ICM has been pumping out the WWI-era model kits as of late and I have been reveling in it. After learning this kit was available, I jumped at the chance to grab it after recently finishing their FWD Truck kit. For this moderately skilled modeler though, this one proved to be a bit more challenging and frustrating. Details on the parts were crisp and the included engine is nice as well. However there are quite a few sink marks, and not all of them are so easily hidden.

What’s Inside the Box

The kit comes as the standard ICM kit does—with a colorful box top that slides off of an enclosed brown cardboard box. Parts were packaged well and details were crisp with no flash to speak of.

Whew, this was a strange one and I apologize up front to Kitty Hawk. They were nice enough to send us a sample and somewhere between them and us, the USPS lost the kit. Every effort to find it or get it back failed. In the end, I bought the kit as I really wanted it. More importantly, let’s look at the kit!

The FJ-2 Fury was the result of an effort to convert the USAF’s F-86 Sabre to a carrier-based plane. It included folding wings and a longer nose gear strut. Kitty Hawk has come out with kit KH80155. Inside the box, you will find three well-made gray sprues with recessed panel lines, a clear sprue, a small photoetch set for details and seat belts plus a decal sheet. With this initial release, Kitty Hawk also included two resin figures which are very nicely done. Looking at the kit, the build is separated into front and back as the plane can be posed with each portion separate. I wanted a buttoned-up plane, so all the access panels and engine panels are closed off.

For one of their latest releases, Brengun has issued a pair of AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles in 1/48 scale for arming your latest modern aircraft in this scale. This is a relatively easy upgrade for modelers that have some experience with resin and photoetched parts. Assembly is straightforward, which adds to the ease of using these replacement missiles.

The AIM-9X is the latest development of the venerable Sidewinder missile, and manufactured by Raytheon, it is currently in use by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and more than two dozen NATO countries and U.S. allies. The missile uses infra-red tracking and actually maintains the rocket motor, warhead, and fuse of the predecessor AIM-9M. The big change with the X is the use of thrust vectoring to allow the missile to quickly change direction during flight. The AIM-9X was first tested in 1999 and was in full operation in 2004.