Here's a look at ICM's excellent new quarterscale kit of the VVS's ultimate biplane fighter. This is the first time the "Chaika" has been available as a mainstream kit in this scale.

Link to Item



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Nice review (as always)

BTW feel free to post the pix of the finished model...

all the best

Steffen

Hi Rowan
I would lower your assessment of this kit from 90% to 50%. For me this is disappointment of the year. I impatiently expected this model and though on sprues everything looks very beautifully, but in fact virtually each detail has to be remade or corrected. Wheel wells are wrong, gear legs are strongly simplified and missed some details, covers of wheels are wrong, panels on a fuselage - fiction, overlapped panels on a fabric surface (!!!), shutters of the engine aren't right, exhaust pipes (and openings in a cowl for them) approximately in 1/75 scale, the shape of the propeller isn't right, defects on a mould on the lower surface of the right top wing. I didn't study a cockpit yet, but I presume issues there too.
Give me a little time, and I will upload some pictures.

Sergey.

Hi Sergey

Wow! That's quite a list and I certainly won't doubt you on a subject like this. I'll try to build the kit soon, so it'd be great if you can post pics highlighting the problems so I can tackle some of them as I go. I'll note your concerns in the review.

@ Steffen - Many thanks, I'll post them as an On Display.

All the best

Rowan

OK, let’s start.

Wheel wells shouldn’t be perfect circle like ICM done, they have more complex shape, small plexiglas windows are missed as well













Wheel wells aren’t empty at all, there’s a lot of detail that ICM missed (note that fuel tank should be black, not yellow like on these photos).















Here’s my correction in progress.











Exhaust pipes. Here’s drawing from original manual



As you can see, pipe should be oval 57x96 mm (about 1.2x2 mm in 48th), ICM have made round pipes about 0.8 mm in diameter. Here is comparison with Moskit’s pipe that has correct dimensions, openings in the cowl are way too small as well.





Surface details.

Overlapped panels on the fabric(!!!) surfaces





These panels are fiction, there’s no one picture of them



Drill these:



Mould defects



Wheel cower:



Engine shutters.

There were 3 different shutters.

The early for M-25 engine



For M-62 engine (the most widespread)





For M-63 (late):





ICM gave the once for M-63 engine, but 3 opening in the lower part of shutters must be open no matter if the shutters are fully open or closed



Gear legs.

Torque link missed



This brace ICM gave as a simple rod (part 26), hydrocylinder missed





Cockpit floor



There are some other issues.

Sergey.

Man that's a brutal takedown Sergey! I'm glad I read your review before making a buy decision on this one. The defects seem so huge that I would be very reluctant to get this. Far more trouble than it's worth! I may have a Classic Airframes quarter inch kit in my stash. How does that compare?

I have built CA kit back in 90-th, and it's no better in terms of accuracy but far worse in quality of moulding and fit. So if you want Chaika then buy ICM, another + of this kit it's cheap . Issues are fixable and I'll release at least 2 correction sets for it.

Sergey.

Thanks for the input Sergey.

Hi Sergey

Thank you very much for the photos and info! They'll be a real help in refining the kit as it stands. And I'll definitely look forward to your upgrades! I think you nailed it with your comment about the kit being so cheap - that takes away any fear of indulging in some corrective surgery and means it won't break the bank to add the improvements. It's almost ideal from that point of view.

I'm just kicking myself that I was so busy admiring the fabric effect that I didn't notice the small blemishes under the wing! I'll edit my review to include that.

Thanks as ever and all the best

Rowan

Good to know about all the issues. It seems there are quite few of them, but all of them fixable. I dont see anything that would be a problem for an experienced modeller. Im not saing its ok, but lets be fair we have seen other companies charging far more for far worse kits lately. I bought the Ju88 from ICM this year and will be getting the Do-17 and Cajka aswell.

Not being a rivet counter I don't see the wheel wells as issues and the price is extremely attractive. The casting issue is something else as that's in the realms of quality control. I would have been blisfully unaware of the errors without Sergey's astute and informative commentary. I look forward to seeing the resin replacements that he produces. This particular aircraft has been on my wish list since they rebuilt the I16's and Chaika at the Alpine fighter collection in Wanaka. It's an awesome little bi-plane that's an attractive subject to build and the markings and camo jobs are just about endless.