Review: We’re Being Invaded! Actually ICM’s B-26B Invader 1/48, it’s here.
It truly has been a great end of the year. With anticipating announcement earlier in the year now becoming available. Then those we have been waiting for like the AMK F-14D that seem like it would never be produced, during that span Tamiya announced and soon produced not only the F-14A but their own F-14D Tomcats while AMK was fumbling away their cat. But finally landed during the summer. Then their amazing P-38 finally hitting the shelves in early October. But in the shadows we finally get the new IMC B-26B-50 and it's a doosie. It was on the porch when I got home.
Monogram first released their initial B-26C in 1993, a glass nose version in black plastic and upper turret only followed by the ProModeler A-26B with the gun nose and upper and lower rear turrets in 1995 in grey plastic. In the late 90's DML had planned a series of A/B-26 Invaders that never bore fruit. The most recent new mold B-26 Invaders were introduced by Italeri in 72nd scale about 10 years ago now, how time flies. Various shape issues have been pointed out by reviewers, not repairable, but in the end it still looks like an Invader. For some it was a deal breaker, those who overcame those issues have built excellent models out of them. I built the first issue back in the mid 90's not knowing at the time there was an issue. Too me it was a typical minor challenging Monogram kit to build, and not only the kit but using the Paragon set to modify it to a B-26K Counter Invader. It is the very first model I ever posted on I modeler back in 2013.
Now let see what is in the box, yummy! The kit comes in a nice glossy box top that you lift and then you have a birthday cake? Actually a white box that you lift the lid and reveals the model in one big self sealing bag. Though thankfully the clear parts are in their own bag among all the sprues. The instruction sheet is at the bottom of the box with the decal sheet under the instruction booklet, my kit did have one of the corners dog eared as it was caught up against the wall of the box. The kit is molded in medium grey plastic.
The instruction booklet is international, paint guide/table which calls out Tamiya or Revell paint as reference, parts map and then the construction starting with the cockpit. ICM's approach is to build the sub assemblies with in the main flight deck, before culminating in assembling the whole cockpit as a unit. Not familiar with ICM as this is my very first ICM kit, so it will be an adventure when it comes to start building it.
The decal sheet is for 3 USAF Korean war birds in OD or bare metal finish. ICM also provides a nice color fold out of all 3 schemes that is provided in the kit. The decal sheet on my kit was a bit dog eared on one corner, but no damage to the decals.
Now that we are done with the paper work, lets look at some plastic. Starting with Sprue A. Which contains the fuselage halves, horizontal tails, the rear lower turret insert and cockpit floor. (will check that as it may be for the rear compartment.)
The fuselage halves are designed in a modular configuration which tells us of future releases, (the next being the B-26B-15 maybe before the end of the year). Fine engraved panel lines. No rivets except for around the wing roots and fasteners in some of the service panels on the horizontal tail. Interior has the stringers and framing within. Electrical boxes molded into the cockpit. One thing to note the door window on the RH rear fuselage is rectangular in a horizontal position, on the Monogram kit it is vertical. Check your references as it may come both ways as shown on a couple of images found
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- 1. Fine engraved panel lines no rivet detail on the fuselage,
- 2. rivet details on the wing roots
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- 1. interior stringers present, some may wish to enhance this area
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- 1. Cockpit floor
- 2. minor mold release
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- 1. horizontal tail with separate stabs. Allowing to configure drooped or neutral
Sprue B contains the LH upper and lower wings, ft and rear wing spars moulded with the forward and rear bomb bay bulkheads. Detail gain fine and crisp, the interior bits also are nice no flash on any of the parts. Wings has separate flying surfaces. So drop the flaps and pose the ailerons if you wish. The wheel well front walls are show some detail. So far things looks really good on the kit.
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- 1. SPRUE B
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- 1. lower wing and part of main gear bay details.
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- 1. bulkhead
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- 1. forward wheel bay walls
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- 1. rear bomb bay wall
- 2. forward bomb bay wall
Sprue C, contains the RH upper and lower wing panels, LH/RH engine/wheel bay nacelles, bomb bay doors. The engine nacelles have well defined details with in the wheel bays. With front and rear walls included will enhance the landing gear when installed. The bomb bay doors can be displayed open. The details in the interior side of the doors are well done.
