The Build.
Up on opening the box you are greeted with the standard looking ICM kit. Light gray, soft and crisply moulded plastic. In no way are you ever overwhelmed with the instruction sheet as each step is clear and concise without feeling the need to waste paper. The cockpit goes together really well and is fairly well detailed, although some scratch building and additional wire detailing would not go amiss. Like most early war Soviet aircraft the cockpit is hidden away never to be seen again, but like the old saying goes, " you know its there". I have only three issues that I can pick with the build of this kit.
Firstly the fuselage mounted MG cover panel is suppose to be glued in front of the canopy section, which is is a good idea, but the real aircraft has a completely smooth fuselage with no panel lines. In ICM designing it in this way results in you having to sand smooth the plastic part ensuring it is completely seamless whilst still keeping the curvature of the fuselage. ANY imperfections will stick put like a sure thumb.
The second issue is the engine and exhausts. I found the exhausts to be one of the weakest areas of the kit, having large seam lines and solid ends. Work is required in drilling out the ends of the exhaust to ensure that it does look like as intended. The engine does not have the best mounting design either. I found the mount to be rather flimsy and the engine panel covers to be a little lazy on ICM's behalf. I decided to glue the engine in and glue all the engine panels down, I cant say that all the panels fit as intended but with some TLC you can get them pretty close.
My third and final issue is the landing gear. This is a minor issue but I thought it was worth mentioning. Given the very basic Soviet design of early war aircraft, I thought that the model landing gear would have been just as simple. The landing gear doors lack location indication, leaving you pondering exactly how and where it is suppose to be glued. I will admit that I find the landing gear to be strong and stable but very fiddly to get the correct alignment of the legs.
To every bad there must be a good. The kit itself is an absolute gem to build. It is a kit that you do not want to put down once you have started. With it being a Soviet, second world war subject, you have a pleasurable freedom in how you chose to paint and weather this little bird. The decals are a major point scorer for this kit, they are nice and thin, with great colour, and they conform beautifully. Although there are very few clear parts for this kit, the clarity can not be faulted.
Final Thoughts
ICM is now becoming a major manufacturer to be taken seriously when releasing kits, and THIS one is no exception. For anyone who is looking to produce a kit that goes together, whilst also making you work for a great end result, look no further than the ICM 1/32 I-16 Type 24.
