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Hi all,

I finally gathered the courage and decided I'd join the group build.

Common sense prevailed and I stuck with a project that would not take up too much space. Namely, I'm going to clean my stash of all remaining Hobbycraft I-16s.

I made a few of these in my youth, unfortunately they were dumped in the bin by Mother dear after I left home :weep:. Only one survives and that's because it was being refurbished.

Unnecessary bits from the Eduard and Ark kits ought to simplify things and improve accuracy.

Unfortunately it seems I'm already off to a rocky start and today's work will be mostly undoing the damage I've done yesterday.

The first specimen is meant to be a Type 5 and has had some work done on it, well below the 25% threshold I'd say:

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(In the background you can see the lone survivor, but it will not enter this GB).

Reinforcements from the rear: the Eduard type 29 does not need these. I still need to raid the Ark kit for any piece it can shed.

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Now for my own embarrassment:undersurfaces from the other kit which I mean to build as a rocket-armed Type 24. I must have been modelling DUI because I thought at first that I could move the entire exhaust area to its correct location and only later I saw the folly of my actions. So I blanked the existing exhaustes and drilled holes in the new wrong position!

I have plugged the holes with stretched sprue, now I'm left with the reinforcement and rescribing of the port side. In short I made a dog's meal of the piece. I'd like to say things can only improve from here, but I know myself...

27324199671_020fbaca4f_o_d.jpg

Edited by Bonehammer
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I'm pleased to announce that corrective surgery was successful. The patient is recovering nicely and the surgeon is having a well-deserved break:

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I anticipate some trouble with the fit...

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Ah, and I'm 99% sure that the shape of the wheel well windows is not right for this version. More work.

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Ah, but most of my troubles are self-inflicted. Why can't I just slap it together, seeing as how its shortcomings are well-known anyway?

Yesterday I came down with something. Twenty degrees outside (that's 68 °F in case any Yankees are reading), and I was shivering underneath two quilts and a fleece jumper (that's a sweater in case any Yankees are reading).

Today while still feeling like drek, I was able to carry on with the work:

A second pair of wing is being prepared. Exhaust port blanked, ski throughs cut out, new exhaust port drilled, a bit of work on the surface to make the fabric a bit more believable (in practice, I sanded it down...):

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Same thing on the upper surfaces. That panel now looks like it's too long, but I've finally learned to check the references before scribing.

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Meanwhile, some furniture has been added to the inside. Nothing major, as you'll know there wasn't much on the real thing. The Soviets were trendsetters, heavily into natural wood and minimalism before Ingvar Kamprad was even born.

In the second picture you'll also notice how the Eduard cowling front is in general agreement with the Polikarpov fuselage... but I'll have to sand down one of those cowling bands.

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Here I go again: why can't I leave stuff alone? Here the basically correct, but hopelessly bare, Hobbycraft wheel wells have received a strengthening bar and the difference in depth between the wheel and the leg compartments has been reintroduced. That was the most time-consuming intervention of the day.

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Hmm, looking at the picture it looks like I sanded it with a shark jaw instead of shark skin...

Ta for now,

Bone

Edited by Bonehammer
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Excellent work......I'm trying to do the same with my legion of old Hobbycfat kits....and the worst area is the exhaust layout. Now I'm trying to finish a Type 18, using some leftovers from the Eduard kit (the same than you, I'm afraid)......nice little flying barrels, for sure...

cheers

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Eh, these kits bring me back to when I was in high school and my obsession with the VVS was in its early stage. In other words, I'm having a mid-life crisis, and it's better to sit it out cutting plastic than running away from home with the local gigolo.

To be frank I'm always full of enthusiasm at the start of a project, let's see how it progresses, for example I'm not that keen to cut another set of heel lifts for the wheel wells, let alone putty/sand the gaps to a smooth rounded surface. I'll decide upon the results of this first attempt.

I've always been pants at Spot the Difference, but what convinced me in favour of HC's I-16 was that when I compared the plastic with the Ark kit - arguably the most accurate ever made in1/48 - no fundamental differences in shape emerged.

No progress today. Came home late, had to sew old wristwatches onto my daughter's T-shirt for the end of year school play. Teachers are crazy.

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To be frank I'm always full of enthusiasm at the start of a project, let's see how it progresses, for example I'm not that keen to cut another set of heel lifts for the wheel wells, let alone putty/sand the gaps to a smooth rounded surface. I'll decide upon the results of this first attempt.

Hope it works then! Be a shame to walk away after so much good work already.

You have a local gigolo?! I suppose i am looking for work at the moment....

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well.......teachers maybe mad there in old Britannia, but here in Tenerife, my kid's teachers took the kids for a scuba diving and waterskiing end of school's day.......right the same morning, Police found a big baggage with a human torso inside.....I'm not kidding.....a guy killed his dad and threw the decapitated corpse to the harbour, exactly where the kids were diving.....Boy came back home saying "I've seen the Police taking a corpse off the sea".....

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Hi BH

I would like to apologise for you ending up trying to build something that normally lives in my stash, only for it to appear when I am trying to undertake a GB.

Be prepared for missing / broken / lost parts, very poor fits, lots of filling and the continuing loss of mojo towards the build.

Good luck with the build mate, look forward to seeing you show this kit who's boss !

Cheers Pat

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  • 2 weeks later...

Blah blah blah wheel wells have received a strengthening bar blah blah blah

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A bit of samokritika in the true Communist spirit: looking at the walkaround pics I'm not sure those are strengthening bars. More like the wheel well is deeper in the later Types and interfered with a frame.

The green Squadron putty proved to be a right beach in applying and sanding. Doesn't seem to adhere, leaves gaps, has a consistency like wet sand and looks generally rough after sanding. Am I just bad at it, or is the product overrated?

However, I resorted to what I had in my old supplies - a nearly-dried Italeri and a Revell Plasto, which seems to have lost its propensity for drying harder than the plastic it's attached to.

Here the second unit after sanding and smoothing with an overall application of Tamiya white primer:

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Two down, one to go...

The tabs at the rear should aid in stabilizing the wing and fuselage undersurfaces against each other - otherwise a step tends to develop in the area.

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B.hammer, Squadron "green" putty is basically an auto body refinishing product which we call "glazing putty" in the USA. It should reduce to pea soup with a drop or two of lacquer thinner, which will make it adhere to styrene quite well. If you reduce it with lacquer thinner, you'll want to allow plenty of time for curing....

P.S.: For that matter, you can also use liquid cement for models (the ones with MEK in them) or acetone to make the green putty more liquid. Whichever of these solvents you choose, you should get better adhesion but there will be shrinkage.

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