Designed in 1936 and entering service in 1938, the Japanese Ki-21 or Type 97 Heavy Bomber, would go on to see service in the war with China as well as World War II. The Ki-21-la was the first version of the aircraft and suffered from a lack of armament and self-sealing fuel tanks. These issues were later addressed in the Ki-21-lb variant.

ICM has produced a high quality scale model of this aircraft in 1/48 scale for those interested in Japanese WW2 bombers. Consisting of six light gray sprues and one clear sprue with very nice, finely recessed detail throughout. Builders should be aware that the plastic used is typical of newer molds and is slightly soft.

Assembly is straightforward and fairly quick. I did not encounter any issues with assembly other than when attempting to attach the machine guns into the nose and top, these issues could simply be my skill as modeler but I found them tricky. The only other issue was some fitment issues where the clear parts meet the fuselage, they did not seem to match up exactly and required some adjustment.

The existing interior details are fantastic, I opted to use the Eduard Space 3D decals for the cockpit, not for a lack of existing details, but to try 3D decals for the first time. The kit also comes with a mask template in the instructions however, I opted to use an aftermarket mask because I’m lazy and did not want to cut out that many squares.

The decal sheet is very nice and all the decals went on smoothly. If you are wanting them to sink into the panel lines, solvaset or a similar product will be needed as the larger decals are a bit thick.

All in all, this was a fantastic and high quality kit issued by ICM and I commend them for creating a kit that is not only high in quality but easy and quick to assemble. I want to thank ICM for the opportunity to review this kit.