Nick's ICM 1/48 U2

[therapy]

OK, here's my entry for this Group Build and thank you to Karl and Andrew for getting it up and running and hosting. I will be hoping to get started in the next week or so.....



This is a 2019 boxing of a 2014 tooling by ICM so hopefully it will go together nicely. Here are the plastic parts.....







The figures will most likely go straight into the spares box so apologies to anyone that was hoping to see this put together and painted.

Not many decals....



Usual ICM monochrome instructions...




And just the modicum of aftermarket...



I'm planning to build the night bomber version as flown by the 'Night Witches'. More later, thanks for looking in.

Nick.

 

[Mickc1440]

Looking forward to seeing this one

 

[scottie3158]

I will follow along.

 

[adt70hk]

Looks good Nick!

 

[Geoffers]

Nice choice Nick, I’ll tag along too

Geoff.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Good choice Nick. The night witches deserve to be better known.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Yep,I'm looking forward to seeing this one done too,
Coincidentally,I received some Quinta Studio interior decals for my I-16, first time I've bought that brand.... really nice aren't they .

---

 

[therapy]

Thanks Guys. The mouldings look very nice as do the Quinta extras. Bear with me though. Bench time non existent this weekend as we have the Grandkids. Last weekend we visited out Daughter up North so it was ruled out then as well.

Can't complain though, the weather is lovely for October...



Nick

 

[Geoffers]

Looks fabulous Nick, you’re right you can’t spend weekends like this tucked up inside.
I’m sure we will get plenty of days when the weather will be more suited to staying in and getting some bench time

Geoff.

 

[therapy]

Sneaked in a bit of time to have a closer look at the plane while the wife was doing bath time duty.

Apparently the type first flew in 1927 and was only intended as trainer, not being armed until WW2 when presumably there were enough of them available and nothing else suitable still airworthy.

Looking at the kit, the parts are quite finely moulded although there is a modicum of flash here and there. The tail fin in particular looks very delicate - like it could be melted away to nothing if I'm a bit careless with the glue! There's also a rudimentary rigging plan so that will be fun....

Nick

 

[adt70hk]

Good luck!!!

 

[therapy]

Ok, its not a lot, but I have made a start. There are a couple of ejector marks that are within the cockpit area. They might very well not be seen, but I will see if I can disguise them a bit. I've given the fuselage halves a bit of a clean up and removed the seam line from the (presumably leather) edging on the cockpit openings and also smoothed out a couple of attachment pins on the inside where some of the Quinta parts will go. The instructions suggest a grey for the interior. Hopefully more progress towards the weekend - not been informed of any plans for this weekend.....yet!





Thanks for looking in.

Nick.

 

[therapy]

Got a bit more stuck into this one and here's where I'm at:

Each of the seats is made up of six parts. They build up nicely, but I'll need to take care once they are glued onto the cockpit floor...





After these and the powerplant we assembled I started the painting. Interior was done with an AK Real Colour Steel Grey. Engine base was Vallejo Metal Colour Gunmetal and Exhaust Manifold over a black base. Then I got stuck into the Quinta detail set before a bit of titivating. Applying the rudder pedal straps was a challenge that yielded only 50% success....











Getting the exhausts lined up was a bit of a challenge too. Next job is tackling the seatbelts.

Thanks for looking in.


Nick.

 

[adt70hk]

Looking good Nick!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Loving that Nick. Really special so far

 

[scottie3158]

Nick,
Lovely work so far mate.

 

[Jim R]

I missed the start Nick, sorry. Nice looking kit. It always surprises me how many biplanes were operating in WW2. Great start. Cockpit looks excellent. Those 3D decals are a real game changer I think

 

[therapy]

Looking good Nick!

Loving that Nick. Really special so far

Nick,
Lovely work so far mate.

Thanks Guys. So far it's pretty plain sailing, but the hard work is still to come. Only built a few biplane kits before and that was a very long time ago.

I missed the start Nick, sorry. Nice looking kit. It always surprises me how many biplanes were operating in WW2. Great start. Cockpit looks excellent. Those 3D decals are a real game changer I think

Thanks Jim. The 3D decals really make a difference, but it does feel a bit like cheating!

More at the weekend hopefully.

Nick

 

[Geoffers]

Very nice Nick, cockpit and engine both look great

Geoff.

 

[therapy]

Not exactly stellar progress even by my standards, but I have done a bit on this....

The very nice Quinta seatbelts added:




The fuselage glued up - needed a bit of help at the very narrow attachment between the cockpits:



And I have got the lower main wing and nose fitted. There will need to be a bit of fettling in a few areas to achieve a nice looking fit once the structure has had time to go off a bit.




Thanks for looking in.


Nick