This was the second of three Spitfire Mk. IXs to be kitted a few years back, and unfortunately for ICM, quality control issues quickly resulted in their offering becoming the black-listed model.

Molded in a soft white plastic, ICM’s kit featured fine recessed panel lines and parts to create an exposed Merlin engine. Some of the first kits had parts that were short-shot while others had massive sink marks that marred their surfaces. My example had all the parts there and the sink marks were manageable with a combination of Squadron White putty and Mr. Surfacer.

Assembling the interior was a snap. The instrument panel joined the floorboard, rear bulkhead and seat in what I was to later learn, was a copy of the Tamiya Spitfire kits. The cockpit seat was sadly a poor representation of the original and the serious modeler would be interested in replacing this with a resin example from Ultracast (or another aftermarket manufacturer). In a case such as mine, where the cockpit was always to be occupied by a pilot and the canopy closed, the detail was more than adequate.

The rest of the model assembled easily, with the soft white plastic responding to my liquid glue without trouble. My propeller blades had a bit of flash on them and the soft plastic seemed determined to prevent me from cleaning up the trailing edges. This was part of my justification for building my ICM Spitfire on a stick. So instead, I filled the holes in the spinner and smoothed them over with sandpaper.

Upon painting, I started by applying the camouflage in Polly Scale acrylics, before I made a mistake with the dark green and promptly lost interest in my model.

Fast forward more than two years. I was informed that a co-worker was looking to buy a Spitfire model kit, so I headed off to make a sale. As we talked, I learned that he needed a Spitfire Mk. IX for a birthday gift for his father-in-law. Boy did I have a deal for him. In exchange for the cost of the kit and my paints, I finished the model in the colours of his late grandfather-in-law, who’d flown with the RAF as a Polish ex-patriot in 308 Squadron.

The new colour scheme called for D-Day Invasion stripes, which were sprayed flat white, then masked. I painted the standard British camouflage next, followed by brush painting the black stripes. When the masks were removed, I was left with a few touchups to do.

The markings for a 308 Squadron machine had to be cobbled together from the ICM sheet; two ‘F’s, a ‘D’ and the letter ‘Y’ were used to create the ‘ZF R’ on each side of the fuselage. The aircraft’s serial number was likewise made by combining kit decals. Although the decals for the roundels seemed to work okay, the codes were translucent. They also had a wax-like texture that kept them from sinking into the recessed panel lines, even with setting solution.

Was I happy with the model? Its okay, but I won’t be building another one. Although the Internet Spitfire ‘experts’ call ICM’s kit the most accurate Spitfire Mk. IX in outline, my inability to clean up the flash would make me return to the Hasegawa kit because of its build-ability.