As expected, the ICM 1/48 scale B-26G Marauder plastic model kit does a great job replicating the final version of the bomber that served both U.S. and French forces during World War II. With a 3.5-degree angle of attack added to the wings, the aircraft has a bit of an unusual appearance. Out of the 400 parts supplied in the kit (ICM lists 380 total), there are a lot of parts you won’t use, and ICM does a good job of highlighting this. Pay attention to which parts get used and which ones don’t. The instruction booklet contains 134 separate steps. Most are clear and concise, but some part locations are vague.
You can build the bomb bay open or closed, and the interior is fairly complete. The cockpit and other interior parts are detailed well (you’ll want to add seat belts), and fit great into the tight fuselage. However, closing the fuselage halves proved difficult. I ended up with gaps on the top center and lower front that required filling, and the bomb-bay doors weren’t an exact fit in the closed position either. The 90 grams called for in the nose is a must to keep the Marauder from tail sitting.
All control surfaces are molded separately and fit well.
ICM did a wonderful job of hiding all the ejector-pin marks, even on the landing-gear bay doors and inside the bays. The good-looking landing gear are strong enough to support the heavy model, so no worries there. However, the wheels come in halves, and removing the seam also ruined the finely molded diamond tread. On the upside, it gave the tires a used appearance.
ICM provides two complete engines. Cylinder halves, push rod tubes, magnetos, exhaust stacks, and cowling rings are all separate. You could display the engines with the cowlings off, but the instructions do not mention this. The cowlings were a tight fit and required test-fitting and sanding, and there was still a gap when fully seated.
To make painting this big model easier, I left the wings off until everything was complete. This simplifies the final assembly of all of the little parts, such as gun pods, landing gear, and antennas. The wings simply slide onto the wing supports. They, too, were a tight fit, but worked well enough, leaving only a slight gap that isn’t too noticeable. The kit’s clear parts were amazing — clear with a nice fit — and ICM provided masking templates in the instructions.
The kit included markings for three bombers: Willie The Wolf (the one I chose), the all-metal Donna Deloris of the 444th Bombardment Squadron, and an all-metal finish French aircraft based in France, 1945. The sharply printed decals laid down well over Tamiya acrylics, although they are a bit fiddly to work with.
The ICM 1/48 scale B-26G Marauder is a much needed kit, and fills a hole in the bomber’s history for scale modelers. I would not recommend this kit to a beginner, but with a few models under your belt and a little patience, it would be a great step up for an intermediate or veteran builder. Keep up the good work, ICM!