ICM 1:48 B-26C-45 Marauder

[James H]

1:48 B-26C-45 Marauder
ICM
Catalogue # 48328
Available from Scale Model Shop for £67.49

 

The Martin B-26 Marauder was an American twin-engine medium bomber developed in the late 1930s and early 1940s for the U.S. Army Air Corps. First flying in 1940, it was designed for high speed and efficiency, featuring a sleek, narrow wing and powerful engines. These features made it one of the fastest bombers of its time, but they also resulted in demanding flight characteristics, especially during take-off and landing. Early in its service, a high accident rate earned it the nickname “Widowmaker,” raising concerns among pilots and commanders.

As World War II progressed, improvements in pilot training and aircraft design greatly reduced accidents. The B-26 was deployed widely in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific, with its most significant impact in the European Theatre. There, it was used primarily by the Ninth Air Force for medium-altitude bombing missions against German transportation networks, airfields, and military installations. Its speed, durability, and ability to carry a substantial bomb load made it an effective tactical bomber once crews mastered its handling.

By the later years of the war, the B-26 had earned a strong reputation for reliability and survivability. It achieved one of the lowest loss rates of any American bomber in combat, thanks to its rugged construction and disciplined operational use. After World War II, the Marauder was quickly retired from frontline service as newer aircraft became available. Nevertheless, it remains remembered as a plane that overcame early difficulties to become one of the most successful medium bombers of the war.

The kit
This is around the 9^th or 10^th incarnation of the ICM B-26 Marauder kit since its initial release in 2024…and remember we are only just into February of 2026. This time we see the B-26C-45 (Block 45) The B-26C-45 Marauder was a specific production block of the Martin B-26C; the Omaha-built counterpart to the Baltimore-built B-26B series. The Block 45 possessed larger wings and tail, refined defensive armament and sights, stronger bomb gear and standardised late-production fittings. The kit itself is packaged into ICM’s standard and very robust corrugated box with a top opening flap, and a thinner, glossy and separate product lid. Inside the box, we are met with a number of thick cellophane sleeves that contain NINE sprues of light grey styrene and ONE clear sprue. 

The size of the model is hinted at with the main fuselage halves. Like all/most ICM kits, the exterior doesn't contain rivets but is plenty rich in just about all other detail. The finish of these large parts is excellent. Internally, you can see stringer and former detail that will adorn the crew areas. You can see here that the wings aren't just simple tab and slot connections. There are two bulkheads which flank the bomb bay and these have the mini spar sections onto which the completed wings will slide. The tail unit sits atop of the rear fuselage and again, aren't just surfaces which plug into the fuse. There are some holes that will need drilling out of these parts, specific to this version. The manual clearly illustrates these.

 

 

You can see some bomb bay bulkheads in this sprue, BUT, these aren't used in this build. Instead, we have alternative parts which you'll see soon. In fact, there are only eight parts that will be used off this sprue, and they aren't any of the larger ones either. Most of this sprue is redundant.

 

On these two sprues, you will find many common parts for which there are duplicates, such as props, engine parts, ordnance, weapons, optional cheek gun pods (fitted to one machine), cowl parts, u/c door hinge units, and main gear bay doors. Absolutely lots of finesse in the moulding here. No flash or awkward elector pin marks. 

 

 

Another detail sprue. There's only one single part not being used here, showing you the sheer level of detail and number of parts that will go into your final build. ICM state this version of the Marauder contains 362 parts, accounting for the optional gun pods on one machine. Parts on this sprue include cockpit and bulkhead details, bomb rack ladders, armaments, bomb bay door actuators (if posing the doors open), gear scissors, cockpit access ladder, etc.

 

 

 

 

All parts here are slated for use. Here you will find more cockpit elements, parts for the split landing flaps, crew area and ammunition feed detail, wall mounted bomb racks, turret details, u/c gear bay parts, etc.

 

The most obvious parts here need no explanation. The wings are simply fitted out with their internals for the gear bays and then the halves can be glued together before things like ailerons, flaps and nacelles are added. Other sprue it4ms include bulkheads, turret mounting plate and both sections of the forward cockpit floor. 

 

 

 

Here are the bomb bay fore and aft bulkheads with their associated wing spar detail onto which the main wings will mount, as well as the single piece upper tail section with their set dihedral, as well as the lower panels, supplied as individual parts. There is more split flap detail here, and crew floor sections for the various areas such as the tail gunner, and also the ceiling for the bomb bay. 

 

 

This sprue almost mirrors the previous one containing the wing sections. On here though, you will find parts for the internal nacelle gear bays as well as the nacelles themselves which are moulded as halves.

 

 

A single clear sprue is included, protected by a foam wrap and separately sealed. The clarity of these parts is excellent. Both of the main cockpit windshields are for use with this release, depending on which machine you build. One of them has more framing than the other. Only one of the glazed nose parts can be used though, common to all three machines offered in this release. 

 

Decals
A single decal sheet is included, with markings for THREE machines. These also include walkway lines and a small number of stencils, as well as some cockpit decals. I'm unsure of who prints these, and they could of course be done in-house. These glossy decals have solid colour, perfect registration and minimal carrier film. There is a similarity to the HGW decals here in that when the decal is applied, the 'carrier film' can be carefully removed from the model, leaving just the ink in place on your project. You can then seal that as normal before weathering. 

The three schemes are:

 

1.    B-26C-45-MO 42-107783, Thumper, 441st Bombardment Squadron, 320th Bombardment Group, France, 1945

 

 

2.     B-26C-45-MO 42-107534 Belle Ringer, 441st Bombardment Squadron, 320th Bombardment Group, France, 1945

 

 

 

3.     B-26C-45-MO 42-107729 Stud Duck, 34th Bombardment Squadron, 17th Bombardment Group France, Longvic, April 1945

 

 

Instructions

A full-colour 24 page instruction manual is included, detailing every step is clear line drawing format, including images of parts maps for you to check against construction. Where options are presented in construction, those notes are clear and unambiguous. Full colour illustration is supplied for all three schemes. A set of mask templates are also printed so you may use them for making your own masks, although it would be nice to have masks included as standard. 

 

Conclusion

My first encounter with the Marauder was back in around 1982 when I built the 1:72 Matchbox kit. There was just something about the shape of the bomber that gave it real presence. I saved my pocket money up for about 3 weeks to buy it.

This is the first time I've seen this in 1:48 (yes, I'm a little late to the ICM Marauder party!), and I am absolutely thrilled to see what this Ukrainian company have done with this legendary aircraft. This has all the hallmarks of a potential masterpiece. I've done some trawling of builds of the earlier ICM releases and there certainly doesn't appear to be any areas of concern. Simply put, an amazing release which I hope to see some builds for here on LSM.

VERY highly recommended!

My sincere thanks to the good folk at ICM for sending out this sample for review on Large Scale Modeller. To buy, click the link at the top of the article. 

 

 

[Count0]

3 hours ago, James H said:

yes, I'm a little late to the ICM Marauder party!)

More than a little, I would say... They have boxed it three times already.

[James H]

52 minutes ago, Count0 said:

More than a little, I would say... They have boxed it three times already.

Yup, that's why I said it. In fact, I've been out of the hobby for 6yrs now. Much has changed.

[Martinnfb]

Thank you for the review James, this is definitely a gem of a kit. A must have I would say. Might join the Marauder party as well.

Cheers

Martin

[Count0]

7 hours ago, James H said:

Yup, that's why I said it. In fact, I've been out of the hobby for 6yrs now. Much has changed.

You picked a fine kit to return with. Welcome back.