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- 1. Sprue C
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- 1. Bomb bay door
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- 1. Well defined wheel wells
Sprue D contains the Pratt & Whitney R2800 Double Wasp radial engines. Almost a model in itself. Separate exhausts, crank case, collector and conductor rings, pushrods, lots of detail for the engines very nice. Hamilton Standard props, Bomb Racks, nicely done wheels separate from the tires,making them easy to paint and assemble. The engine cowls again continue the trend of well done panel lines. The engine firewall mount also serves as the forward section of the nacelles.
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- 1. Sprue D
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- 1. Pratt & Whitney R2800 Radial double wasp engines.
- 2. 4 pieces make up the 1st and 2nd set cylinders
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- 1. Exhaust Collector
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- 1. Very nice Crank case
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- 1. Exhaust conductor rings
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- 1. exhaust manifolds
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- 1. Hamilton Standard Prop
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- 1. Bomb bay rack
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- 1. Main Wheel hubs
- 2. Front
- 3. Backside
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- 1. Some loose parts in the bag
- 2. Engine cowling
Sprue E, is the largest sprue in the kit, and it contains ton of well detailed parts. The nose and main gear struts. Nose and main gear doors. Which are excellent, and like the recently reviewed P-38, they are designed with similar attachment points with hinges and part of the interior walls which eliminates the chance of being knocked off.
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- 1. Sprue E
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- 1. Looks familiar, like the new Tam P-38. nose bay doors with hinges attached to the side walls of the nose gear bay
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- 1. Nose bay doors inner details
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- 1. Main wheel bay doors
- 2. Again very nice inboard details
The nose wheel has well defined spokes.
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- 1. Nice well defined spokes on the nose wheel
The pilots instrument panel has detailed instruments, though a decal is supplied for the gauges. Flaps and ailerons as well as the drop tanks are also on this sprue.
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- 1. Pilots instrument panel
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- 1. Nose wheel
- 2. Drop tank
The gun nose is designed as a clam shell. upper half has possibilities to display open, great opportunity for some that wish to add to this feature. Or great to add some weight to keep the nose down. Also plenty of electrical boxes and radios to add into the interior.
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- 1. 8 gun nose
- 2. Lower nose
- 3. Wing gun inserts
- 4. Engine firewall
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- 1. Electrical boxes
- 2. Interior details
Sprue F are the tires, in plastic, easy to assemble and paint. No bulge or flat spots are present to show weight.
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- 1. Separate plastic tires make assembly easier and painting. No bulge or flat spots. you can substitute with resin wheels.
Finally the clear sprue, G, the glass is crystal clear, the framing well defined. The 2 types of canopies are supplied, the bulged side opening canopy and the flat with the tilt forward open crew entry door. Windows and lamps are also on the sprue.
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- 1. Excellent clear parts
- 2. Both types of canopies are available
- 3. Too bad only the flat style has the opening entry door that tilts forward
And there it is, the new mold of the B-26B Invader. To finally have someone other than the long standing Monogram kits is quite good news. Much of the attention is on the Tamiya P-38, while about the same time ICM has provided what may be a new series of B-26's, Next up is the B-26B-15 to be released in December. Now will we see a B-26K, Counter Invader, that would be cool.. ICM has designed the fuselage to just add panels that have the turret openings, while they are moulded in into the Monogram/Revell kit both of their kits, so they are different fuselages. The B with the upper and rear lower turrets while the "C" glass nose kit has just the upper turret, that kit is easier to convert into the K.
In conclusion the kit looks really good in the box. Parts look well detailed and very many ways to really enhance with the pose able flying surfaces. Engines can be displayed as if for maintenance, so many opportunities for super detailers. I may just add seat belts and resin wheels and will see what is out there on the decal market. ICM has hit a homerun with this one so far. I will pull down both Monogram kits I have the C and B for some comparison. I may just put the ICM kit into the build list in January for the new year plan. Kit courtesy of my BMW-Bless My Wallet.
Chuck
Fly Navy
Already got one.
When I decided that; cockpit needs an interior set or not I will start this.
Hi, Tolga, I was feeling the same way. Similar in interior details like the Monogram kit. The very clear canopy will show a bit in the cockpit. Looking forward when you start on yours. I appreciate your input.
The folks from ICM deserve reviews like this one, after all they do put out quite a substancial number of kits every year and for aircraft modellers like us, their broad range of subjects, where most have previously never been made or are poorly served in plastic, really make their effort even more worthy.
Good review Chuck!
Thanks Pedro, your correct, ever since Louis was working on his He-111 project and showing how well done the ICM kit was and also a review of the Do-17 perked my interest level in picking a couple of these up. And then when the B-26 was announced,that is when I decided to just wait till it became available and so far it looks great. Also interested in their series of Ju-88's now I wish they would do a Ju-188 Racher.
