RAF Pilots and
Ground Personnel
(1939-1945)

ICM

ICM's 1/48 scale RAF Personnel are available online from Squadron.com

Reviewed by Barry Friesen

It seems a long time ago that ICM first posted a RAF figure set at their web site. At last, this much anticipated set has been released! Anyone who has built anything by ICM has come to expect a high degree of detail and at a reasonable price. Well, they have done it again, delivering seven detailed figures in a variety of poses and a dog. This figure set will be a hit as RAF/Commonwealth aircrew are all but ignored by the model manufacturers. With the ground crew, equipment, and enough figures for a few dioramas, and at around the price of a single resin figure, how can you go wrong?

Each figure is molded in six separate pieces, arms, legs, torso and head. Four figures also include separately molded “accessories”, these being a Jerry can for the ground crew, flight jacket for a pilot, parachute for the pilot in leather flying suit, and a shoulder bag for the WAAF. The detail on these figures is incredible, equal to or better than many resin figures I’ve seen! The uniforms with their shirt and tie, pockets, buttons, and hats all boast clear details. Hands and heads often make or break figures for me and these definitely make it! Each figure has a different face with its own subtle lines and all the hands look very realistic with natural poses. The artist(s) that work for ICM are to be commended for their incredible work. For the diorama modelers, ICM has also included some ground equipment. These include a wooden ladder, a workbench, jerry cans, a wing jack, and an oxygen cart with two bottles.

The fit of all the pieces was perfect. End of story. There was a little flash present on a few pieces that make up the ground equipment, but the figures were flash free. Only a very minor amount of seam cleanup was required and assembly with Zenax-7R yielded invisible seam lines.

The quality and bang for your buck of this figure set will be welcomed by RAF modelers everywhere. The ease of assembly and quality of these figures made them a joy to build and paint. My thanks to ICM-USA for supplying the review kit.
 

Review and Images Copyright © 2002 by Barry Friesen
Page Created 30 March, 2002
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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