Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 ProfiPACK
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For our in-box preview of this kit, visit here.
Kit Review
The diminutive little I-16 took the rather unflattering name of “Rat” during the Spanish Civil War. Although that may sound rather comical, for the Nationalist forces, it was anything but because the I-16 was as good as anything else in the skies at the time. Used by the Russians during the Great Patriotic War just a few years later it was seriously obsolete but even then, in the hands of a skilled pilot, it was a dangerous foe. With over 13,500 of them made, there were also quite a lot of them to contend with and on the eve of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 the little Rat made up nearly 65% of the VVS fighter force.
Eduard have been making this kit in 1/48th for some time now, with lots of different boxes available; ProfiPACK, Weekend and Royal versions have all been on the shelves alongside the standard kit. There are a number of different types as well, making a fine family of little rodents. This particular box is the ProfiPACK version of the Type 24, complete with a glorious decals sheet for four versions and a pre-painted etched fret to liven up the cramped interior. Starting on the outside though, you have a dramatic piece of very well done art to entice you in and waiting inside there are two large sprues and three small sprues of dark grey plastic. It’s all neatly formed although there is some flash and a few mould lines to contend with. The aforementioned decal sheet is printed by Cartograf and looks lovely, with some excellent versions on offer. The transparent sprue is tiny, with just two parts on it and as well as the etched parts there is also a mask set for the wheels and the windscreen. The fabric effect on various parts of the airframe is very well moulded, not too overdone and quite accurate in shape. The panels are crisply done, with very neat fasteners, where appropriate and with the addition of the etched parts for the interior, even this space is well catered for.
Construction starts with that interior space and the plastic parts are well moulded, with frames on the inside of the fuselage halves and a neat looking instrument panel, complete with decal on the sheet; not necessary in this version with it’s etched instruments but still very well done. Options include etched or plastic parts for the levers and throttles in the cockpit and you can even cut open the side doors if you want to. The plastic parts, such as fuselage and wings, fit together reasonably well but I would suggest a slight departure from the instructions by attaching the lower section of the wings to the completed fuselage first and then adding the upper wing sections afterward. This takes the alignment problems out of the process and makes the fit of everything much smoother. The engine, what little can be seen of it, is further hidden by the etched shutters that sit just inside the cowling and it all fits onto the fuselage front without drama, making a very pugnacious little fighter.
Colour
All four options in the box, on the Cartograf printed sheet, are very nice, each with their own character.
• Boris Safonov, Summer 1941, in AII Green with AII Blue underside and some truly spectacular slogans on either side of the fuselage. (Included are the optional slogans and tail number to allow for two of Safonov’s machines to be built.)
• Genadij Tsokolajev, April 1942. Light Grey upper surface, AII Blue underside and big flash Guards badges on the fuselage.
• Lt. Krichevskiy, Leningrad 1942. AII Dark Green over AII Blue underside, with big white numbers on the sides and kill markings just behind the cockpit.
• Lev Shestakov, Odessa, summer 1941. AII Dark Green over AII Blue with a bright red tail.
The Eduard instructions come complete with paint references for the ubiquitous Gunze paints, although mine was painted with the White Ensign enamel versions. Small areas were filled in with lighter shades of the base colours for some variation and weathering was done with copious amounts of pastel dust and Tamiya X-19 Smoke. Don’t forget, if you intend to do paint chipping on this kind of machine, that not all of it was metal; there’s plenty of wood and fabric being used here. So be careful which bits you do any chipping on. I used a silver pencil for the metal bits and a light brown watercolour pencil for the wood bits. This was followed by a couple of coats of Johnsons Klear and we’re ready for the decals.
Nine decals later and it’s all over! Yes it’s that simple folks! There are decals enough on the sheet for 3 aircraft (not including the instrument panel of course) because they all use different styles of stars, so there’s plenty of decals for the spares box with this one they work well, as Cartograf decals always do, and settle down with Microscale solutions, without a hint of silvering anywhere to be seen. Al they need is a quick dusting of grey pastels to fade them in a little and a quick overcoat of Klear and it’s all ready for a thin oil wash to accentuate the details a little.
