1:48 Eduard Polikarpov i-16 Type 10

[shortCummins]

 

Due to the continual handling of the model while I masked the “linen” patches of the aluminium paint had worn off so I touched it up and then gave everything a coat of AK gauzy agent.

 

I left the clear coat to fully cure for a day or two and then set about preparing the wood decals.

I’ve got two sets of AK wood decals

These are, more or less, the same ‘wood patterns’ at different scales which is OK for what I want to  use them for.

Basically I’m going to make plywood strips, rather than larger panels. I’ve no idea if this is how they were built but the photo of the replica I found…

…looks to me more like strips than panels?

 

So I cut some Tamiya tape to length and added them to the airframe. Once all of the tape was added I numbered them to try and ensure that I put them back in the correct place.

 

I removed some of the “panels” and added some pre-shading, MRP-015 light brown, to the exposed paint.

 

Then I removed the rest of the “panels” and added the rest of the pre-shading.

 

Like all?, pre-shading it looks a bit of a mess but hopefully the decals will tidy up the “wood” base.

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the decals.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[k5054nz]

It's interesting to see how others tackle the same subject. 2421319 was the first of six restored to fly for Sir Tim Wallis, and was finished as Red 9 in dark green over blue- probably very familiar to UK enthusiasts for its appearances at Duxford in recent years. I've scrounged through magazines for images of her during the taxiing and test flight phase and taken dozens of screen captures from a documentary about Sir Tim* - these can be found in the attached Flickr album. The cockpit photos are after painting but should prove good references. Note the doors did not have padding during testing and were removed entirely for at least the first flight. Likewise the rear parts of the elongated diamonds on the cowling (what are they?) weren't fitted.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVjFyfa

 

I'm optimistic I can replicate the look of the ply veneer using oils. I won't be doing anything as stark on the fabric-covered surfaces. I'm using the Academy kit because I have no money, and have been able to source An-2 prop parts for its distinctive look. When I was 19 I did a rush job with the little Hasegawa kit and promised myself I'd do a better job!

 

 

*here's the documentary if anyone's interested:

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by k5054nz

[shortCummins]

7 hours ago, k5054nz said:

It's interesting to see how others tackle the same subject. 2421319 was the first of six restored to fly for Sir Tim Wallis, and was finished as Red 9 in dark green over blue- probably very familiar to UK enthusiasts for its appearances at Duxford in recent years. I've scrounged through magazines for images of her during the taxiing and test flight phase and taken dozens of screen captures from a documentary about Sir Tim* - these can be found in the attached Flickr album. The cockpit photos are after painting but should prove good references. Note the doors did not have padding during testing and were removed entirely for at least the first flight. Likewise the rear parts of the elongated diamonds on the cowling (what are they?) weren't fitted.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVjFyfa

 

I'm optimistic I can replicate the look of the ply veneer using oils. I won't be doing anything as stark on the fabric-covered surfaces. I'm using the Academy kit because I have no money, and have been able to source An-2 prop parts for its distinctive look. When I was 19 I did a rush job with the little Hasegawa kit and promised myself I'd do a better job!

 

 

*here's the documentary if anyone's interested:

 

thanks for both the flicker and YouTube links, really interesting stuff

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

The AK decals, incidentally printed by Cartograf, were cut into strips and the Tamiya masking tape patterns used to cut the appropriate shapes.

 

These were then positioned onto the airframe.

 

The AK decals behaved flawlessly, I wouldn’t expect anything else from Cartograf, however they differ from the Uschi decals in that the Uschi ones have a transparent background while these are fully opaque. This means that the pre-shading was wasted (as shading) however, the pre-shade did help with the alignment so it wasn’t a complete wast of time. Another difference is that these are slightly thicker than the Uschi version, this makes the adhesion to any compound curves slightly more tricky, micro set & sol was all that was needed to help them adhere and conform.

 

Would I choose the AK(Cartograf) or Uschi decals again?, absolutely, to represent “natural” unpainted wood either of these would be a good choice.

Next time, if I want to add some pre-shading, to try and differentiate between panels/planks for example, then the Uschi decals are what I would choose. Using the Uschi decals could also allow you to represent different types (colours) of wood far easier and with an almost infinite range, just paint the “base” whatever colour, or colours, you want and apply the “wood grain”.

Something else to weigh up is the cost of each sheet, the Uschi version is about a 1/3 more, at least where I could find them, than the AK sheets, you pay your money and make your choice.

 

 

Next I’ll be applying a clear coat protection and adding some ‘oil paint’ post shading.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

I note from the photos that @k5054nz provided a link to that plywood strips are a lot thinner than my ones, hopefully mine give an “impression” of how the aircraft was made even if its not 100% accurate.

 

The wood decals were left overnight to fully settle down and were then given a coat of Alclad ALC-314 klear kote flat.

 

As a side note I think its worth mentioning that the wood decals are quite glossy when first applied, to my mind they look much better now that they’ve had a plat coat applied.

 

This was left to cure and then various oils, Abteilung ABT510 starship filth and ABT002 sepia were used to try and show some demarcation between the different strips of plywood.

They were spotted along the joins…

…and then stippled/blended to give a slight discolouration and hopefully show the demarcation of the strips better?

 

The rest of the “wood” was treated to the same effect.

 

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the engine cowl and rear wings.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

That dies look very nice with the woodgrain decals.

Great work 

Chris 

[Dunny]

Wow - impressively methodical John, with a beautiful result!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[shortCummins]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

That dies look very nice with the woodgrain decals.

