ICM continues to pump out fantastic kits in all genres of interesting subjects to the modeling world. This Beaufort is the sixth version to be released. I built the second release that featured tropical filters a couple of years ago, so there were no real surprises with this build.

The standard ICM box lid was adorned with a striking painting of a low flying, dark sea grey over white Beaufort dropping a red nosed torpedo over the water. Grey plastic parts were contained in one plastic bag, with a clear parts sprue protected within its own bag. The instruction manual and decal sheet were at the bottom of the box, along with a color sheet showing ICM paints available.

Following the instruction manual format, construction was set out to ease painting separate items. Components like the cockpit and cabin, landing gear and other assemblies could be completely built and painted in one session which sped up and simplified assembly.

I recently reviewed ICM’s 1/72 offering of this iconic truck. When this version came up for a review, I could not say no to the opportunity to review it. According to scalemates.com, the original tool came from ICM in 2014 and has been reissued many times since. Given the age of the mold, there is a little flash, and the parts are crisp. As many ICM fans know, ICM plastic is on the soft side. It is easy to clean up, but you cannot be too aggressive when you clean up the pieces. There are ten frames, with two of them being doubled. There are two frames for clear parts and two sets of what I am assume is rubber for tires. There is a separate frame for the driver. The instructions are typical ICM, with exploded diagrams and paint call outs with ICM paints. Color-equivalent charts can be found online, so if you do not have ICM paints, you can easily find replacements. There are decals and markings for one vehicle in the 2022-24 time frame.

MMP Books continues to expand its “Colour and Scale” series, this time with an installment on the Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II.

This booklet has 5 pages of line drawings for the Thunderbolt II in 1/72 scale, providing side views (both port and starboard) top view, bottom view and side-view without the wing or rudder obstructing the fuselage profile.

In addition to the scale drawings, there are 8 pages of full-color profiles and, in some cases, also top and bottom views.

Some of the camouflages are relatively well known as the two-gray early scheme or the “Flipper” scheme, but others are unique, like the “Jawa” one, which reminds me of Italian World War 2 camouflage schemes.

The book covers camouflage schemes from the late ‘70s (early production) to the ‘90s (Desert Storm). I am not sure if the book includes all and every type of camo scheme used by the Thunderbolt II, but it certainly has a significant selection.