In recent years ICM has been in the practice of producing figure kits as accessories to their model kit releases. This year ICM has released a set of figures to crew their new B-26 Marauder kits. This figure kit includes parts to build four figures: a pilot, a co-pilot, a bombardier, and a turret gunner. While a Marauder had a crew of six or seven, the other crewmen would be difficult to see in a finished model, so I understand why ICM includes only four figures.

The parts for the figures are molded on a single tree of grey plastic. The parts are free of flash and sink-marks and have minimal mold-parting lines to clean up. The sculpting is very nice with realistic faces. The details of the uniforms and gear are very nice but strangely, none of the cockpit crew have radio headsets. The instructions are printed in color on both sides of an 8 ½” by 11” sheet. One side has an image of the parts tree and a list of recommended paints. The paints listed are from ICM’s own line of acrylic paints. The other side of the instruction sheet shows the assembly and painting instructions and instructions for fitting the figures to the Marauder kit. Construction of the figures is easy, however many of the parts look similar. I recommend building one figure at a time to avoid mixing up the parts

After assembling the figures, I experienced an unpleasant surprise. Three of the four figures would not fit into their intended locations in the Marauder kit. Since ICM had produced these figures for their own kit, I did not expect any fit issues. Through trial and error and repeated test fitting I was able to figure out how to get the figures to fit. It was a time-consuming process for me but since I’ve already gone through it, it will be an easier and quicker job for you!

The Bombardier

To make the bombardier fit, first remove the back of his seat (Marauder part F13). Next, remove the center section of Marauder part F12. The bombardier’s left boot will interfere with the bombsight assembly, so remove the front half of the boot. Remove about 1mm of the soles of both boots. Remove material from beneath the bombardier’s butt and thighs until he measures 20mm from his seat to the top of his hat. Refer to the side-view photo for the angle of the cut, he should be leaning back a little. Since this figure will be visible only from the front in the finished model, none of these changes will be obvious.

The Co-pilot

Trim the legs of the co-pilot’s seat (Marauder part F37) to a length of 3mm. You may want to add some styrene scrap to the bottom of the seat for more gluing area. Remove about 1mm from the soles of the co-pilot’s boots. Remove material from the underside of his butt and thighs until he measures 21mm from his seat to the top of his cap. Refer to the side-view photo to get an idea of the depth and angle of the cut. The co-pilots boots interfere with the base of the control column (Marauder part G35). Trim off the part of the column’s base inboard of the vertical part. When you glue him in his seat, scoot him a little to the inboard side to make sure that his hat won’t interfere with the canopy glass. Have the cockpit floor installed in the starboard fuselage half so you can see where the canopy glass will be.

The Pilot

When building the pilot’s seat (Marauder parts F24, G82, G70, and G71), remove the legs from the bottom of G82 and trim the leg of G71 to a length of 1mm. Remove material from the underside of the pilot’s butt and thighs until he measures 21mm from his seat to the top of his cap. The cut should be about even and parallel to the seam in his pants. Refer to the side-view photo of the pilot to see where I made this cut. The hands of the assembled figure are a little too far apart for both of them to grip the control yoke. I installed his right arm angled downward a bit as if he is reaching for the trim wheel near his leg.

Since the lower halves of the pilot and co-pilot will only be visible from above in the finished model, these changes will not be obvious.

The Turret Gunner

To install the gunner in the turret the instructions indicate that you should cut off the gunsight from Marauder part F53. This will work, but I wanted to see if I could install the gunner without removing the gunsight. To accomplish this, I remove a little material from the back and under side of the gunsight. I scribed a line on the gunner’s back where the top of his seat would be (this is also the bottom of the turret ring). I removed material to a depth of about 1mm between this line and the bottom of his collar. Next, I narrowed his shoulders to a width of 8mm down to the level of the seat back. The hands of the gunner are too far apart to grip the control levers of Marauder part G21. This doesn’t matter much because the hands will be obscured by the guns when they are installed. The figure will completely obscure any view of the seat (Marauder part F25), so I recommend leaving it off.

In conclusion, I really liked the sculpting of these figures, and they were fun to paint. I like having the option to add crew to aircraft builds to make them more interesting, to add a sense of scale, and to enable the option of making an in-flight model. I was disappointed with the fit issues, but now that I’ve worked out how to make the figures fit in the Marauder model, you should have an easier time than I did. I am grateful to ICM and IPMS/USA for providing these figures for review.

As a benefit for readers of the IPMS/USA review page, Gaahleri has been kind enough to provide a 10% discount by using the link below and the redemption code: IPMSUS

https://www.gaahleri.com/discount/IPMSUS?ref=ipmsus