A while back (a couple of years?), I built ICM’s 1/72 Su-27 for a review. I can’t remember the reason, but I wound up using a cut-off straight pin for the pitot on the kit. Well, here’s the fix for that.

I had to pull the pin out of the nose of the ICM kit, then clean up the end of the nose where some CA had built up. Then, all that was necessary was to insert the new pitot, check its fit, remove it, put some gel-type CA on the pitot, and insert it. I kinda lucked out here, as the hole for the straight pin was as large as I needed for the new pitot. Master Model also gives the correct angle for the pitot, which is lacking in the kits.

After the CA had set, a matter of minutes, I painted the new pitot. DONE!!

Overall Evaluation

Highly recommended. It’s an easy fix, it fits nicely, and I had zero problems with this add-on. I’ll have to pick up another one of these to fix the Hasegawa Su-27 on the shelf next to the ICM kit.

History

The Fairey Swordfish, while appearing to be outdated at the beginning of World War II, actually became one of the outstanding airplanes used by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. While most were land- or carrier-based with wheeled undercarriages, a significant number of Swordfish Mk. I’s were operated as twin-float seaplanes, mainly from battleships and cruisers, or from shore bases such as Gibraltar, where they were used for fleet reconnaissance, gunfire spotting, and anti-submarine patrol. Probably the most famous action in which Swordfish floatplanes took part was the April, 1940, Second Battle of Narvik, where they spotted gunfire for HMS Warspite, resulting in the destruction of seven German destroyers, plus the sinking of the submarine U-64 with bombs.

This kit is a combination of the Bronco gun kit and the Dragon 6275 crew kit. The gun can only be presented in the firing position as the travel bogies are not present. The crew can be depicted in either anti-tank mode or anti-aircraft mode. However, the crew instructions included with the Bronco instructions only show them in the anti-tank mode. You can get Dragon 6275 instructions and build the crew in different poses, and even in the anti-aircraft mode, which is what I did.

The basic point to remember when building this kit is that there are numerous small plastic and PE parts. Care should be exercised during the build, and you may even want to delay attaching certain parts until almost the end of the build.