Polikarpov I-16***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

Given my current workload I might be pushing my luck but I may be able to slip in one or two more builds.

 

I guess I first started building aircraft kits in around 1956 and for the next few years I built virtually everything Airfix released including their Yak-9D in 1963 and their Il-2 in 1964. By about that time Revell had started issuing some interesting kits also, so I built their I-16 too, but at that point my WWII Russian aircraft building ground to a halt as there was nothing else about for several years unless you count the Airfix P-39Q with optional Russian markings - I built it with US Stars and Bars. Much later, probably about 15 years ago in fact, I picked up the Emhar Lagg-3, Mig -3 and Yak-3, and about 3 or 4 years ago I finally got round to building them together with a replacement Airfix Yak-9D, all my originals having been scrapped I think. 12 years ago I picked up a few more Russian aircraft, the Airfix Pe-2 and another Il-2, the HobbyBoss P-39N with Russian markings which I built earlier in this GB, the AModel La-5FN and this.

I have looked up the invoice and it seems it cost me £6.50 in September 2010 from Hannants! It can be built as the type 18, 24 or 28, the main differences being the armament of which more another day. The I-16 first seems to have come to the notice of the Western airforces during the Spanish Civil War when it acquired the nickname of "Rata" or Rat, and although rather small and crude it was perhaps the first low wing monoplane fighter wih a retractable undercarriage anywhere in the world when it first flew at the end of 1933. It was of course obsolete by the start of Operation Barbarossa but still made up the bulk of the fighter force in Russia, and large numbers were either shot down or destroyed on the ground. As you can see there are not many parts and I intend to build it pretty much OOB (how many times have I said that before😁) - the only complicated part seems to be the front end where ICM have gone somewhat overboard on the engine detail and the cowling looks like it could be problematic - we will see in due course! I have one of their Ki-29 Nate kits and it looks just as complicated if not more so as the MG were apparently inside the lower half of the cowling, so perhaps they expect you to leave at least part of the cowling off which could spell trouble - fortunately I have plenty of filler! Looks like I almost made a start on it several years ago as I have painted the lower centre section in AII blue, but that is as far as I got. In spite of the fact it can in theory be bult in one of 3 versions, the only scheme shown is for a plane of the 72 SAP - Northern Fleet Air Force in summer 1941 though for some reason the decal sheet includes no less than 14 red stars in 2 different types - with and without black outlines - most odd! However I note Hannants are still selling 3 ICM I-16 kits - a type 18, type 24 (this kit) and a type 28 and it is still just under a tenner. I would guess that the sprues are identical and just the decs are different.

 

More if and when I start.

 

Pete

Edited June 25, 2021 by PeterB

[JOCKNEY]

Great choice Pete

 

I got 2 of these free with this kit

 

 

Look forward to following this one, best of luck.

 

Cheers Pat 

[PeterB]

Hi Pat,

 

Now that is an interesting kit - even bigger than the Pe-8 I believe. Pity there is no GB currently listed that it could go in AFAIK.

 

Pete

[JOCKNEY]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

Hi Pat,

 

Now that is an interesting kit - even bigger than the Pe-8 I believe. Pity there is no GB currently listed that it could go in AFAIK.

 

Pete

I have got it ready for the Beast GB if that one is successful in the future

 

Cheers Pat 

[PeterB]

2 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

I have got it ready for the Beast GB if that one is successful in the future

 

Cheers Pat 

Sounds familiar Pat but I can't find it in the list for the Bunfight?

 

Pete

[AdrianMF]

17 hours ago, PeterB said:

ICM have gone somewhat overboard

No, just being normal for ICM

 

Even the Revell kit needed an extra hand to hold the cowling bits in place when I blitz-built it last year.

 

Looking forward to seeing you build an accurate one!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[JOCKNEY]

2 hours ago, PeterB said:

Sounds familiar Pat but I can't find it in the list for the Bunfight?

 

Pete

 

Here you go Pete

 

 

I'm sure you have something lurking in the stash that fits the bill.

 

Cheers Pat 

[bianfuxia]

13 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

 

Here you go Pete

 

 

I'm sure you have something lurking in the stash that fits the bill.

 

Cheers Pat 

Please join! I think it will be a super fun group build!

[PeterB]

5 hours ago, bianfuxia said:

Please join! I think it will be a super fun group build!

Well, I do have a Hasegawa F-15E with lots of bombs so if that is eligible count me in.

 

Pete

[bianfuxia]

31 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Well, I do have a Hasegawa F-15E with lots of bombs so if that is eligible count me in.

 

Pete

Yes, it's exactly right! I will add your name - welcome!

[PlaStix]

Wow!! That looks like another fine kit for this GB Peter!!  

