Polikarpov 1-16...Finished!

[Prenton]

This will be my entry in the group build.  It's the "weekend edition" of the Polikarpov I -16, by Eduard.  No etch, and no mask (not that a

mask is really needed on this one.)    Not likely that it will be done in a weekend though....😙

 

 

I managed to pick this up at a model shop in York a couple of years ago, for the sum total of £7, so well within the budget. 

 

 

The decals are pretty shot, so I will try to find some from my stash - I have a set of decals by Begemot, which (according to Scalemates)

retails at between 8 euros and 20 euros, and has 100 choices, so presumably one set out of the 100 would be within the remaining £2.99?   

You can find a link to the set here:-  https://www.scalemates.com/kits/begemot-48-021-polikarpov-i-16-family--121639

 

Is that OK with the mods??

 

 

Thanks,

 

Philip

[PlaStix]

1 hour ago, Prenton said:

Is that OK with the mods??

It certainly is Philip. Welcome to the GB. I love the look of this aircraft - looks almost old school sci-fi to me!! Great choice. Looking forward to following your build.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Prenton]

hi Stix

 

That's great - I will start in a couple of weeks, once I have finished my entry into the Australian and New Zealand Group Build, which finishes on May 30th.

 

Ta

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Right - now to make a start!

 

In time-honoured fashion, here are the sprues:-

 

 

 

 

 

And there is also a very tiny sprue for the transparencies, such as they are...

 

 

You will see, from the instructions, and in particular the sprue map, that there are a number of the items that are labelled "not to be used".

 

However, I have checked, and it seems that the Eduard sprues allow for both a Type 10 and a Type 18, with the ones blanked out being the ones for a Type 10. 

 

On that basis - and since I have a LOT more decal choices for a type 10 rather than a Type 18 - I am going to do this as a Type 10, in the colours of the

Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.   Probably something like the one shown on the cover of my main reference book, with the red, yellow and

purple tail, and the broad red fuselage band.  (The main camo colours - the light blue and the Russian olive green - are the same for both Types,)

 

 

More tomorrow.

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Some initial work on the cockpit.  The paint guide (and some internet research) indicates that the cockpit is in a light grey, with some of

the side equipment in a dark Russian Green, as is the seat, cockpit floor etc.

 

 

I have also put the wings together.

 

Next up will be to paint the backrest of the seat in a couple of shades of leather brown, put in the exhausts from the engine through the

holes in the side of the fuselage, paint up and install the instrument panel, and then do a bit of weathering of the interior.

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Now - a question for the hive mind here.   I understand that the upper surfaces were an khaki green colour,  what is apparently called AII Green / AII_z / AII₃.   

 

I have some Gunze (both Aequous and Mr Color), and I have lots of Tamiya acrylics. 

 

I have gone through the instructions for the kit, and also the instructions for a number of other Eduard kits of the I-16.   Eduard, in some boxings, suggests using Aequous H320, but in other kits suggests Mr Colour C136 or C135.  Does any one know what is correct for the uppersurface camo of a Type 10 in Spain?   (I have 136 and 135, but cannot get H320, so if it's that, would anyone know a suitable Tamiya colour/mix of colours?).  

 

(I have used the search facility and that's where I got the confirmation that the correct Russian/Soviet colour is AII Green etc. for this period.   I just cannot see any consensus on what that means in terms of Gunze and/or Tamiya (and I really don't want to go off buying MRP or Akan paints...the paint stash is big enough already, and getting paints through the post these days, post Brexit, is difficult for us in Ireland..)

 

(To complicate things further, one posting says that the Spanish, when they were finally allowed by the Soviets to pilot the planes, painted their I-16's in a darker green than on the aircraft as supplied initially by the Soviets, which darker green apparently is the same shade of green as RLM 83 (which I know is Gunze Aequous H432 - and which I do have).

 

Any suggestions, folks?

 

Thanks,

 

Philip

[Alex Gordon]

She's looking good so far old fruit.Massimo Tessitori could be your friend here with his research into things Soviet https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/i16/i16painting/I16painting-short.htm .

Edited June 8, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[Prenton]

1 hour ago, Alex Gordon said:

She's looking good so far old fruit.Massimo Tessitori could be your friend here with his research into things Soviet https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/i16/i16painting/I16painting-short.htm .

Thanks Alex.  That's a very useful webpage.  I had, in fact, seen that explanation, so I am fully convinced that the I-16 Type 10's were delivered to Spain in AII_z green.  Unfortunately, that source does not give me model colours.  Most of the other sources point me towards Akan paints....but, as I said, I am not going there.   Hopefully others can come up with some more leads.  

 

(I have also put up a request on the Spanish Civil War fb group - so they may have something more.)

 

Thanks for the kind comment, and for the link.

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Meanwhile - work continues. 

