I-16 Type 24
ICM 1/32 I-16 Type 24 by John Bisset
SCALE: 1/32
KIT NUMBER: 32001
PRICE: £28.99
PANEL LINES: Recessed
STATUS: New issue
TYPE: Plastic injection moulded kit,
recessed panel lines.
KIT PARTS: 115 (18 clear)
DECAL OPTIONS: 4
MANUFACTURER: ICMT
his is ICM’s first 1/32
scale kit and it is superb.
It comes in a fairly stout
cardboard box with a slip-on
top cover detailing the kit type.
It has neatly-done sprues of
medium-grey plastic moulding,
with a fine satin surface finish,
which provides a good paint key.
The decal sheet provides four
options, one with large slogans
painted along its sides and one in
natural metal as a winter scheme.THE BUILD
Unusually, the instructions suggest
the build starts with the wings,
which are easily completed. The
one-piece underside requires a
short forward section be added
underneath, plus the upper wing
sections and two superbly long
ailerons, which are nearly the full
span of the wing. No wonder this
little beast was so manoeuvrable!
Although the instructions
suggest adding the wingtip
running lights at this stage,
I left them off until after the
main painting was done.
The cockpit and fuselage build,
in comparison, has a lot of detail to
be built in and there are some very
nicely moulded details involved. Aword of caution: In common with
other kits by ICM, there are some
points where care needs to be taken.
Although some locating points are
provided to aid positioning and
act as references, the build does
involve some delicate positioning
of bulkheads and a floor section.
I found it helpful to change the
order of build in the instructions. I
assembled the bulkheads and floor
section together and let them setfairly firmly before fitting them
into the fuselage half. I positioned
the second fuselage half in place
and secured it with tape. Gently
infiltrating liquid glue into place
and allowing everything to dry
fully overnight ensured a strong
enough assembly for the rest
of the cockpit detail fitting.
I did it this way because, if built
as shown in the instructions, there
were too many possible adjustment
errors. This is fairly typical of
short-run kit manufacturers; ICM
is, I think, just developing past that,
and doing well, judging by this kit.
Although good internal detail is
provided (much of which is invisible
once the aircraft is complete), no
seat harness was included, which
is surprising in this scale. With
an open cockpit machine this is
a rather noticeable oversight, so
I made up some seat belts from
tinfoil. Aftermarket seat belts are
available, though I don’t know if
any cater specifically to the I-16.
Since I didn’t know what the real
belts looked like, I just made up
something faintly believable.
The two fuselage halves – really
just the rear and lower centre
sections of the fuselage – are thenglued together, trapping the rudder
in place. The one piece elevator is
made up to the tailplane halves,
which are slid into place and glued,
and the tail cone is then added.
This is all very well moulded and
results in finely-detailed moving
surfaces. Only the ailerons are fixed.
Once completed, the cockpit
and central fuselage section is
attached to the wing. This fits well,
though I had some difficulty with
the butt joint where the extended
wing fuselage fairing meets the
main wing upper surface. In
hindsight, I should have glued
a small piece of plastic sheeting
inside the wing edge, to support
this joint. That would have saved
a little filling and sanding.
The engine is the other
complicated build in this kit.
It is a fine piece of work, with
both the front pushrods and the
intake manifold depicted well.
The I-16’s Shetsov M-62 or later
M-63 engine had separate exhaust
pipes on each of its nine cylinders,
exiting through four gaps in the
cowlings. These are a tight fit,
and positioning the exhausts on
the engine before setting it into
the fuselage was a challenge.58 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
KIT REVIEWS
056-65-Reviews-1018.indd 58 14/09/2018 15:23