For my first build of 2026 I will be doing ICM’s 1/48 Russian U-2/Po-2 multi-purpose aircraft. This is a bi-plane that was initially used as a training aircraft and was also used as a liaison, reconnaissance, medevac, and general supply aircraft on the eastern front during World War II. The aircraft was so versatile that it was built from 1929 thru 1959 and used by 16 different countries during it service years. The version I will be building will be early WWII with skis for landing on snow covered fields.
I first started off with the cockpit area of the fuselage halves by adding some details like the control levers and paint it. The instrument panels were then painted and I used the kit decals for the instrument faces. The fuselage halves were the put together. While gathering the parts for the lower cockpit I notice the landing light that mounts under the lower wing. I drilled out the kit “lens”, painted it with chrome paint, and created a clear lens from acrylic gel.
I then worked on detailing the lower cockpit. The first thing I added was seatbelts to the seats. I then trimmed down the kit rudder pedals and made the foot straps. These were mounted on the lower wing assembly and then this was mounted to the fuselage. I am now working on the engine assembly and adding some details to the fuselage.
The second week of the U-2/P0-2 was spent building and detailing the engine and adding details to the fuselage. On the fuselage I added all the kit details and the control arms for the moving surfaces. I also modified some details. The kit provides two skid bars on the lower wing tips and the rear horizontal stabilizer. The problem is the kit versions are very thick in diameter and look huge compared to the reference photos. I decided to use some styrene rods to replace these. On the fuselage the control arms for the rudder are just molded slots I added some photo etch to duplicate the control rod ends so the rudder control lines can be added later. On the skis there are rigging lines to help the skis stay in their correct angle during landing, take off, and flight. I added the attachment of these cables to the skis using photo etch as well.
Next I started on the engine. The kit provides a piece to represent the pushrods. But these are molded together. I trimmed off the plastic “rods” and replaced these with 30 gauge wire. On the reference photos of the engine the ignition wire that goes to the spark plugs is not represented in the kit. I used 30 gauge wires for the wires and some black wire tubing to represent the connectors at each end of the ignition wires. Moving on to the exhaust, I drilled out the ends to open them up. The kit provides a cowl/cover for the front of the engine. I reviewed many photos of the actual aircraft and only found two photos where this was used. From the photos the two photos were of the wheeled version of the aircraft and appeared to be post war aircraft. The other reference photos that had the ski version did not utilize the cover/cowl so I did not use it.
I am now getting ready to start the painting. I will be using Field Green for the topside and light blue for the underside. I will also be painting the white stripes on the wingtips. Once the base coat of painting is completed I hoping to be able to get the decals applied over the next week.
The third week of the U-2/P0-2 I base coat painted the aircraft and painted some of the finer details. I then applied the kit decals. The dual white arrow stripes that run down the sides of the fuselage needed to be cut into sections. This is because the control arms for the horizontal stabilizer are in the middle of one stripe and the other details on the fuselage required the stripe to be notched. Aside from that the rest of the decals went on very well.
Next I started on the rigging. The instruction sheet provides most of the details on how to rig the aircraft. I started with the tail section rigging. The rudder and horizontal stabilizer rigging was run along the fuselage. The tail ski also had a bit of rigging as well. The main wings have some small rigging for the control surfaces so these were added. I then moved on to the main landing gear struts and skis.
I am now working on installing the main upper wing and then on to the final rigging. Once the rigging is completed I just need to add the windscreens and mount the engine. This will complete this build.
The fourth and final week of the ICM 1/48 Russian U-2/P0-2 project is now finished. I completed all the rigging, installed the windscreens, and mounted the engine. For the rigging I used EZ-Line fine. The nice thing about using EZ-Line is it is very elastic so the lines stay tight but the model can be handles without damaging the rigging. There are two rods that sit in the middle of the rigging between the upper and lower wings which I used thin styrene rods. The windscreens were then installed and the engine was mounted completing this build.
This was a fun little build and all the rigging really brings out the realism. As for my review of the kit it was a decent kit. One thing to note is ICM uses a softer styrene so care needs to be taken when removing and cleaning up parts. The under wing skid bars and horizontal stabilizer struts are a little too thick from the kit and very delicate to remove from the tree which is why I replaced them with styrene rods. The decals were good. I just think it would have been better if the kit decals had the side stripes sectioned off for the fuselage details. Some of the attachment points for the rigging like the rudder control and the skis were not on the kit parts. It is weird the kit instructions show the rigging points on the main skis but they are not actually on the part and the rigging instructions show attaching the rigging to them. The rigging guide was very detailed they just did not show the control lines on the wings control surfaces but the attachment points are there so it is just a matter of adding the small lines.
I would recommend this kit. Thanks for following along on this small build. Happy Modeling!
