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Polikarpov R5


stevehed

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Hi All,

After the pulpit Spad ground to a temporary halt I decided to takes Will's advice and seek some inter war therapy. This was retrieved from the stash. A 1930's Soviet biplane in the Wapiti mould. It saw action in Mongolia against the Japanese, fought with the Republicans in the Spanish civil war and against the Finns during the Winter war. Service continued well into WW2 where it was employed as a night time nuisance raider. The kit seems to measure out very well and will be finished in Republican colours. Acquired it a couple of years ago when they were quite common for the princely sum of £2.99.

Regards,

Steve

DSCF2147.jpg

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Hi Steve

I shall be watching with particular interest as I'll be doing the same kit (albeit the Encore release), for the 'Soviets in Foreign Service' Group Build in March!

Here's what we should be aiming for ;)

r5_3.jpg

Cliff

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Hi,

That's an excellent example Cliff. Can I ask for people's take on the colours of Soviet aircraft. It's generally accepted that the uppers and fuselage are " forest green " and the under surfaces " light blue." Humbrol and Revell are the most easily attainable to me so I was wondering what colours are regarded as Soviet forest green. Light blue always seems to have a green/turquoise undertone to me. I have also read that grey was used on the undersides. Any views ?

In the meantime, there is a Spanish website that has many photos and data on aircraft of the SCW which I intend exploring again. Will post if anything crops up.

Regards, Steve

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Maybe this forum might provide some answers,

http://sovietwarplanes.com/

Interesting aircraft, not one I was aware of before. I try to make my models centre on the Winter War, but have yet to build many soviet aircaft. So I'll be watching the build with great interest!

Will

Thanks Will,

That is a very interesting site. Found the colours no problem except Humbrol seem to have discontinued one of them. Never mind, still got some good matches, I think.

Had a look at the Spanish site and came away with some information regarding the R5's armament in Spain. To the rear there should be one or two flexible mgs and while provision existed for a fixed forward firing mg this was not installed on Republican aircraft. However, a sturmovik version was sent to Spain that was equipped with four or six mgs, inclined downwards and fitted beneath the lower wings. Up to eight 50kgs bombs could be carried. Here's the link to this site but it's in Spanish so a decent dictionary is a must. Cheers, Steve

http://usuarios.multimania.es/mrval/GCE.HTM

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Had one of those,

But to me the whole kit was too basic. I think a lot of effort should be done to make it look like a Natasha. I dediced to go for the Azur kit (which is a more modern version of this aircraft). Anyway I always stick to Humbrol 117 to do upper surface of Republican aircraft. Using it right now on a Grumman GG23.

Cheers, Nico

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Thanks Nico,

Humbrol 117 is one of the colours I got along with 65 for the under surfaces which I'm sure Will's link said was called Spanish blue. You're right about the kit. It is pretty basic, the ribs are scribed rather than raised, no bombs and a crap mg. Still we'll see how it goes together. It looks pretty substantial and for three quid I'll be happy if it turns out recognisable. I've got a RZ Natasha but mine's Special Hobby. Have compared the two and the R5 doesn't seem too bad. If anything both the RZ's seem to have lower wing issues.

Cheers,

Steve

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Hi Steve

Have you got any idea about how to deal with the rear cockpit's internal structure? I've never quite worked out in my own mind what it's supposed to represent .....

There was one of these on a club table at the last Nationals, where the builder had painted everything in the rear cockpit as natural wood. It looked really good, but I'm not sure if it's accurate?

Cheers

Cliff

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Hi Cliff,

I was hoping to investigate internal colours via Will's Soviet link which looked promising. However, it is, at present, no more. At the moment there seems to be the choice of dark gray or turquoise green. This is based on the colours others have used on I 15 types and I 16's, I'm afraid I have nothing proven.

As for the rear cockpit the instructions aren't much help. Find it hard to believe that an observer/gunner would have been able to do the job in such an artificially restricted space. So I have cut the hole out of the gunner's section and used the smaller part as a radio front/chart table, using one of the decals with dials provided, and the other bit was turned around and will be fitted into the rear section as a seat. A little box from the spares will be added behind the back of the pilot's seat and I've also shortened the pilot's floor as this protruded into the rear cockpit. My own mistake I think but the instructions weren't very clear. The gun mount needs to turn so I'm thinking of an open ring of wire just inside the cockpit that the kit part will need to be attached to. Haven't got that far yet but it's got to be better than the Roman toilet seat the kit provided.

Cheers,

Steve

PS I'm assuming the Encore is the same as the Pioneer ???

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Hi Steve

Given that mine's got a Roman toilet seat too, I think it's safe to assume that these are indeed the same kit!

Polikarpov.jpg

Looking forward to seeing some photos of your build. :popcorn:

Cliff

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This may help - scroll down to the thumbnails of scans from the original manual for the R-5:

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_16233.html

For inspiration (he's actually doing masters for a new kit, not building a model, I believe):

http://www.dishmodels.ru/gshow.htm?p=6314

R-5 walkarounds:

http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/makarov_aleksey/r-5/

http://www.dishmodels.ru/wshow.htm?p=389

There may also be something useful here - the ARK-5 was a cabin version of the R-5:

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_16447.html

Drawings:

http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/r5.html

http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw2/r5kr.html

Russian site with R-5 photos, profiles, etc.:

http://crimso.msk.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft20000.htm

You can actually find a ton of potentially useful stuff by entering the Russian text "Поликарпов Р-5" in your search bar and hitting enter...