Chuck, there’s a big probability they’ll have a go at the 188 in the future, after all they’re covering all the Junkers 88 family. Just remember how Dragon/Trimaster rolled their series of the same aircraft...
Btw, next year I’ll definitely be building the Do.17Z kit
I do and the DML/Dragon Ju-188 is hard to find now, and expensive.
This is an excellent review ! After reading this and looking at the pictures I can see myself getting one of them in the near future. I have the old Monogram kit, but it's the glass nose version. I have always wanted the gun nose version and that's what ICM has done for us here with this one.
I can see them making several versions in the future too using this kit as a base.
I have reviewed several of their Luftwaffe twin engine planes and written articles on them that are posted here. I also have the He-111 on the work bench. I agree that ICM kits are very well made the engineering is great. The fit is spot on too. They are very detailed, but you must take care during assembly as one minor miss alignment problem can cause you problems later on down the road.
This is why my He-111 was shoved back into the corner. I didn't get the bomb bay door opening part in the exact position. Then I accidentally spilled glue on it... Luckily the glue spill problem is taken care of. I dodged a big bullet with that one !
I also want to build the Ju-88 A5, and the Do-17 Z-2 in 2020...They look like beautiful kits in the box. But I have to finish the Heinkel 111 first.
I think that ICM kits are among the best on the market, and I'm surprised that we don't see more of them built up.
Thanks for posting this for us Chuck !
"liked"
I am really impressed with the kit so far. Until actually seeing and looking at all the nice well moulded pieces on the kit. It is a wonder you don't see many of their previous offerings built like their series of Ju-88's. We know what we will get from Tamiya on their beautiful P-38, but for ICM is a bit unknown. But your He-111 build got me really interested. Pedro highly recommends them, his word is gold. They go a step in the interior, just like Monogram. Where as Tamiya gives ya just enough detail on their multi engine kits, but some do complain on a lack of details, that should be there, like the Dinah cockpit is a bit busy with hoses and conduits which need to be scratchbuilt to enhance the cockpit a bit more. ICM is worth the cost. Now let see if they do come up with a B-26K.
Great review Chuck. I haven't picked one of these up yet but possibly will do so. My next ICM project will be the Henschel 126 in either Russian front or north African scheme. I've got the Vector cockpit set and canopy correction set to give more detail to it. Also I have ICM's Ju-88C-6 day fighter and the Dornier 215 kits waiting to be done.
Thanks Travis, you have a head start on ICM kits, then your more aware of the quality of most of them. The Henschel 126 is one too look forward too in such a rare aircraft. Only a few are aware of them. As everyone are either in the mainstream or into the more known airframes. Looking forward to another masterpiece.
ICM has REALLY come a very, very long way. Especially when you consider their early works like their Yak-7s and -9s, which were often thickly coated in mold release agent, or their Spitfire IX (which we do not speak about) or their P-51 (a somewhat crude copy of the Tamiya kit). I've built their Mig-25RBT and LaGG series, and aside from a few fiddly hiccups, they were excellent. If the Invader is similar in engineering, you'll have a delightful puzzle to assemble.
Hi Wes, seems like in a world of Hasegawa, Tamiya and Revell to name a few, ICM has been around and like Airfix has turned things around with not only with seldom seen Soviet aircraft, from WWII to present in aircraft and armor. Just looking at the new B-26, and some reviews of the Ju-88 and He-111 series among others, they have quietly produced some really nice kits. I feel like I have neglected this company in not recognizing they have some really interesting subjects. I am going to stop that and start to pick up some more of them. Thanks for the comments.
Great review. I have the Monogram kit, glass nose version and look forward to ICM releasing the A-26B. Could an ICM 1/48 B-24 be not far behind? I will wait for the A-26B and pick one of those up.
Hi Mark, I have that as well. Which I had earmarked to convert to a "K" to replace the original one I had built at the turn of the century. A B-24, the whole series starting with the "D". That would be great. I believe HK has that planned as well as a Lancaster. Despite the new Invader, i will build the 2 Monogram kits I have eventually. ICM has hit a home run so far with this one.
Details look soft to me. The plastic looks soft, too...is it?
That may be due to some of the images and the flash diffusing how defined the details really are. The plastic is not soft, it feels just like the Monogram plastic just a bit of a very fine texture on the surfaces.