When ICM started to release its family of B-26 models and variants, it was well received by modelers the world over as the old Monogram’s kit was released in 1978, 47 years ago. And at some point, they were going to release Flak Bait and they did and I jumped on the opportunity to review it. A little background on Flak Bait- it was given the name by its first pilot, James Farrell who adapted the nick name from his dog, flea bait. It then ran 202 bombing missions over France, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium and survived the war intact and holds the record for number of bombing missions survived. And not one crew member was killed during that time and only one was injured even though it landed on one engine twice, lost its electrical and hydraulic systems twice and ended up with over 1000 holes that needed patched. Currently, Flak Bait is in the hands of the Smithsonian and being restored.

History

The Island of Malta is strategically located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between Africa and Italy, as well as Egypt and Gibraltar. During WWII, the British felt it vital to hold onto the island as a base for both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to conduct offensive missions. Despite this, the island was poorly garrisoned during the early part of the War, as the British forces were spread thin across Europe as well as defending the homeland from a potential German invasion. All that could be spared for aerial defense was a handful of Gloster Sea Gladiators, left in storage by the Royal Navy and hastily brought out by the RAF in 1940. These few airframes were the sole defense for Malta for several weeks while the Italian air force conducted bombing raids against the islands, and they soon entered legendary status with the nicknames Faith, Hope, and Charity.

ICM continues to be prolific with both kits and paint sets. The Acrylic Paint Set for WWII French Armored Vehicles continues this trend and consists of six 12ml wide mouthed paint bottles. The front packaging includes a presentation of a FCM 36 light infantry tank. The back shows three left-profile views of a Panhard 178 AMD-35 (Kit No. 35373), two FCM 36 (Kit No. 3573) in two different camouflage schemes, and with color callouts.

The colors include:

• Olive Green (No. 1068)
• Green 4BO (No. 1073)
• Deep Brown (No. 1008)
• Buff (No. 1041)
• Dark Rust (No. 1051)
• Gun Metal (No. 1027)

Painting instructions are on the side of the packaging, stating

ICM has been releasing quality kits, figure sets, and recently paints to support their vast library of releases. This one is a rebox of the original 2021 Leyland Retriever General Service Truck (Kit # 35602), but adds a figure set of Montgomery himself with three of his staff. It also has decal schemes for three versions of the same caravan: one sand-color scheme based in North Africa in 1942, a two-tone camo scheme for Tripoli in 1943, and the one I decided on, an all-dark green based in Germany in the spring of 1945.

What’s Inside the Box

You get thirteen light gray and three clear sprues, as well as seven vinyl tires and a small PE fret for the front grill. An additional sprue is inside for the four figures. Details are pretty crisp and there are a lot of interior details for the latrine and office area.

As a recap, we are building up the old Monogram kit and two ICM kits of the B-26B Marauder with ICM’s 1/48^th scale Flak Bait as the main review item. I selected the following schemes for the three kits:

• “Flak Bait”, 322^nd bombardment Group, Spring 1945
• “Hard to Get”, 497^th BS, 344^th BG, Cormeilles France 1945
• “Idiots Delight”, 391^st BG, 575 BS RAF Matching England, August 1944

At the end of Part 1, the fuselages were all together and it was time to finish off the kits.