Kind regards,

Stix

[PeterB]

I have made a start - the colour call out says light gull gray for the interior which seems possible so I have gone with it.

I knew from my ancient Revell kit that it was pretty small, but it is tiny!

With the short fat fuselage it reminds me of the Gee Bee racers! Almost half the actual parts are in front of the engine firewall/bulkhead and if I am reading the rather sparse instructions correctly I am supposed to glue the 6 exhaust pipes on the the engine before fitting the various cowling panels - getting them lined up correctly looks like a major problem so as the insides are not going to visible I will probably cheat and just glue them into the cowling and if required chop of the internal ends. The detail is great if you are going to model it with some of the panels off, but frankly is not required otherwise.

 

More soon.

 

Pete

Edited July 1, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

I fitted the engine for what it is worth - alignment was vague and I decided to leave out he "prop shaft" as it did not fit very well.

As you can see, I could have saved some time and effort as it is not visible.

The panels went on better than I expected but will need a little filler - that was the bit I anticipated trouble with so I am pleased to get it done. The wings look like they will fit fairly well but again not perfect and filler will be required.

 

This is looking like quite a quick build so far but anything could happen.

 

So here is a very brief bit of background.

In 1930 a design bureau in which Nikolai Polikarpov was a prominent member produced the I-5 biplane fighter. Polikarpov went on to produce the I-15 family of biplanes including the I-15, I-15bis and I-153 with retractable undercarriage. Although perhaps somewhat underpowered by Western standards these light and highly manoeuvrable aircraft were initially successful in the Spanish Civil War, but were rapidly becoming obsolete so in 1933 Polikapov started work on the monoplane 1-16 with a manually operated retractable undercarriage. The fuselage was quite similar to that of the previous biplanes and the structure was mainly made of wood. Over the next few year it was developed through numerous models with more powerful engines, modified armament and other detailed changes and although totally obsolescent if not obsolete by the time of “Operation Barbarossa”, together with its biplane predecessors it still made up the bulk of the Russian fighter force.

 

This particular kit is the Model 24, although it can be made into a model 18 or 28. The Type 18 first flew in late 1939 with the Shvetsov 800m HP M-62 engine with a two stage supercharger and variable pitch propeller giving it improved altitude performance. This was followed in 1940 by the Type 24 with a 900HP M-63 engine, and by that stage over 1000 I-16 were being produced each year. Armament varied, with either 4 x 7.62 mg or 2 x 7.62mg in the cowling and 2 x 20mm cannon in the wing but there is considerable confusion/disagreement in my sources as to which model had cannon. I am pretty sure that the types 17 and 27 did and that the final Type 29 introduced 12.7mg under the engine instead of on top, and I believe that the Type 24 had 4 x 7.62 mg. It looks like MPM feel the Type 28 had wing mounted cannon. The Model 24 had a top speed of just over 300mph and was both small and fairly manoeuvrable. A total of 9450 I-16 were built over the years apparently. The Polikarpov bureau went on to design a number of more modern aircraft but none entered service, and after he died at the age of 52 in 1944 his bureau was broken up.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 2, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

This seems to be going along quite fast. All the main bits are on and filled.

The vents in the nose plate could be opened and closed from inside the cockpit for ventilation - closed when warming up in Winter I guess. Looking at Massimo's website I have decided that as it is supposedly as at summer 1941 it would be in th AII green over blue scheme so I have used some 50+ year old Humbrol Authentic HT1 Topside Green which still works fine. I was going to use the matching HT2 Underside Blue but that tin had dried out so I used some old White Ensign Colourcoats Blue instead. According to Humbrol the modern rough equivalents would be Hu116 for the green and Hu157 Azure Blue for the underside, but I think that the latter would not be quite right. The White Ensign ACS02 is labelled AMT7 but is much lighter than the Sovereign ACS02 AMT7 and I suspect it was actually AII blue which is why I used it.

I will gloss it and get the decs on before I start on the undercarriage which could be a little tricky. One of the very small pins for the wheels seems to have either broken off or not been moulded - still CA should hold it hopefully.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 2, 2021 by PeterB

[Ravnos]

Looks great! when I eventually manage to get stuck into my build for this it will be my first ICM kit, looking forwards to seeing how it compares to the kits I'm used to.

 

P.S. @JOCKNEY that Zveno kit looks totally bonkers, cant wait to see it built (off to look up the history of the real thing)

[PeterB]

20 minutes ago, Ravnos said:

P.S. @JOCKNEY that Zveno kit looks totally bonkers, cant wait to see it built (off to look up the history of the real thing)

Hi Ravnos,

 

Yes, the Zveno (Link) projects were quite amazing - there were several different versions including one with no less that 5 parasite fighters - two above the wing, two below, and one which hooked on under the fuselage after take off. The original idea was I believe to provide fighter protection for the parent bomber at long range. The SPB (high speed dive bomber) project was somewhat different as the I-16 carried bombs, and it seems to have been used to some effect around the Black Sea, destroying a floating dock and oil tanks in Romania, together with bridges and railways on the Danube which were out of range for normal bombers, or so I have read.