(Did I mention that the R-5 is a big favourite of mine? ;) )

John

(But wait - there's more! Not that I advocate this kind of thing, mind you, but go here if you want to download the Modelist Konstructor R-5 profile; it's a 66 meg, pdf format file:

http://knigi.tr200.net/v.php?id=350920

It's in Russian, of course, but photos and drawings speak a universal language!)

Edited by John Thompson
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PICT0003.jpg

Progress so far. The Roman seat affair appears to be a crude interpretation of a gun ring and the associated supports. There are some photos on some of John's links. Colour is grey internally. Pilot and seat from spares, box also. Map table and gunner's seat cut out of the toilet frame. I assumed he would have a seat of some sort and that it would pivot out of the way when he was working. Gun ring is 15 amp fuse wire. I'm going to add the second man so I don't need to be too elaborate.

Cheers,

Steve

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Progress so far. Fuselage went together OK. Added three tabs as there are no locater guides. Have deepened the side cut outs of the rear cockpit as every profile and the photos on John's excellent links indicate the kit is too shallow. The hood over the engine is separate and very angular in shape. Photos suggest a more rounded profile so have tried to blend the cylinder head bulges into the rear of the fuselage. Forward was rounded off a touch and I used filler to get a more acceptable shape as the kit has the bulges well above the frontal area. Used the walkaround photo links for guidance. Beginning to think the kit is based on early production type. Might be my eyes but it just looks like the earlier photos seem to have a slightly more angular look about the nose area.

Cheers,

Steve

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Edited by stevehed
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Very impressive! You should sign up with Massimo Tessitori's new VVS forum, and get some images of the completed model off to him so he can post them on his web site:

http://z15.invisionfree.com/sovietwarplanes/index.php

John

Edited by John Thompson
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PICT0008.jpg

A little more progress. More a steady plod than a rapid march. Republican bands almost finished. Decided to paint them over the green as I supposed that this would have been the original sequence. Took several coats and the green is still apparent but I'm thinking this was not uncommon so have decided to leave it as is. Struts were positioned using lower wings as guides and were left overnight to set. Rigging holes drilled and cabane wires installed. Aldis sight is scrap from spares and windscreens the same. Gone against the Spanish web site which stated Republican R 5's only had rear guns. Practically every profile I have seen and some of the photos of Spanish aircraft seen seem to have an aldis sight. A crash landed example on this web site appears to have been stripped of armament but shows the hole on the windscreen where an aldis should be. Gonna assume that the early examples employed at the front had fixed forward mg and that this was probably removed when the type was redeployed as a night bomber or to coastal patrol where attack from fighters was much less of a risk. Drilled out the locating holes in the fuselage for the lower wings. Reinforced joint with CA but it may be better to replace kit guides with stronger, and longer, brass rod. Hope to have top wing on soon and will then be on the downward track.

Cheers,

Steve

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Hi,

Top wing on. Had to replace one of the cabanes that got well and truly devoured by the carpet monster. All in all it went together quite well and didn't need to resort to guide supports. Extras added are the fuel pipes and triangular gravity tanks under the top wing. Just shaped plastic card and the pipes are 5 amp fuse wire. Most fiddly part of the job so far and several breaks to let the blood pressure subside were needed. Most of the rest of the kit is ready so hoping to complete over the three or four days.

Regards,

Steve

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Better view of the fuel lines. I've only put in single lines but the original is a bit more elaborate. Too much for me. Started some of the rigging as well.

Edited by stevehed
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Thanks Will and thanks Cliff.

The windscreens are remnants from a Roden Gotha and are very clear. I use Revell Contacta polystrene cement with plastic transparencies. A small dab is applied to the fuselage with a cocktail stick and allowed to go very tacky. I always try to get the base of the windscreen to match the site it is to be located. In the R5 case, that is concave to match the curvature and slightly bevelled to lean backwards. When the glue is tacky the piece should stand on its own but still be able to be tweaked if necessary. Too much glue will still cause fogging but I've found this method to be best. The other method I have used is to cut the transparency from clear acetate. I have got this in the past from the packaging around the collars of brand new shirts. Superglue can be used to secure this material but I have noticed that it begins to brown, like an old film, over the years, although it can still be seen through.

The radiator grills are engraved into the part and the surround is slightly proud of the grill. This allowed me to dip a cocktail stick into black paint with thinner and gently run the tip over the grill. By being careful not to put too much paint on the tip it ran along the engraving to the base of the surround. Nice part from the front but there is a release, or injection mark, right in the centre of the rear which the complete removal of would damage the grill.

Hope this is of use,

Cheers,

Steve

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Despite the best of intentions domestic harmony required my attention elsewhere. Subsequently all I managed to do over the weekend was stick the tail unit on and this afternoon got the under carriage in place. Had to replace the central V with plastic rod as the moulded part was too short. Don't think I cut it short from the sprue. Decals on the rudder went on OK but the green shows strongly through the yellow and guess who hasn't got any to touch it up. I know I've said this before but hopefully should be finished pretty soon.

Cheers,

Steve

PICT0011.jpg

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Hi All,

Finished at last although might add a step under the cockpits if I can find something suitable. Quite a simple kit and as mentioned previously it is pretty basic but it went together OK. That suits me and it looks like what it says on the box. Replaced kit mg with an earlier version from the spares and bombs are more like 10kgs, again from spares as kit does not provide. Markings are paint and 8 from spares while rudder national markings come with kit. Republican classification is RR plus aircraft number but unable to provide at present.

Cheers,

Steve

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How I hate these new cameras. They show up things I can't see even with my glasses. Never mind, hope the pictures are alright.

Edited by stevehed
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