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Overview
ICM is one of the newcomers form Eastern Europe.
Their first kit was the YAK-9 Russian fighter, which
was followed by the 45mm AT-gun, the T-28 I'm reviewing, and the T-35.
Still to come are the IT-28 bridge layer tank and by rumors, there
was supposed to be a Cromwell Mk.IV and a Comet, but they have been
canceled in favor of more Russian subjects
The kit is molded in olive-green styrene (similar
to the kind found on Tamiya's older U.S armor kits) and comes with
single-link tracks which are molded in white. Decals are provided for
1 Finnish (not accurate), and 3 Russian versions.
Lower
Hull
The lower hull is molded in 3 pieces, with separate
drive-train housings, which fit together well. You'll have to place
some clamps on the hull-side, to drive-train housing joint though.
Oddly, ICM provides raised circles for the escape, and maintenance
hatches on the hull bottom, but no hatches? The hatches can easily
be added from sheet styrene if wanted.
The T-28 had a very complex running gear, which resulted
in a lot of breakdowns.
The kit comes with separate wheels, but the vertical
support and the horizontal wheel support are molded one piece and due
to that, you'll need to do some cutting in order to get the model on
uneven ground.
The vertical supports don't fit well into their holes.
You'll have to cut part of the ledge on the end of it to get it to
fit. Also, the idler wheel supports and axles don't fit well. Enlarge
the hole for the axle on the hull side, and the hole on the support
to get them to fit. The drive sprockets are of a VERY tight fit, watch
out!
The tracks fit well with no fit problems. The guide
horns look too thick but this should be since the real guide horns
were fairly thick.
Interior
The kit comes with a partial interior, and included
are the commander's, gunner's (main gun) gunners' (MG.turrets) and
driver's seats, drive controls, gun breech, turret and front-hull floor,
ready-round racks and the inside idler wheel turnings.
Most of the parts fit well, but you'll need to enlarge
the holes on the ready-round supports in order for the to fit on the
seat support poles. Injection molded 76mm gun rounds are provided,
but they have soon NASTY mold parting lines on them which need to be
cleaned up. Also, the gun-breech should be black, not green as the
instructions suggest. Don't bother adding too much (if any) interior
detail, unless you're going to display the model without the top in
place, since even with all the hatches open you can't even see the
detail provided in the kit. I added the commander's and gunner's standing
platforms from sheet styrene, since with the turret hatches open they're
a very showy detail. I can't give much comment on the engine since
I didn't use mine on this project. All I can say is: It looks good
on the sprues, but lacks some details, like wiring ,etc..
Upper
Hull
The upper hull comes in one piece, with whole fenders
(unlike Tamiya kits) separate engine deck side walls, rear engine fan
cover (with separate hatches, top and sides) and Separate hatches which
don't fit well.
Most of the small detail parts fit well, except for
the 2 boxes on the fenders because their tops lack butt-joints to the
outer box side. Also, the things in the back of the boxes don't fit
well. Use caution when adding the rear lights on to the engine deck
side panels, the holes for them are too small. My rear engine fan cover
box's top was warped and didn't fit well, watch out!
None of the engine deck hatch openings are big enough,
which prevents hatches from sitting properly. I didn't use the tow
cables provided, but didn't replace them either.
You'll have to scratch build the engine deck cover
storage box form sheet styrene since the kit doesn't come with it,
even though it's visible on the box top painting.
You'll also have to add the head-light lenses, but
this is very easy since ICM provides hollowed out head lights, and
no drilling is required.
Turrets
What made the T-28 so unique was it's 3 turrets which
were able to move independently of which 2 housed the 7.6mm DT-machine
guns and the main turret armed with the short barreled 76mm howitzer.
You'll have an option of making an early or a late T-28, because both
guns are provided: The shorter gun with the aerial antenna around the
main turret, and the later longer gun. Check your references.
If you want to build the Finnish version, you should
use the longer gun, replace the decals with full swastikas (this applies
to all Finnish T-28s painted green) for the turret sides, the commander's
hatch and the front vertical plate. You should also paint either number
48 or 49 on the front vertical plate.
The turret halves don't fit well. You should first
carefully align them and then start solving the problem.The main turret
roof lacks the star cast on it. This is easy to make using the star
decal provided, gluing it on to a sheet styrene and the using it as
a template it cut out the star. I drilled out the periscope bottoms
(molded on the turret roof) in order to allow more light into the turret
(main). I replaced the anti-aircraft MG with a white metal one from
my spares box.
The 2 MG-turrets fit together with very few fit problems.
Use caution when assembling the MGs, they are very fragile.
Conclusion
The over all appearance of the kits is very nice
and accurate, with a few fit problems and missing details. Definitely
better than the AER T-28 and all other Easter manufacturers kits I've
built, including Zvezda.
Highly recommended!
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