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ICM 1/48 Counter Invader

Started by Eric Berg · 21 ≡ · ↻ 2 years ago · A-26 Invader, A-26K, B-26K Counter Invader, Counter Invader, ICM

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Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:

I've been jonzing forever that someone would make a 1/48 scale A/B-26K Counter Invader so I wouldn't have to track down a bunch of resin upgrades to make the venerable Monogram kit work. This good sized box just arrived on my doorstep all the way from the Ukraine via a hobbyshop in the UK, and oh man, on first look - it appears ICM has delivered big time (for the most part). The box is loaded with sprues. Packed! However there are no masks or PE. Here's what greeted me when I first opened the lid of this sturdy box. All I could say was "wow"! Slow-mo.

See what I mean? More later...

I know what I will be working on most of 2022.
John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Looks indeed like an amazing kit, Eric @eb801
Csaba said 2 years, 5 months ago:

It looks promising! I will definitely follow the build, it is a great looking airplane.
I am about finishing ICM’s 1:48 Po-2, that is also a great little kit.
Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 5 months ago:

The Easily... distracted? bewildered? over at Hyperflail have been hyperventilating about the idea the nose is too short since the kit first came out. The current wild guess is 3mm (!) with it appearing to come between the forward bulkhead of the fuselage and the rear of the gun nose. I've looked and looked at the nose of the B-26B I did (the same as this) and it doesn't look short, and 3mm is only a problem if your OCD meds have stopped working.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 5 months ago:

What a great choice, my friend @eb801!
Looking forward to this super build!
Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:

TC@tcinla- thank goodness my meds are working! This looks like a great kit to me.
Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Armament Included
First thing I noticed when I opened the box is that ICM tossed in the complete 4 sprues that make up their US Aviation Armament accessory kit - a $25 value. Now that really makes this kit a deal breaker.
I will be looking at the rest of the sprues shortly but on first glance the new fuselage halves specific to the counter invader might be a bit short shot but I need to do some testing and more examining to verify.
Gary Brantley said 2 years, 5 months ago:

I like it! And, that is a great deal; it looks chock full of goodies! The Invader is about the coolest twin around. That's going to be a grand project Eric; I'm looking forward to seeing it progress! Model on brother!
Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:
Looking Deeper Into the Box and...Uh Oh..

Sprue H includes two newly tooled fuselage halves plus tires (I'll discuss these later) that are specific to the Counter Invader:
1. Uh-oh!
But hey - wait a minute! Are those sink marks I see? Unfortunately yes. To verify I sprayed them with one light coat of Alclad grey primer without sanding but sure enough, my fears were confirmed.

Here's the left side, primed.
1. sink mark

2. minor marks all the way along the top of the fuselage bomb bay openings.

3. Not sure what this, but this looks like a defect to me.

4. primer not sanded or smoothed out
No primer on the right fuselage below:
1. Sink marks seem pretty obvious to me, don't you think?

2. more sink marks

3. here too

4. and here
Ouch!

So what do you guys think? I am I seeing things? @garybrantley, @fiveten, @johnb, @tcinla and anyone else?
Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Here's the Other Side:

Seems obvious what's going on here right? The inside detail is the problem. TC@tcinla says he noticed this as well on his build after I pointed this out. I doubt there is slim chance in hell to get a sprue replacement from ICM The entire run probably has this issue. I'm hoping a few coats of paint will tone it down and no one will notice but me. Onwards.
John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Unfortuantely those marks are definitely there, Eric @eb801.
That defect (sort of imprint) you saw, to me looks like there was a particle in the mold preventing the plastic to flow there.
This is a real pitty when you discover this while opening the box.
Pretty sure you can handle those sink marks but those are not the easiest defects to correct.
Erik Gjørup said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Eric, you could choose to make a few (barely visible) vertical ones too to make an impression of a skin that has wrinkled a bit through tough use. Most planes do that over time, of course more pronounced on the early pressurised fuselages. I recall that the Indian manufactured H.S.748's were badly wrinkled straight off the line untill someone adressed the problem by introducing temperature control throughout the manufacturing process. Alu will stretch and shrink with temperature.

Looking forward to follow this project - I'm strapped in @eb801.
Gary Brantley said 2 years, 5 months ago:

That's a pretty good idea Erik! I remember reading an article in FineScaleModeler magazine years ago describing how to recreate "post-stressed" aluminum skin.
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Pretty obvious that the internal detail contributed to the "sink" situation, my friend @eb801. I would risk to say that if those molds were left to cool down more time maybe those sink areas would not have existed...
Eric Berg said 2 years, 5 months ago:

Thanks for those comments Spiros @fiveten, Erik @airbum, Gary @garybrantley and John@johnb. Erik is absolutely right noting that it is common to see wrinkles on aluminum skinned fuselages. Look at a B-24 for example. So I'm going to make this "wrinkle" work out as part of the plan. I just came across some color photos of Counter Invaders in South East Asia that showed several wrinkles, dings, dents and bulges between the canopy and nose.

Speaking of "wrinkles", I will be examining the kit tires next as I go through the sprues. Thanks for stopping by.

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Work in Progress – Aircraft

ICM 1/48 Counter Invader