Following directly on the heels of the release of their truly lovely Gloster Gladiator biplane fighter in 1/32^nd scale, ICM has released a figure set to create an instant diorama with the aircraft. Consisting of two pilots, clearly fresh from a flight, and a ground officer taking notes, the figures create a lovely tableau straight from the box. I suspect they’re discussing about exactly who shot down that last Italian fighter that day.

Assembly of these figures is quite straight-forward, as they have little equipment or clutter associated with them. Both pilots have nicely molded separate life vests as well as oxygen masks along with the hoses. About the only modification you may need to make is to bend the hoses a bit to make them sit more naturally. It was unnecessary to use any filler on any of these figures.

Right out of the box I was struck by the very skilled drapery of the clothes on the figures as well as the very individual faces, which all have a lot of character and certainly look the part. Detail everywhere was very, very good. Painting proved to be especially easy, as you mostly have to come up with various subtle shades of khaki to set them apart from each other.

All in all, I had no trouble with the assembly and painting of these figures, and the final results look terrific posed next to my Gladiator. I am consistently impressed by the quality of ICM’s 1/32^nd scale series of figures and eagerly await their U.S. Wasp set as well as any other imaginative sets they may release in the future. Highly recommended.

Thanks to ICM for continuing to release this beautiful series of figures and to IPMS/USA for a chance to enhance my lovely ICM Gladiator with them. Be safe and keep modeling!