As many of you will know, I stray into WWI aircraft building from time to time, but my real interest has always been with military vehicles. Some might not be aware of this, but Des had developed quite an interest in WWI vehicle kits for some time prior to his passing. He was always telling me what new resin model was winging its way to him from the likes of Resicast and others. That being the case, I don't think he'd mind me building a similar kit for this tribute to him. I've chosen the recently released ICM Standard Liberty U.S. Army truck, as from the accounts I've read, it's a very good kit.
I was impressed to see the kit is packaged in a stout corrogated cardboard box with a slipcover box top.
There are only four sprues, aside from a small clear plastic one, and these are all packaged in a single plastic bag. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there isn't a single fret of photo-etch for me to struggle with. Bonus!
I understand that early ICM kits weren't the best when it comes to quality and detail, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see the excellent molding of this kit's parts.
This last sprue contains the tarpaulin cover and ragtop for the crew compartment.
No sooner did I unpack the box than I lost the decal sheet. It was only after several hours that I saw it had fallen face down on a rag dampened with thinner. Unfortunately, it obliterated several of the decals. I've since written to ICM for a replacement sheet, so I'll see how good their customer care is.
The instruction booklet is printed on gloss stock and the quality is very good. Not as colourful as a Wingnut Wings booklet, but still very good.
The instructions themselves are laid out in the standard exploded line drawing style and are easy to follow and understand.
As mentioned above, this isn't exactly what one would call a colourful model.
In the next installment, I'll start to stick some plastic together. Thanks for looking in!
