Background
1979 was a good year for modelers of exotic aircraft. Heller was turning
out crisp gems like the DH 89 Rapide and the PZL P-23 Karas. Matchbox
had its Stranraer and the Czechs were starting their ascent with goodies
like the KP Po-2. Those seeking even more exotic subjects could look to
the prolific vacuuformers like Contrail, Airmodel, Airframe or the exquisite
Rareplanes. Many of those early vacs were crude and many modelers balked
at the extra skill and time required to turn that lumpy sheet of plastic
into a finished model. Some in the cottage industry responded by pioneering
new and easier materials – white metal or goopy plastic concoctions
that hardened into a kit. But most modelers were most comfortable with
injection molding, and a very few cottage industries had begun to turn
out kits in that familiar medium.
The cottage industry firm of Guano had been around since the mid-70s,
most noted for its line of Do-217 accessories. But Mr. Guano, Wesley Moore,
had published drawings of the Ikarus IK-2 as far back as 1975, and even
offered a fuselage made using the “epoxy and Silastic method.”
In 1979, however, Guano produced its first complete injected kit - the
Ikarus Ik-2.
The Kit
 The
Guano kit contains 31 parts including an injected canopy. There are good
narrative instructions and a 1/72 scale drawing to help with assembly.
The plastic is a bit softer than the big company standard, but it cut
and sanded cleanly. The larger parts are nicely molded; smaller parts
are a bit lumpy and will require a bit of surface clean-up. The sprue
insertion points are quite thick – razor saw and sanding stick required.
Guano made a heroic attempt at the gentle scalloping on the rear of the
fuselage. It’s a bit irregular and will require some gentle sandpaper
defining, but it may turn out better that the less ambitious approach
taken on the new Czechmaster kit.
Profile Publication #242 - IK Fighters (Yugoslavia: 1930 – 40’s)
– is almost certainly the source used to develop the kit. There
are some notable inaccuracies:
• Wrong shape along the trailing edge of the wing
• Fuselage too deep from top to bottom
• Horizontal stabilizers too wide
• Wheels too small
• Panel lines on wing completely wrong
Armed with more recent drawings, most of these points could be improved
with little effort.
The kit’s cockpit is just a bulkhead, so some fiddly scratchbuilding
is called for here. The canopy is thick and the view through it is distorted.
It’s a simple shape, so a heat & smash job would be easy, or
a modeler could rely on its optical qualities to disguise the missing
cockpit interior.
 The
kit contains no decals or color information, but these shortcomings are
addressed by Guano’s companion product – the “Yugoslav
Fighters 1938 - 41” decal sheet. That sheet has schemes and decals
for three subjects (silver Yugoslav, camouflaged Yugoslav, Croation) and
it also includes markings for the Fury, Hurricane, IK-3 and Me 109. The
schemes are taken from the Profile and their accuracy is suspect in light
of newer references.
Considering its vintage, this is an ambitious and remarkably nice kit.
It looks like a reasonably easy build. It’s light-years above its
peers (the reviewer has a Veeday Fokker D-VIII) and it’s too bad
that this was Guano’s last kit as well as its first.
References
• Ikarus IK-2 Plans, IPMS Quarterly, Fall 1975
• Profile #242 - IK Fighters (Yugoslavia: 1930 – 40’s),
Sime I. Ostric & Cedomir J. Janic, Profile Publications
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