Spanish Air Force ICM 1/72nd Polikarpov I-15

ICM 1/72nd Polikarpov I-15

ICM 1/72nd Polikarpov I-15 By Matt Bittner Background Awhile back, I did a comparison review of the then-released 1/72nd I-15 kits. I refer you to that article if you’re interested in learning about the Pavla, Azur/Special Hobby and Aviation Usk kits. However, if you’re only interested in the most accurate and best 1/72nd I-15, then you’ll read this First Look and forego the other kits. In that review, though, I did talk about the best book out on the Chayka, the one from Mikhail Maslov. This is still the definitive book on the I-15 and is a must for serious students of this aircraft. The Kit The ICM Polikarpov I-15 consists of 48 injected molded parts as well as four clear: two, different windscreens, as well as the small windows for the fuselage directly in front of the cockpit. Decals are for four schemes, two from the Spanish Civil War (SCW) and two Spanish machines, post-SCW. The decals are very nicely done and in register. If you want Russian markings, you’ll either have to scrounge your own, or wait for ICM to release this kit with Russian markings at a later date. Naturally, construction starts with the cockpit. This is definitely the most accurate and most complete cockpit of any I-15 kit. Very nicely done and with only the inclusion of seat belts you’ll have a nicely done cockpit basically out of the box. Construction now moves to adding more. Separate rudder (without the problems of the first-release I-152 which I mentioned in my ICM “new mold” I-152 review), horizontal tailpieces, engine and cowl pieces, etc. One nice feature of the ICM kit is the separate cockpit doors - differnt ones because some of the Spanish machines had a cut-down door. While the doors aren’t molded to be left opened – the separate doors are molded closed – it will not be that difficult to separate the pieces, allowing one to display the cockpit doors opened. Excellent! Construction finishes with adding the wings, struts and landing gear. While I haven’t try-fit the upper wing to the fuselage yet, it may need to be added prior to painting to see how the fit is and whether it will need seam work or not. One item brought to my attention by Alexandre Vieira is the inaccuracy of the landing gear legs. While not totally inaccurate, they will take some work to make accurate. Looks like the best “legs”, out-of-the-box, are the ones from Azur/Special Hobby. However, even those require a little bit of work to make accurate. Just something to be aware of. ICM was very thoughtful and includes a rigging diagram. Superb! Conclusion If you want to build a 1/72nd Polikarpov I-15, then the ICM kit is the one to purchase. Overall it’s not only the most accurate but also the best molded. While the Pavla and ICM kits appear to have the same masters, the ICM kit is molded to a much higher degree and there is no “grainy texture” that befalls the Pavla kit. Unfortunately, so far, obtaining the brand-new ICM kits (not to be confused with Alanger) is difficult in the UsofA because it appears no one is bringing these kits in yet. Hopefully that will change soon, and it will be easy to obtain the ICM kits as the rest of the world. I recommend this kit highly, and is to be sought after more so than any other 1/72nd I-15 kit.