Head-to-Head Broncos, Academy & ICM

I tried another head-to-head comparison build of a vintage and a recent new tool kit; this time 1/72 scale OV-10A kits. I built the venerable Academy kit originally issued in 1999 and the 2023 ICM kit. The OV-10 is a distinctive iconic Vietnam War era aircraft that has long been popular with modelers. Scalemates.com lists nearly 70 1/72 scale boxings dating back to Hasagaw's 1968 version—followed closely by Airfix and Revell toolings in 1970.

The OV-10 Bronco was developed in the 1960s by North American Aviation for the U.S. military, primarily for light attack and reconnaissance. Its design emphasized versatility, allowing it to operate in diverse environments and perform various missions, including forward air control and counterinsurgency. The aircraft saw extensive service during the Vietnam War, where it proved effective in close air support and intelligence gathering. The OV-10 was retired from U.S. service in the 1990s but remains in use by several foreign military forces and civilian agencies such as NASA and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Given the OV-10's intended purpose, it was designed to maximize the visibility of the crew. Thus, the cockpit and canopy are very prominent components of any OV-10 kit. The ICM kit has good detail and great instrument decals. It lacks seat harnesses though, so I added some with lead foil. I also added a few cables to better match the very busy OV-10 cockpits.

The Academy kit shows its age with a much more basic cockpit treatment. This kit was in my stash for quite some time. At some point, I picked up an Eduard PE detail set. Even though this distorts the comparison somewhat I couldn't let it go to waste. Adding this PE was a big improvement.





Finished cockpit inserts; ICM on top.

ICM on right.

The Academy kit (right) needed much more putting and sanding.

ICM's kit has more landing gear detail including the bays.

The Bronco's twin boom configuration gives OV-10 kits powerful tail-sitting proclivities. The Academy kit in particular required aggressive placement of fishing weights.


There's a lot of canopy on these birds. I removed one pane on each to show off all that cockpit detail.


Ready for painting.

After painting, the soft and inconsistent panel lines on Academy kit led me to rescribe all of the upper wing lines and paint it again.


Panel liner really highlights the ICM details.

I enhanced the rocket pods with Bare Metal Foil.












The icing on the cake was snagging a second-place award at a recent IPMS show. Unfortunately, the Academy kit was ready for showtime yet.

Overall, both kits can be built up into nice representations of the classic OV-10A. However, the new ICM kit really shines in terms of fit, surface detail, and overall ease of construction. The lack of seat belts though is incongruous with the overall kit quality. The Academy kits is pretty good but cries out for PE details and requires a lot more elbow grease.