ICM 1/48 I-153 Completed

This is ICM's 1/48 scale I-153 that I just completed. Added to the base kit is Eduard etch, and decals for a captured example used by Finland against its former owners. The decals are from SBS Model's D48003 "I-153 Chaika in Finnish Service".

The kit itself was quite nice, with no unpleasant surprises as far as building goes. Some putty was required to fair in the bottom wing, and to deal with a gap in the tail, but puttying is a basic skill so no biggie. With the top wing sitting on the fuselage, there was nothing fiddly about building a biplane. The rigging diagram, however, was very poor and I couldn't figure out where they should run so I ended up skipping the rigging.

The Eduard etch was OK, but with the small opening into the cockpit, I don't think majority of the set was needed. The etch bits for adding a missing strut into the landing gear and belts were the best parts of the etch. I managed to get the gunsight put together, with both of the acetate bits, but it ended up being too tall as it interfered with the windscreen. Live and learn.

Paints are from AK's Real Colors set for Finnish AF in WW2, with the theater yellow from Tamiya. The Real Color line has become my favorite line of paints, as they can be easily thinned and never clog the airbrush - my bane with acrylics.

The decals from SBS were fantastic, conforming well with Solvaset. Best part is that SBS provides all markings for all four options on the sheet, so you can actually do all four options presented, rather than having to choose a single one with only the national markings or stencils for a single option as some others do.

I have a second kit in the stash, and will see about locating rigging diagrams for that one, as well as adding only some generic seatbelts.

3 additional images. Click to enlarge.