Oh boy. What a
massive modeling project. As many of you, I saw this beast advertised time ago.
As some reviewers were getting hold of the model and started to comment about
their impressions, it was obvious that this was not an easy one. The sheer
number of parts, the minute size of some of those components and the complexity
of the building system -closer to a flying model than to a plastic static model-
just makes for a long-breath, care-demanding, non-forgiving enterprise.
ICM is now well known among most modelers. They usually have an excellent
surface treatment, detail-oriented engineering and, apparently, very tiny
injection equipment. This could be the reason for the excessive count of parts,
especially in the wing area of this particular model.
What can be seen here is a almost unbelievable level of craftsmanship in the
making of the master molds, unfortunately coupled with some production problems.
Among the many glitches encountered were the variable thickness of the
supposedly matting edges -making difficult the use of plastic card tabs to help
alignment-, the insufficient and less than perfect notches and locator devices
in building the wing structure, and the interlocking system of parts plagued
with minor inaccuracies that unfortunately translated later into major
misalignments, very, very difficult to solve.
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I have seen on the
Internet some awesome TB-3 models, product without doubt of unimaginable
dedication and skill. Some of these models departed from the versions originally
offered and added yet more parasite fighters hanging from or on top of every
conceivable place. A few of these models exemplify for me the epitome of
modeling.
Being myself a much modestly gifted modeler I decided to go on with a
demilitarized, ski-equipped version with enclosed cockpit of which I just had a
side view from the Internet. I confess that some educated guessing was done here
and there, coupled with some extrapolation of data from other variants of this
plane.
The level of detail
I found in this kit was beyond my expectations. I was delighted with every bit.
Some little flash was present and some parts were very delicate and difficult to
remove from the sprues without braking them.
The propellers have -even with very tiny rivets- the metal guard on their
leading edges. The engines are well detailed as are the cowlings, but the
spinner doesn't fit at all on the propeller, so you will have to work on both to
achieve a decent fit, and the same goes for some parts of the engine compartment
assembly.
Many sink holes were found, and, as some of them are on parts were the
corrugated surface is represented, they are difficult to correct. The engines,
being solid casts, had also magnificent samples of sink holes too.
As I was making progress in the first stages of building the model. I
experienced a sense of satisfaction, being able to tackle most of the
challenges, until I arrived to the point were you have to deal with the wings.
Oh dear. The above-mentioned interlocking airplane-like system of ribs and spars
looks good but doesn't perform that well. The skin of the wing is composed of
many (too many, I may say) panels, The thickness of the spar-rib (airfoil) combo
seems to be too much, and the skin plates fall short in some places. The four
parts that make for the central area of the leading edge don't match with their
counterparts. Neither do the parts that make for the fixed part of the trailing
edges. Since all of these parts have micro-corrugated detail, you can not just
simply fill, sand, of scratch with a blade, without leaving a mess that would be
very difficult to deal with afterwards. So, a careful adjustment of the parts is
mandatory and that will take a loooot of time. In the subject of this article I
didn't achieve a totally satisfying surface, and since I was aiming for a metal
finish I wasn't completely pleased, but had to come in terms with myself and at
some point just go on.
I must say that the only sector of the plane were I felt really frustrated was
the wing. Fuselage, tail unit, interior details, although demanding and
requiring adjustments, were a very pleasant building experience.
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In one picture you
can see the main skis made of plastic sheet and carved balsa wood, treated with
cyano and filler to achieve a smooth surface. The tiny tail ski is also visible.
In some images you can also see the covers for the machine gun positions in the
fuselage and under the wings. To fill these holes and to create the new enclosed
canopy I used plastic and aluminum corrugated sheets from a model train store,
not a perfect match but close enough for me. A new glazed cover was made for the
"bow" of the fuselage also. For the serial numbers I printed my own
decal in an ink-jet printer on a blank decal sheet, covering them later -before
application- with a few passes of airbrushed Future to avoid smudges. This
didn't work, so I used an artist's product, a Krylon "workable fixatif"
spray-can that did the trick. The fonts are not quite the same, but some of the
model detail are sort of spurious too, so I kept merrily going.
I used both, acrylic and enamel paints, and some oils for the
weathering/washes/stains on a Future layer.
That I am aware of, there are two photo-etched detail sets for this kit, from
Extratech and Eduard, but I decided to go on without them, realizing that surely
I had enough to worry about with the kit itself.
Wing aside, this project wasn't as terrible as I thought, but it is definitely
not for the ones that are not willing to do some serious modeling-.
I hope that ICM gets in the future a huge machine to produce really large parts,
and keep doing these wonderful kits with a more reasonable break-down of the
parts, and, if possible, consistent thickness.
Anyway, the TB-3 surely looks the part if you are into the subject, with its
pterodactyl-like stance and all the unmistakable flavor of the 30's .
Gabriel
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