ICM 1/48th Scale P-51B

Hi All!

One may hazard a guess from the Mig-3 and Yak-9 I built from ICM, that all of their kits are, well (I'll be nice) not up to modern standards. That is not true. ICM's twin-stage Merlin Spitfire series was the best on the market until Eduard released their Spitfire series. The same is with their P-51D and P-51B/C. Nicely shaped with a decent amount of detail (The interiors are wrong, but that is easily fixed with resin parts). The kits appear to be based on the Tamiya kits, and share the errors in the wheel wells. The ICM kit fits well, but not as nice as the Tamiya kits, but they are less than 1/2 the price.

The kit being built is a P-51B/C from the "Famous WWII Fighters" boxing ( which includes a Mig-3, a Yak-9T, a Spitfire MK.IX, and the P-51B/C. Markings for "Kid" Hoffer's "Salem Representative" and James Howard's "Ding Hao!" are included.

Assembly went well with no hiccups or snags. I used the kit's incorrect cockpit as I was going to leave the canopy closed, and you really cannot tell it's wrong. The assembly of the fuselage with the radiators, ducts, and the like can be a bit fiddly. Take your time. If you attach the lower wing first, then attaching the upper wing will minimize any gap at the wing root. Some filler was required on the fuselage seams. When the seams were finished to my liking, the entire model was wiped down with Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the surface.

Now for the markings. Kid Hoffer's plane was out as it is natural metal (I do not do natural metal aircraft!), and Howard's Nose art was outlined with the wrong color ( It should be yellow, not red). Off to the decal stash for markings. A Life-Like sheet provided Duane Beeson's "Bee". "Bee" was in Dark Olive Drab 41 and Neutral Grey. Vallejo provided the colors. It is unfortunate the OD does not have a good color density, and required several coats. When the paint cured a coat of Future was brushed on as a base for the decals. The decals were applied using the Micro System, which worked very well. When dry a second coat of Future was brushed on. Finally, a coat of flat clear was prayed on. Parts such as the landing gear, canopy, antenna etc. were then attached and the kit was finished.

The model represents a P-51B serial 43-6819 named "BEE" coded QP*B flown by Capt. Duane Beeson CO of the 334th Sqn, 4th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force based in Debden, Essex, UK.

The ICM P-51B/C is a decent kit, which is fairly inexpensive and easy to build. I can recommend this kit to everyone.

Bruce

3 additional images. Click to enlarge.