 

I noted on the internet, from some very useful builds on the Spanish Civil War SIG, that Eduard had made a mistake with its cockpit.  In real life, the cockpit "floor" wasn't

actually a full floor, as depicted in the plastic,  but - rather like the Hurricane - was only a part floor, extending out to just beyond the grooves for the pilot's feet to meet

the pedals.  So I cut out the floor on both sides. which will leave a gap between the edges and the cockpit sides.  The grooves/floor etc, and the seat edges have got a bit

of dry brushing as well, but will need a bit more weathering (Spain had rather dusty airstrips....).

 

I also painted up the Instrument panel, with a very dark grey to start, and detailed it with various Vallejo shades.  I then put on white glue "dots" to represent the glazed dials

on the panel - you can just about see these shining in the pic, though it is more obvious in reality.  (The extra panel on the left is blank and is now surplus to requirements - it was

there in case I needed to use a decal, but I don't think that I do, as I am rather pleased with how the main one has worked out... who says you need photo etch?!)

 

The prop was also painted, first with silver and then with black, and then some of the wet black was rubbed off on the edges with a hard brush, before it dried, to give a little bit of weathering....

 

 

All that is left is to make up some seatbelts, a matt coat and then some light weathering with Tamiya "make up sponges" and we are done for the interior.....

 

Thanks for looking,.

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Well, in keeping with the ethos of this particular group build, I didn't use Eduard seatbelts from the other kits in the stash, but made up some with some foil from a

long-forgotten wine bottle (aren't they all? 😙), painted in a linen colour, and some 5 amp fuse wire (which was even older - probably a remnant from the 1970's...).  

 

 

The seatbelts were copied from the Eduard photo-etch one - the Soviet arrangement was rather odd, with the central belts hanging off a leather

connecting piece, which was hung from a wire harness that went around to the back of the seat.  I made the connecting piece from a bit of foil also,

painted in leather brown, which was superglued to the main belts, and the wire harness was some more fuse wire. The "holes" in the belts were made

with a 0.1 draughting pen.  Looks fine, I think, at this scale (if it was 1/32nd, I would probably have to actually make the holes.....).

 

 

 

The cockpit walls were given some pin wash weathering, and then a bit of Tamiya "eyeshadow" from one of the weathering make up sponges. 

And finally a matt coat was applied.   Looks suitably dirty - not of course, that much of the inside of the cockpit can be seen, as the aperture is small

 

 

So now the fuselage can come together, the cockpit innards inserted and lastly the instrument panel, and we will be on to the main construction....

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Fuselage went together well, and then the wings were added.

 

I had noted, on various builds on the internet, that there is usually a big gap where the assembled wings meet the underside of the fuselage, often

requiring a shim of plastic and lots of filler to fix.  I tried an alternative tack - brute force!  I clamped the pieces together very tight.  It worked!   I only

had very small gaps along the leading edge of the wings, with just a small amount of filler needed, instead.  Much easier.

 

So now I have just a panel line, which is uniform and thin, where others have had a yawning gap.

 

Then, I tried something new (to me) - a full spray of Mr Surfacer 1500, thinned with Mr Color Levelling Thinner in a 50;50 ratio - as a primer. 

It has come out lovely and smooth (and, because I have used the black one, it gives me a start of a "black base" effect).*

 

Here is the result (lying on one of the clamps)

 

 

 

 

*However, it was very difficult indeed to clean up the airbrush afterwards.  Water wouldn't shift it, and I used premair, which got some of it out, but I

still had to use some cellulose thinners to get the rest of it out.  I needed a full strip down of the airbrush as well...  (just be warned, if you have never 

sprayed Mr Surfacer before...as I hadn't....)

 

Now this will be left for 24 hours, to fully cure, and I can add  the rear elevators and put the engine and remaining exhausts in, and then close it up completely. 

I have already sanded off the raised band along the cowling front, which is incorrect, and have dry fitted the engine front (which also got the black

base treatment - the engine cylinders will now get some aluminium drybrushing, and a oily pin-wash).

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Philip

[PlaStix]

Hi Philip. Great to see you have been making some more progress - and rather good progress it is too! Lovely build.

Kind regards,

Stix

[Prenton]

Thanks, Stix

 

A little bit more progress with this one...

 

The spinner, engine (face) and cowling front have been painted up, with a pin wash on the engine.  The cowling front has been

given a (very faint) drybrushing in aluminium to show the exquisite rivets and raised detailing on the piece.

 

 

And the engine was then put into the fuselage.   

 

 

As you can see, the elevators have been put on to the fuselage, and - as so often happens with primer - a small area of

additional correction/sanding was needed, in this case just on the leading edge on one side.   That will get another shot

of primer to even things up.

 

To the left of the assembly is the rudder.  I didn't give this the black primer, because it is going to be primed in white, given

that the colours to be put on it are red, yellow and purple.....I think I will do that while it is still attached to the bit of sprue,

and add it at the end.

