Reviews : Academy SB2C-4 Operation Iceberg US Navy Ltd. Ed.

This 1/72 scale kit comes from a South Korean model company called Academy. The pros for this kit are as follows: You have three paint schemes to choose from and the one I did is SB2C-4, “White” VB-3 USS Yorktown, April 1945. The other two versions included are SB2C-4E, VB-84 USS Bunker Hill, 1945 and on the cover of the box is SB2C-4E, VB-16 USS Randolph, 1945. It includes a paint conversion chart featuring companies such as Humbrol, GSI Creos in both Aqueous Hobbycolor and Mr. Color, Lifecolor, Testors/Modelmaster, Revell, and Vallejo in both Model Color and Model Air. The instructions are easy to follow through and understand. A good amount of options including if one wants to use photo etched parts in making the flaps. I for one did not do so. The decals for the most part, were very easy to remove from the paper and apply them to the aircraft. The cons for this kit are as follows: I tried to apply the tail-hook decal with no degree of success at all. The reason I think that is that it was slightly too big and to try to roll it up proved to be impossible. In the end I simply painted the tail-hook of my model. The clear plastic pieces for the rear of the aircraft didn’t fit at all and there was nothing I could do about them. The last one is subjective as there’s no back story or a brief introduction on the aircraft itself on the instructions. In conclusion, I give this kit a rating of 4 stars out of 5. Academy if you’re reading this, it’s a very good kit to work on and I enjoyed it as well. There are just a few glitches that prevented me for giving this a perfect rating. If you can iron them out, then I’m sure your future kits will just be as good if not better than this one. Nicely done overall!

This is the most time have spent on any kit as I wanted to be very patient and incorporate all of my skills and knowledge of model making. I did quite a bit of research before purchasing as well. Honoring this aircraft and the kit deserve dedication. This is also the first model kit I have completed with the addition of aftermarket details such as; Legend Navy pilot figures and Eduard super detail interior kits. I used a Montex masking kit, Tamiya sprays, Tamiya curve masking tapes and Tamiya panel line accent. All of the parts required minimal trimming and fit very well. Clear parts fit very well. The photo etched parts were handled with extreme care due to their small size and came out great. No putty was needed, anywhere. The kit comes with both black and white decals and lots of them so you can vary your paint schemes. The kit allowed for room to detail the engine with plug wires and push rods and I detailed the wheel wells with wires and piping. I drilled out the cowl to look more realistic with oil cooler and blower intake. The instructions were fairly easy to understand, some interpretation required. Overall, I am very happy with this kit.