This is another Soviet aircraft with a licence built Bristol engine, the M-22, a version of the Jupiter. This engine also powered a number of other Soviet aircraft of the 1920s and '30s.







This aircraft was bare metal overall with no markings. The kit is the Encore kit. A little extra detailing was done in the cockpit and the few rigging wires added from stretched sprue.

Cheers,
Ross.

It's the first time I've seen one of these! What a pugnacious looking machine.

Nice one, Ross

Cliff

, Thank you Cliff. It is a pugnacious but not unpleasant looking aircraft and from all accounts they flew well. There were about 300 of them (the production I-4) in service from about 1927 to 1937 and they were all metal at a time when most "advanced" western nations were still playing around with wood wire and cheese cloth aircraft types. The production types had three different wing planforms, this one, another with a smaller lower wing and one with no lower wing at all as used in Professor Vakhmistrov's Zveno (link) experiments in which a TB-3 bomber was modified to carry up to five smaller aircraft, one on top of each wing and one below each wing, and one either on top of or below the fuselage.

,
Ross.

Hi, I'm just making this on from the Zvezda kit and not sure about the best way locate the upper wing, I'm assuming (looking at the parts) that the rear of the wing locates on the gun, but as there are no locating holes in the rear of the wing I'm not 100% sure. I also have no locating holes on the lower wing for the struts, looking at your build I'm guessing they go just on the inner rib mark?

The ANT-5/I-4 was used by the 'Zveno-1' combination - a TB-1 bomber with 2 X I-4's on top of the wings.....



They were also used on the 'Zveno-2' - a TB-3 with 3 X I-4's - two over the wings and one on top of the fuselage.

The TB-3 with 5 X fighters was the 'Aviamatka PVO' - this was a TB-3 with 2 X I-16's underwing, 2 X I-5 fighters overwing and a single I-Z on a trapeze under the centre fuselage....



My model of the Zveno-1 is here, the Aviamatka PVO here - plus an explanation of the whole Vakhmistrov trials.

Ken