Final Assembly
Undercarriage, and lots of it, that’s pretty much all that’s left. The spindly, awkward looking legs are delicate moulds but fit very nicely, just be careful with them. There are a plethora of doors, no less than 5 per undercarriage leg and their positioning is a bit hit and miss. What I would suggest is that you pay very close attention to how parts E1 and E31 sit on the legs, get them right and the rest will follow. I got mine a tiny bit out of alignment and you can see it if you look close, so take care here. After that it’s the little pitot probe on the starboard wing, the venturi on the fuselage side and the gun camera on the rear fuselage. This last bit is shown fitted only to Safonov’s machine but in reality could be fitted to any of them. The final bit is the prop and spinner. There are no less than two props and three spinners on the sprues, so be careful to choose the right one for the Type 24. The last little bits of painting are done, touching up the green, where the last bits were added and the gun-metal for the machine gun barrels, a quick flash of dark brown exhaust staining and then a final finish of Xtracolor XDFF Flat varnish, thinned and sprayed at high pressure to give a very matt surface. Once dry, the masking was removed from the cockpit and the undercarriage retraction wires added, made from 2lb fishing line, painted dark grey and it’s done.
Verdict
Excellent. Simple as that really. It’s a first class kit and boxed in such a way that there will be a version to suit everyone’s taste and pocket. Even in its simplest “Weekend” form this little kit will make a first class addition to the collection. It’s not difficult to build, although you still need to pay attention and with the addition of the etched fret and extra decals in the “ProfiPACK” versions there’s a lot going on in such a small package.
Highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in anything Russian.
Paints
White Ensign Colourcoat enamel:
ACS01 AII Blue
ACS08 AMT-4 Olive Green
ACS11 AMTII Blue Grey (Used to tone down the AII Blue)
ACS09 AMT1 Light Grey (Used to make a light version of AII Green)
ACSM01 Pale Blue Grey (Used to make a light version of the AII Blue)
ACLW20 RLM82 Hellgrun (Used to make a darker shade of AII Green)
Vallejo Model Color acrylic:
153 Pale Blue Grey (interior)
168 Black Grey
169 Black
Vallejo Model Air acrylic:
71.062 Aluminium
71.064 Chrome
Xtracolor enamel:
XDFF Flat Varnish
502 Abteilung oil color:
Abt110. Black
ABT130. Dark Mud
Kit Review
The diminutive little I-16 took the rather unflattering name of “Rat” during the Spanish Civil War. Although that may sound rather comical, for the Nationalist forces, it was anything but because the I-16 was as good as anything else in the skies at the time. Used by the Russians during the Great Patriotic War just a few years later it was seriously obsolete but even then, in the hands of a skilled pilot, it was a dangerous foe. With over 13,500 of them made, there were also quite a lot of them to contend with and on the eve of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 the little Rat made up nearly 65% of the VVS fighter force.
Eduard have been making this kit in 1/48th for some time now, with lots of different boxes available; ProfiPACK, Weekend and Royal versions have all been on the shelves alongside the standard kit. There are a number of different types as well, making a fine family of little rodents. This particular box is the ProfiPACK version of the Type 24, complete with a glorious decals sheet for four versions and a pre-painted etched fret to liven up the cramped interior. Starting on the outside though, you have a dramatic piece of very well done art to entice you in and waiting inside there are two large sprues and three small sprues of dark grey plastic. It’s all neatly formed although there is some flash and a few mould lines to contend with. The aforementioned decal sheet is printed by Cartograf and looks lovely, with some excellent versions on offer. The transparent sprue is tiny, with just two parts on it and as well as the etched parts there is also a mask set for the wheels and the windscreen. The fabric effect on various parts of the airframe is very well moulded, not too overdone and quite accurate in shape. The panels are crisply done, with very neat fasteners, where appropriate and with the addition of the etched parts for the interior, even this space is well catered for.
Construction starts with that interior space and the plastic parts are well moulded, with frames on the inside of the fuselage halves and a neat looking instrument panel, complete with decal on the sheet; not necessary in this version with it’s etched instruments but still very well done. Options include etched or plastic parts for the levers and throttles in the cockpit and you can even cut open the side doors if you want to. The plastic parts, such as fuselage and wings, fit together reasonably well but I would suggest a slight departure from the instructions by attaching the lower section of the wings to the completed fuselage first and then adding the upper wing sections afterward. This takes the alignment problems out of the process and makes the fit of everything much smoother. The engine, what little can be seen of it, is further hidden by the etched shutters that sit just inside the cowling and it all fits onto the fuselage front without drama, making a very pugnacious little fighter.
