1/72 Hasegawa Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 

"U.S.S.R." 

Lake Ladoga area, 4 I.A.P., winter 1940-1941

by AEX

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During the early 1930's, the standard fighter aircraft was a fixed landing gear biplane of metal and wood construction. When Russia submitted its requirements for a new fighter, they simply stated that it had to be better than any other fighter in the world. First flown in December 1933, this radical fighter was a small, low wing cantilever monoplane of mixed wood and metal construction. It had an enclosed cockpit, armor protection for the pilot and retractable undercarriage, none of which made the early pilots happy. Its very small dimensions made it as unstable as it was maneuverable, making it very troublesome during take off and landing. In 1.936, during our bloody Spanish Civil War, the I-16 proved successful against the He-51 biplanes, but it was later outmatched by the Bf-109. It was nicknamed "Mosca" (fly) by its pilots and fought for Russia until 1943 when new fighter type aircraft became available.

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The kit is very nice and it fits so well. The only thing I didn't like was the cockpit, where are the details? Anyway, I used photoetched from Eduard (cockpit and main wheel wells).

The painting process is so easy. First of all, I painted this kit in RLM83 (dark green) using Aeromaster on upper surfaces and light blue on lower. Later, I airbrushed the whole kit in flat white, using various layers in a "smooth" and "sweet" way. The weathering, with oils (the engraved panels lines were ok.) Finally, that's the time to sand, and so, the former colour, is obtained.

I think that's all. It was very funny to build it. Really, it's very small kit, but I think it's worth of it. Now, I've got four more to build.

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Regards from Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

AEX

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Photos and text © by AEX