1/72 ICM I-16  

by Gabriel Stern

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  May Day 2006 

 

As attractively easy as this one may look, be repaired for some action. The innocent appearance of this little bug could deceive you if you don't pay attention and make the necessary adjustments to get a popper fit.
  The first thing I noticed was the welcome absence of the oily residue that was present in some of my other ICM models. The detail is really good, and the engine group alone, from firewall to spinner, has sixteen parts. The wings have gorgeous surface work and a bit awkward breakdown.
  With ICM sometimes I think we are being the guinea-pigs of some experimentation. Be it all for the glory of the hobby.

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  In manipulating this size of model and parts is when we, 1/72 suffered fans, feel the temptation of switching to 1/32 and merrily build our models under the shower with the lights turned off.
  The interior is well represented but with no side detail. The instrument panel, with delicately raised dials, will not be visible unless you use an endoscope. I opened up one of the fuselage "doors", to help a little with the view of the inners. As the cowl comes in panels, you may opt to leave some off, in order to provide a view of the excellent engine.

  Fit was mostly good, but, in order to help with it, carefully remove the light flash and mold lines present in some of the parts. The only serious glitch I had was at the nose, where fuselage, firewall, engine mount, engine and cowl parts were very reluctant to contribute to universal harmony. Reading out loud some paragraphs from D.H. Lawrence, Mark Strand and T.S. Elliot, combined with some mantras and the brief exhibition of a hammer did the trick.
I used acrylics from several brands to paint the model, not having a good experience with the Tamiya's for the undersides, which left a grainy, uneven surface. Decals, as usual with ICM, were not the best, and silvered a little, but you can use them.
  Together with the my Gee Bee and my Wobbling Goblin, they make a remarkable trio on how to build an airplane around an engine with 10 pounds of aluminum.
  BTW: when is somebody going to re-issue Heller's 1/72 Couzinet Arc-en-Ciel, I ask myself?

Gabriel

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Photos and text © by Gabriel Stern