Colour
All four options in the box, on the Cartograf printed sheet, are very nice, each with their own character.
• Boris Safonov, Summer 1941, in AII Green with AII Blue underside and some truly spectacular slogans on either side of the fuselage. (Included are the optional slogans and tail number to allow for two of Safonov’s machines to be built.)
• Genadij Tsokolajev, April 1942. Light Grey upper surface, AII Blue underside and big flash Guards badges on the fuselage.
• Lt. Krichevskiy, Leningrad 1942. AII Dark Green over AII Blue underside, with big white numbers on the sides and kill markings just behind the cockpit.
• Lev Shestakov, Odessa, summer 1941. AII Dark Green over AII Blue with a bright red tail.
The Eduard instructions come complete with paint references for the ubiquitous Gunze paints, although mine was painted with the White Ensign enamel versions. Small areas were filled in with lighter shades of the base colours for some variation and weathering was done with copious amounts of pastel dust and Tamiya X-19 Smoke. Don’t forget, if you intend to do paint chipping on this kind of machine, that not all of it was metal; there’s plenty of wood and fabric being used here. So be careful which bits you do any chipping on. I used a silver pencil for the metal bits and a light brown watercolour pencil for the wood bits. This was followed by a couple of coats of Johnsons Klear and we’re ready for the decals.
Nine decals later and it’s all over! Yes it’s that simple folks! There are decals enough on the sheet for 3 aircraft (not including the instrument panel of course) because they all use different styles of stars, so there’s plenty of decals for the spares box with this one they work well, as Cartograf decals always do, and settle down with Microscale solutions, without a hint of silvering anywhere to be seen. Al they need is a quick dusting of grey pastels to fade them in a little and a quick overcoat of Klear and it’s all ready for a thin oil wash to accentuate the details a little.
Final Assembly
Undercarriage, and lots of it, that’s pretty much all that’s left. The spindly, awkward looking legs are delicate moulds but fit very nicely, just be careful with them. There are a plethora of doors, no less than 5 per undercarriage leg and their positioning is a bit hit and miss. What I would suggest is that you pay very close attention to how parts E1 and E31 sit on the legs, get them right and the rest will follow. I got mine a tiny bit out of alignment and you can see it if you look close, so take care here. After that it’s the little pitot probe on the starboard wing, the venturi on the fuselage side and the gun camera on the rear fuselage. This last bit is shown fitted only to Safonov’s machine but in reality could be fitted to any of them. The final bit is the prop and spinner. There are no less than two props and three spinners on the sprues, so be careful to choose the right one for the Type 24. The last little bits of painting are done, touching up the green, where the last bits were added and the gun-metal for the machine gun barrels, a quick flash of dark brown exhaust staining and then a final finish of Xtracolor XDFF Flat varnish, thinned and sprayed at high pressure to give a very matt surface. Once dry, the masking was removed from the cockpit and the undercarriage retraction wires added, made from 2lb fishing line, painted dark grey and it’s done.
Verdict
Excellent. Simple as that really. It’s a first class kit and boxed in such a way that there will be a version to suit everyone’s taste and pocket. Even in its simplest “Weekend” form this little kit will make a first class addition to the collection. It’s not difficult to build, although you still need to pay attention and with the addition of the etched fret and extra decals in the “ProfiPACK” versions there’s a lot going on in such a small package.
Highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in anything Russian.
Paints
White Ensign Colourcoat enamel:
ACS01 AII Blue
ACS08 AMT-4 Olive Green
ACS11 AMTII Blue Grey (Used to tone down the AII Blue)
ACS09 AMT1 Light Grey (Used to make a light version of AII Green)
ACSM01 Pale Blue Grey (Used to make a light version of the AII Blue)
ACLW20 RLM82 Hellgrun (Used to make a darker shade of AII Green)
Vallejo Model Color acrylic:
153 Pale Blue Grey (interior)
168 Black Grey
169 Black
Vallejo Model Air acrylic:
71.062 Aluminium
71.064 Chrome
Xtracolor enamel:
XDFF Flat Varnish
502 Abteilung oil color:
Abt110. Black
ABT130. Dark Mud
