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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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