Converting a 1/72 Polikarpov I-16 Type 5 to Type 10

[Nick Millman]

1 hour ago, atvd1020 said:

 

Thanks for this piece of information! The I-16 I wanted to build was one involved in combat with Zeroes on the 13th of September 1940 over Chungking, so that would rule out the Type 18. Cheung mentions the 24/IV had received some Type 17s by the spring of 1940, but simply says I-16s were involved in combat on 13/9, not specifying the type. Would it be safe to assume that those were Type 10s since there simply were fewer Type 17s? I'm also guessing the latter were used mainly as bomber interceptors.

 

Cheung reports nine I-16s involved on 13/9 without specifying unit or type as you say, but Soulard reports that they were six Type 10s from 24/IV with three more I-16s being flown by IV Tatui staff officers, the whole formation led by the 24/IV boss Captain Yang Meng-Ging. Another report suggests the additional three I-16s were from 8/III but again without specifying their type. Hsu and Chang's air war history just mentions 'E-16s' from III and IV Tatui. The I-16s were flying top cover at 15,000 ft for a larger formation of I-15s at 11,500 ft when they were bounced by the Zeros, Yang was shot down and his deputy wounded. This was the debut of the Zero over China which the Chinese call the air battle of Pi-shan (or Bei-shan) but give a different account than the better known Japanese version. 

 

Although Soulard states that the Type 17s were in fact Type 18s there is a photo of a Type 17 in Cheung's book as mentioned by Old Man and the Japanese designation 'E-19" for the E-16III suggests a visible difference when seen in the air.

 

The caption to the Cheung Type 17 photo poses a few questions as it contradicts the accompanying text about Kao You-hsin. The uprated Rikkos mentioned in the caption as being introduced in response to the losses over Liangshan on 20 May 1940 were already in service with 13 Ku and from 18 to 25 May 1940 they were making daylight attacks on Chungking at 20-22,000 ft "without being disturbed by Chinese fighters" whilst the older Rikkos of the Kanoya and Takao Ku were relegated to night bombing during the same period. Combined daylight bombing by both types did not resume until 26 May 1940.  Liangshan was a major Chinese airfield some distance to the north-east of Chungking. I've not been able to confirm the details of the 20 May 1940 engagement from Japanese sources yet but Army bombers also participated in the '101' operation against Chungking. 

 

 

Nick

 

[atvd1020]

On a tangent, it looks like the 1/144 Polikarpov I-16 from Zvezda is a Type 10, based on the sprue pics from this German review:

 

http://www.kitreviewsonline.de/polikarpov-i-16-von-zvezda-im-massstab-1144/