The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world’s first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain operational status and as such “introduced a new vogue in fighter design.” The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of
World War II.
The diminutive fighter, nicknamed “Ishak” or “Ishachok” (“Donkey” or “Burro”) by Soviet pilots, figured prominently in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol and the Spanish Civil War – where it was called the Rata (“Rat”) by the Nationalists or Mosca (“Fly”) by the Republicans.
Full-scale work on the TsKB-12 prototype began in June 1933, and the aircraft was accepted into production on 22 November 1933, a month before it took to the air. The TsKB-12 was of mixed construction, using a wooden monocoque fuselage and wings employing a KhMA chrome-molybdenum steel alloy wing spar, dural ribs and D1 aluminum alloy skinning on the center and leading edges, with the remaining portions of the wings fabric covered.
Another modern feature was the ailerons which ran along almost the entire trailing edge of the wing and also operated as flaps (in the manner of more modern flaperons) by drooping 15°. The cockpit was covered by a 40-centimetre-wide (16 in) canopy which featured an Aldis-type tubular gun sight which could slide back and forth on runners fitted with rubber bungee cords.
Variant: I-16 Type 17, Type 10 with two ShKAS machine guns and two ShVAK cannons, rubber tail wheel, M-25V engine with 560 kW (750 hp). Some aircraft were fitted with an additional 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Berezin UB machine gun for strafing.
A 225 l (59.4 US gal) fuel tank was fitted directly in front of the cockpit. The main landing gear was fully retractable by a hand crank. The armament consisted of a pair of 7.62×54mmR (0.30 in) ShKAS machine guns in the wings, mounted on the outboard side of the main gear and 900 rounds of ammunition.
Source [Wikipedia]
Eduard I-16 Type 17 1/48 Profipack Kit
5 marking options
Color photo-etched details
Express mask
Kit # 8146
Scale: 1/48
MSRP: $29.99 USD
Street Price: Approximately $22.99
MARKING OPTIONS
I-16 Type 17, 22nd IAP, 2nd Lt. Katalov, summer 1939, Nomonhan, Mongolia
I-16 Type 17, Leningrad Area, Summer 1941
I-16 Type 17, 191st IAP, 1st. Lt. Gennadiy S. Zhuikov, Summer 1941
I-16 Type 17, 84th IAP, Capt. A. A. Khudiakov, Caucasus, Soviet Union, 1942*
I-16 Type 17, 4th, GIAP KBF, Mikhail Ya. Vasiliev, Spring 1942
Hello fellow visitors and regular readers. This is basically the 1st blog entry of the year 2019. It was one of my resolutions to follow up and finish several builds I have on hold that were halted by one reason or another.
Here I present you the Eduard 1/48 I-16 Type 17 WW-II Soviet Fighter from their Profipack series. What I found in the box were sub-assemblies waiting to be wet-sanded were needed and adding the wings to the fuselage. The engine assembly was already built as well as the cockpit.
The photo etch fret included with this kit, is a nice and very welcome addition. To be honest, I used everything but the seatbelts because from the beginning I had plans to display this model kit with a pilot in the cockpit. That pilot will come from another kit or a resin one (if available).
The base color I used on this kit was US ARMY OLIVE DRAB FADED 2 & 3 (MMP-021 & MMP-022). Â I used a homebrew mix of MMP-116 Lt. Grey with a dash of MMP-001 Flat White for the slight camo pattern and MMP-116 Lt. Grey for the underside. MMA-006 Gloss Coat served as a color sealer and left the surface ready for decals*. Decals are of great quality as I have experienced with other Eduard Profipack sets in the past. After sealing the decals with another light coat of MMA-006, I used Ammo by Mig wash NATO CAMOUFLAGE WASH A.MIG 1006. Having that finished, I sealed the model again but this time with MMA-004 Flat Coat.
After the flat coat was entirely cured, I did the exhaust stains with pastels. That’s because I find that pastels work better on flat non-glossy surfaces.Â
To summarize the build, the kit does come together superbly. However, there is a gap on the back side of the wing spar assembly when mounted on the fuselage. It is quite notable but it is nothing that one couldn’t fix with ole’ putty. In this case, I used my weapon of choice for gaps, A+B Epoxy. If you love the Polikarpov, Eduard Models has no shortage of versions in their catalog. Note that this kit is DISCONTINUED at this moment, but it is still easy to find in most hobby shops or online hobby stores.
Absolutely positively Recommended!
My sincere thanks to Mission Models Paints for providing us with the paints needed for this project. More to come so stick around. A big thank you to Miguel Jiménez from Ammo by Mig for providing us with the weathering products.
* ABOUT THE I-16 TYPE 17, 84th IAP, Capt. A. A. Khudiakov, CAUCASUS, Soviet Union, 1942
This I-16 Type 17 wore an interesting camouflage scheme including white or light grey snake lines on the standard green upperside camouflage color. The light snake lines are seen just on the rear fuselage. It is believed this aircraft was flown by Alexandr Anisimovitch Khudiakov, member of 84th IAP in the South Caucasus area in 1942. He is credited with 10 kills (including 7 shared).
The patriotic inscription on the fuselage Red Star means „For the native country“. The pronunciation is ”Zarohdinu” There were two 84th IAPs in the VVS. The first one was equipped with I-153 Tchaika biplanes and was disbanded in December 1942. The second one was established later and was renamed 101st GIAP on July 17, 1943. The second one used various versions of I-16 up to 1943.
