ICM Ghost of Kyiv
Something for my friends and colleagues in Ukraine

I've never been much interested in foreign military hardware for whatever reason. Maybe as an elder millennial with family that worked for Sikorsky, and growing up with images of F-14s,15s,18s, stealth fighters and bombers and all the other American cold war hardware had an impact on my modelling tastes. I don't even build jets for the most part - it's been 3 or 4 years since the last one! These days though I work alongside so many talented Ukrainian individuals that I wanted to show even the tiniest bit of support with my favorite hobby...so I picked this up last fall and went to work.

The kit is ok, with the dorsal side needing quite a bit of filling and sanding to smooth out. The area behind the canopy was another problem, with a noticeable step between the clear part and the fuselage. Fit of the wings and undercarriage is pretty good though, and there is a bit of molded-in detail for those of you who want to get nuts. I went with a set of ResKit exhausts since the kit parts left a lot to be desired. These necessitated adding some weight to the nose...which I didn't figure out until pretty late in the process. Cue sliding dozens of bits of brad nails through the topside vents until it would sit right (most of the time).

Decals went on smoothly and took well to softeners/setters. There were some discrepancies in the painting instructions I wish I paid more attention to, but honestly nobody but me and the rivet counters out there are going to care.

Still need to wrap up painting the ordnance and get those attached, so a few more pictures to come once those are mounted.