The Little World

Is it a mule, a fly, or an ant? All three nicknames have been used for this small Soviet fighter plane from the 1930’s.

It was a somewhat revolutionary craft at a turning point in aviation that went from biplanes to monoplanes. One might have expected the Soviets to follow their standard Russian pattern of making everything bigger than big…but this one goes just the other way.

The ICM kit is sturdily packaged – two sprue trees, a decal sheet, and a folded instruction sheet. I appreciate the fact that it is bagged as well as boxed.

The box art is likely to be more useful than the instruction sheet, and I would be nervous of this kit had I not once built an ICM Soviet biplane fighter – that turned out splendidly.

The kit is nothing if not ambitious – I see an entire engine in the design. The close tolerances that will be needed for the closed engine compartment, however, will need some careful management.