375mm
Length 330mm
Parts 245

The box art:


Instructions




Schemes


The plastic, well I say it again, the usual high quality moulds, clean with fine detail.




The decals also to the usual good standard.


The aftermarket. I will be using masks instead of decals. Also I have some canopy masks.


And of course a.m. seatbelts.


Needless to say the ICM Do17 is exactly what you would expect, a great little kit that is Highly Recommended and nothing more needs to be said on this one.

That is all my 1/48 stash reviewed but, ICM are releasing a 1/48 Beaufort later this year and I will definitely be getting one so that will be added when I do. What else? Well, can I resist what looks like an amazing F4B Phantom 1/48 release from Tamiya? What about the Tammy P38 or the Meng Me410? maybe, we shall see.

But what about my remaining 1/32 stash and future purchases?.... a separate thread will follow.

[AlanG]

Would love to have a crack at the 1/32 Revell H4/H6 kit but they go for totally stupid prices on evilbay. So there is no chance of me ever owning one . I have thought about giving these ICM ones a go though.

[Nicko]

Thanks Barry for the work (and investment £££) you have put into this thread.....

Nick

[Gern]

Would love to have a crack at the 1/32 Revell H4/H6 kit but they go for totally stupid prices on evilbay. So there is no chance of me ever owning one :sad: . I have thought about giving these ICM ones a go though.

Just had a quick look at ebay. If all you want is an He111, some of the variants are going for about £30 - £40 inc P&P. That's gotta be a bargain - even if you need modelling skills to produce a good result.

[AlanG]

Not a 1/32 scale for that price lol. But yes loads of 1/48s for that price.

[BarryW]

Just had a quick look at ebay. If all you want is an He111, some of the variants are going for about £30 - £40 inc P&P. That's gotta be a bargain - even if you need modelling skills to produce a good result.

Better to get the ICM He111 from John’s shop, a great quality kit for £43. Follow the links in the review, 5 versions.

[AlanG]

Better to get the ICM He111 from John’s shop, a great quality kit for £43. Follow the links in the review, 5 versions.

Especially with the 5% discount

[Gern]

Not a 1/32 scale for that price lol. But yes loads of 1/48s for that price.

Sure?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194026104256?epid=2255022786&hash=item2d2cdb65c0:g:p-sAAOSwZrZgcETg

Edit:

Just checked that link and it doesn't take you directly to the ebay sale I found. Although it does give the information in there that refers to the sale of a 1/32 Revell He111 for £25 + £5.30 P&P on 9th April. If you go to ebay and search for 1/32 Revell He111, then go to sold listings in the advanced search and you'll find it.