 

It should look something like this:-  

 

 

(This is just to show the painting of the rudder - it is an image from the instructions of one of the other Eduard kits that I have,

which happens to have similar markings to one of those on my aftermarket sheet.)

 

 

More probably by Wednesday or so.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Philip

[PlaStix]

Hi Philip. Looks like you have been making more excellent progress. I do like the look of the scheme you are planning on doing!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Ravnos]

On 6/12/2021 at 4:25 PM, Prenton said:

5 amp fuse wire (which was even older - probably a remnant from the 1970's...).  

The flat I lived in a couple of years ago still had a rewireable fuseboard, see trying to find somewhere that sells fuse wire now? 😆 It took me all day traipsing around Edinburgh to find a grubby wee hardware shop that just happened to have a single pack of fuse wire at the back of a shelf in his store room. He gave it to me for free lol.

 

Jokes aside the build is looking great! cant wait to see the finished result.

[Prenton]

1 hour ago, Ravnos said:

The flat I lived in a couple of years ago still had a rewireable fuseboard, see trying to find somewhere that sells fuse wire now? 😆 It took me all day traipsing around Edinburgh to find a grubby wee hardware shop that just happened to have a single pack of fuse wire at the back of a shelf in his store room. He gave it to me for free lol.

 

Jokes aside the build is looking great! cant wait to see the finished result.

Thanks - just proves that keeping everything, for over 40 years, sometimes comes in handy  (my wife would not agree....😙)

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Well, with the deadline looming for the close of the Group Build, it was time to get back to the bench.

 

Since my last post in July, the undersurfaces have been given a full covering of the light blue, and the main upper areas the necessary Russian Green colour

(I opted for the darker of the two - Mr Color 136), in each case thinned with the same firm's Mr Levelling Thinner.  Went on great!

 

I have since masked off the areas that are to be painted in red, undercoating them in white.

 

The same has been done with the separate rudder, which was given an overall white, and then the top two thirds painted in yellow.  The first third, on the top, will have red,

along with the rest of the areas on the aircraft, and then the lower third will get its colour purple..

 

Here is where I am now at:-

 

Upper...

 

 

And lower...

 

Much tamiya tape was injured in the making of this kit...

 

Since I have until September 5th, and as we are back from the holidays (staycation, unfortunately), I reckon that I should make the deadline....just!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Philip.

[PlaStix]

On 24/08/2021 at 21:35, Prenton said:

I reckon that I should make the deadline....just!

Hi Philip. Great to see this is still in progress and I'm also hoping you get this finished before Sunday! Good luck!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Prenton]

5 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Philip. Great to see this is still in progress and I'm also hoping you get this finished before Sunday! Good luck!

Kind regards,

Stix

Yes, thanks Stix.  I have every intention of finishing.  The painting of the main body, and all of the undercarriage items has now finished, and the first coat of Future is to go on tonight, with decals tomorrow night, and then more Future, followed by weathering.   

 

Philip

[Prenton]

Well, it's finished, with just less than three hours to go to the end of the Group Build.  Typical of Eduard, there are lots and lots of very

small items to add towards the end.  However, after a couple of tries, I managed to get most of them on, including the rather intricate

undercarriage arrangement.  I couldn't find the little windlass thingy for the side of the fuselage, so will have to do without it. 

(No doubt it will turn up in due course....)

 

The opportunity you get with the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War is to have striking paint schemes on the Polikarpov 1-16. 

The one I chose (from the huge number of possibilities in the aftermarket decal set that I had in stock) is one with not only red

wingtips and  fuselage band, but also a red tail fin and red elevators.  The rudder is, of course, in that lovely multi-coloured

red/yellow/purple tricolour arrangement.

 

Here it is:-

 

The windscreen was not painted with the usual green camo colour after repairs, but was left in natural metal.  The extent of the black

surround for the engine is the source of some controversy, apparently - some profiles show the black extending further back along 

the fuselage, while some commentators say that that extra black area is a shadow in a wartime photo, and that the black did not

extend beyond the engine!  I went with the latter, as it seemed more logical to me.

 

Other side view:-

 

Although I had intended to use decals from Begemot, in the end I found some in the spares box.  I think they probably came from

another Eduard kit.

 

View from the rear:-

 

I went slightly heavy on the weathering, because in the time period, - late 1938/early 1939 -  these aircraft were up in the air multiple

times in the day, fending off the - by then - dominant Legion Condor/Nationalist forces.

 

Underside view:-

 

 

Head on view, showing the rather complicated undercarriage arrangement:-

 

 

 

As they say, not bad for less than a tenner!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[PlaStix]

Hi Philip. WOW! That is a real stunner! That really is a beautiful result! It looks absolutly fantastic in the Gallery! Superb all round! Very well done!!

Kind regards,

Stix