Sturdy Polikarpov biplane fighter- with a trick!
That is my latest build, a I-153 in Kuomintang markings from 1940, made out of the ICM kit in scale 1:32.
Quite a pleasure to build, even when not being a rigging expert, as is the case with me.
By the way, for the wires I used etched metal from R&B production.
I hope you like this Polikarpov fighter!
Wow! Love your build! The “trick” was lowering the landing gear to lure enemy fighters into thinking they were attacking the fixed gear I-15, then quickly cranking up the gear to clean up the airframe.
Splendid model Roland! Even if the Kuomintang markings looks good. Just the other day, while looking at a well known online hobby shop catalogue stumble upon this and the I-16 kits from ICM and wondered why we don t see them built more often, they sure look the part looking at yours. Just how big is this model? I’m guessing that being a rather small plane, even in the 1/32 scale shouldn’t be a lot bigger than an averaged size biplane in 1/48... am I wrong?
Excellent work!
Well done Roland. Not the most flashy of builds but, you've done a excellent job of building this kit with a nice tight paint job and some strong work in the rigging department. I always like the road less traveled and a good build is a good build no matter what. In my book this is strong candidate for "Model of the Month." Russian aircraft especially bi-planes that fought with the Chinese is often one of those forgotten histories in the West. Its a good subject and reminder.
Two thumbs up.
Nice work! I built the 1/48 kit a few years ago and look forward to doing the big one. I'll be using your great example for reference.
Very nice Roland. I have this kit in the stash and you are doing a good job here of getting me thinking about it.
Good work - I like it !
Thank you all for these refreshing and motivating comments!
To my surprise, this biplane appears to be large; 32 Centimeters wingspan does make it quite impressive. During the build I was amused, how the appearance changed from an involuntary egg-plane to this pugnacious fighter once completed! 🙂
Have a look at the pictures of the building process to get an impression of this.
8 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Nice looking Chaika, good work Roland! And using etched rigging is the proper way for I-153, I think, because on a real aircraft it was done with the steel stripes. Congrats!
Thank you Dmitry! I really like these R&B products, makes me keen to have a try on those interesting biplanes of the inter-war era.
Real nice !
🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 )
Really like this build Roland. Very nice construction work and the photography is well done.
Even in 1/32 scale the Polikarpov is small but yet a very interesting subject, as is the A-4 …
Well done.
sweet work
I like your nice subtle weathering on this! A lovely model.
Thank you all guys for these motivating comments!