Great work 

Chris 

thanks Chris

 

on reflection I'd use the Uschi decals rather than the AK for future projects as they have a transparent background and would allow a more subtile difference between "panels"

I'd also have used either all the "same colour" wood or far more of a mixture, I only used the "darker" wood for 4 or 5 strips (out of 40+) and they do stick out, better now with the oils added, so either more or none would have given a more consistent look, in my defence I thought they were transparent, should have know better!.

 

23 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Wow - impressively methodical John, with a beautiful result!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

thanks Roger

 

its very close to the effect I was after, and like anything I'm sure I could improve on the next "naked" build, there will be another but not for a while, variety and all that.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Before I can add the engine cowl the exhaust pipes need to be fitted, firstly they were painted with Xtreme metal AK479 aluminium and then a light coat of MRP 360 red rust.

 

The “holes” for the exhausts were treated with Tamiya black panel liner as were the engine cylinders.

 

Exhausts were fitted.

 

The engine and propellor mount were added to the cowl…

 

…which was then attached to the fuselage.

 

Machine-gun covers were then added.

[

 

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the tail section, rudder and horizontal stabilisers.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Looks great John, those exhaust pipes look teeny.   The wood finish decals look good.

Chris

[shortCummins]

13 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looks great John, those exhaust pipes look teeny.   The wood finish decals look good.

Chris

thanks Chris

 

if I was to do this sort of thing again I think I'd use the Uschi decals as they are semi-transparent and will allow for some pre-shading and/or colour variation to show through.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

Both the rudder and horizontal stabilisers were painted to look like linen.

 

Then the rudder was attached…

 

…as were the horizontal stabilisers…

 

…and the rear cone fitted to the fuselage.

I should have fitted this before the rudder and horizontal stabilisers as it would have been easier to ‘press it home’ without them 'in-situ'.

 

 

The tail skid was also glued in place.

 

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the landing gear and finishing the build.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[72modeler]

Neat build! How in the world did you do the tail surfaces? Looks like real fabric over metal!

Mike

[shortCummins]

15 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Neat build! How in the world did you do the tail surfaces? Looks like real fabric over metal!

Mike

thanks Mike

 

here's how it did them...

first they were sprayed with white primer and then MRP-256 clear doped linen

 

then I masked the 'ribs' with thin Tamiya tape, the tape was cut to size using an Infini cutting mat

 

then I sprayed some highly thinned MRP-255 black, approx. 95% thinner 5% paint, to try and simulate shadows.

 

if/when I do this again I'd either thin the black more or spray lighter coats, maybe use something other than black? MRP have a couple of alternative linen colours so that would be interesting to try.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[72modeler]

5 minutes ago, shortCummins said:

John(shortCummins)

It just now dawned on me-so you are the builder of the famous 'naked' Mossie? I am still marveling at that incredible model! Maybe you could try a 'naked' Entex 1/200 HK-1 Spruce Goose? 

Mike

[k5054nz]

The plywood veneer looks fantastic, beautiful work John!

[shortCummins]

6 hours ago, k5054nz said:

The plywood veneer looks fantastic, beautiful work John!

thanks Zac

 

the more I think about them the more I prefer the Uschi decals, these AK (Cartograf) one do the job however I do wish that they were semi-transparent, like the Uschi ones, as it would allow greater variation for the "base" wood colour.

These decals also look much better once they've had a matt coat as the gloss finish that they have straight from the sheet makes them look slightly odd to my eyes, a bit like the difference between laminate flooring and real wood.

 

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[shortCummins]

 

I have built this kit before, many moons ago, and from ‘memory’ the landing gear is a little tricky to get right, lack of location points and rather vague instructions so I wasn’t looking forward to this part of the build.

 

 

First the landing gear “tripod” struts were fitted to the aircraft, this is the "easy" bit.

 

Then the "covers" were attached more or less where they’re meant to go?

 

These folded covers were the trickiest to get looking right.

 

And finally the wheels.

 

For the first time I used Loctite Super Glue Power Gel as my CA of choice, the “Gel” version is quite thick, as the name suggests?, and takes a few seconds before it “sticks” allowing you to position the part(s). At only £3 from B&Q I think its a very reasonable alternative to some of the “specialist” CAs.

 

 

Next I’ll be adding the remaining bits’n’pieces and getting her ready for inspection.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

Nice John.  I have just got  some liquid CA from a local discount shop and it was 99p a bottle so thought I will give it a try when I near the end of my current bottle. Willbechuffed if any good.

Great work on U/C.

Chris

[shortCummins]

 

The final bits’n’pieces needed to be added…

 

Firstly the wing mounted machine guns and pitot tube.

 

On these aircraft the wheels were retracted by cables, so I used some thin wire to represent these…

 

…I could only find red wire so they were then painted black.

 

Next was the gunsight…

 

…and windshield.

 

Finally the propellor.

 

 

 

Next I’ll be taking some photos for the RFI once it stops raining.

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)

[bigbadbadge]

I have to say this is very nice indeed and although not something in my field of interest is a very pleasing model to look at in the raw state, you have done a grand job there John it looks great with the different material finishes.

Great work 

Chris

[81-er]

That's a really lovely model. I'm bookmarking the thread for reference if I ever summon up the courage to try a "naked" build

[shortCummins]

 

Here’s a sneaky peak of the finished build.

 

Full RFI can be found here…

 

 

until next time

as always, any suggestions, criticisms or comments will be gratefully received.

rgds

John(shortCummins)