 

Pete

 

[Ravnos]

41 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Hi Ravnos,

 

Yes, the Zveno (Link) projects were quite amazing - there were several different versions including one with no less that 5 parasite fighters - two above the wing, two below, and one which hooked on under the fuselage after take off. The original idea was I believe to provide fighter protection for the parent bomber at long range. The SPB (high speed dive bomber) project was somewhat different as the I-16 carried bombs, and it seems to have been used to some effect around the Black Sea, destroying a floating dock and oil tanks in Romania, together with bridges and railways on the Danube which were out of range for normal bombers, or so I have read.

 

Pete

 

Thanks Pete, just finished reading the wiki page on the whole project, trust the Soviets to come up with something like that 😆 Would have loved to see it in flight!

 

Anyway sorry, don't mean to derail your build thread, the I-16 looks great so far

[PeterB]

2 hours ago, Ravnos said:

Anyway sorry, don't mean to derail your build thread, the I-16 looks great so far

No problem,

 

this forum is a bit like a modelling club where you are welcome to exchange information and views.

 

Pete

[AdrianMF]

Looks super with the camo on. It’s certainly a big step up from the old Revell kit!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[PeterB]

Hi Adrian,

 

It is actually not too bad a kit. As I said earlier the only real problem is the engine area which could benefit from a rather larger and clearer set of instructions and perhaps some more obvious locating pins etc to get the alignment correct. I could probably have made a better job on the cowling panels but trying to juggle 4 of them plus the nose ring before the glue set was a bit tricky. Now I am waiting for the blue paint to dry - the old White Ensign aircraft paint often seem rather slow to dry, unlike their tank paint for some reason, no matter how much you stir it -Jamie's new version seems better in that respect.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

I have put the decs on except for the stars under the wing as the ruddy blue paint is still tacky!

According to ICM this is a plane flown by Captain B Safonov of the 72SAP, Northern Fleet Air Force in Summer 1941. It features in two of the Osprey "Aircraft of the Aces" books, the one on Polikarpov Aces says it is a I-16 Model 24 and that Safonov was the first Soviet Ace, whilst the generic "Soviet Aces" book says it was a Model 18! The slogan on the Port side is "For Stalin" whilst Osprey suggest the one on the Starboard side said something like "For Communism" but I tranlate the dec to be something like "Death to the Fascists". The pic is a bit out of focus but you may be able to see 4 small "legs" sticking up from the hump behind the cockpit and in the Profile of the model 18 in the Osprey book there is a small bullet like fairing sitting on top of them - I have seen pics showing this fairing on a few late model I-16 and it is actually included on the sprue but marked as not used. I am guessing it is a gun camera but could be wrong - maybe some of our resident Soviet aircraft experts could help - somebody like Jason @Learstang or Massimo @Massimo Tessitori perhaps?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Learstang]

I do believe that was a gun camera fairing. Almost there with this little bird!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[PeterB]

Thanks Jason,

 

If so I guess it would be an optional fit not a permanent fixture? Yes, it is nearly done - just the various undercarriage legs etc to put on and the gunsight. and prop, then I can varnish it and stick on the windscreen, but first I have two more stars to add.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Learstang]

It does appear to have been an optional fit.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[PeterB]

It took me a few minutes to work out the geometry of the undercarriage but after that it went on fairly well.

Unlike earlier versions the model 24 apparently had a very small wheel at the bottom of the tail skid. The undercarriage was manually retracted and there are a couple of cables/chains running from the centre of the wheel hub up into the wheel bay which I have tried to represent. Apparently the u/c would not always lock down so the pilots had to resort to pulling "G" to shake it into place. I am probably wrong but I seem to remember reading that the early Spitfires or Hurrricanes, although fitted with hydraulic undercarriages, had to be manually pumped up resulting in them wobbling about just after they left the ground as the pilot unconciously jerked the stick whilst pumping with the other hand - lord knows what happened when the pilot wound up the undercarriage on the I-16 but if they were taking off whilst the airfield was being strafed they would be very vulnerable I guess. As I recall the early Grumman fighters also had manually operated undercarriage which had to be wound up

 

I have added the pitot and gunsight and the prop is ready to go on so that just leaves the windscreen, though I will leave it a couple of days now whilst the blue I used to touch up has chance to dry.

 

Cheers

 

Pete