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Paul Barber
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Shelf of Doom Pt 1 Eduard 1/48 Polikarpov Rata

October 20, 2017 · in Aviation · · 12 · 1.5K

After about a year deciding whether to consign this to the bin or not I went back to it. I had been experimenting with brush-painting it entirely using oils having seen a brilliant youtube clip...

Anyway after failing completely I put this down indefinitely. Only when I bought a large bottle of turps did I feel It worth an attempt at a wash and restart.

The decals provided in the weekend kit represent the 'mount of' the famous Soviet ace Boris Safanov, however it is likely that it is just a plane he was photographed with for propaganda purposes (being the cleanest and least damaged I-24 available). In which case the extensive weathering here may be entirely unnecessary!

I'd like to think that the plane was used eventually - even if not by Safanov!

I imagine a lot of these get built due to the massive variety in types and schemes - after a false start this was a lot of fun!

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome

4 additional images. Click to enlarge.


12 responses

  1. Ah, redemption! Shelf of Doom, be not proud!

    Nice work, Paul. Lots of character...

  2. Hi Paul,greetings from sunny (A-hem) England, I've built this one as well and I agree it is a fun little kit, I went with the colour option Eduard suggested but I've since been told it is probably not correct, the brighter green that you have used is most likely nearer to the mark.

    My Russian neighbour translated the slogans on the side I forget exactly what it was just now but you can look at mine to find out, if I remember correctly one side says "death to Nazi's" and the other is "for Stalin"

    N.

  3. Hello Neil, thanks for the translation - I knew the Stalin one - not the other! Good stuff for a propaganda photo! I looked at dozens one photos of these - and the ones still flying are this kind of colour - to be honest who knows - I think they probably got whatever paint was around as so many were made.

  4. Cute little plane, nice to see it was rescued from the shelf of doom.

  5. Turned out rather nicely for a "shelf of doom" build. It deserved to be resurrected and not relegated to the dreaded "shelf". I like it!

  6. Looks great! Worth the effort.

  7. very nice work here

  8. I always visualize these at a county fair, going around attached to a pylon.
    Nice work!The patriotic slogans make the plane, as they do on their armor. American tanks don't have "Death to fascism" on the side.

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