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!
11 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Andrew Alexander said on August 24, 2019
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.
Pedro L. Rocha said on August 24, 2019
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?
dale travis said on August 24, 2019
Excellent work!
Stephen W Towle said on August 24, 2019
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.
John Healy said on August 24, 2019
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.
Tom Cleaver said on August 24, 2019
Very nice Roland. I have this kit in the stash and you are doing a good job here of getting me thinking about it.
Craig Abrahamson said on August 24, 2019
Good work - I like it !
Roland Sachsenhofer said on August 25, 2019
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.
Dmitry Stropalov said on August 25, 2019
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!
Roland Sachsenhofer said on August 25, 2019
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.
Robert Royes said on August 25, 2019
Real nice !
DE4EVER said on August 26, 2019
🙂 … 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.
bob mack said on August 26, 2019
sweet work
Greg Kittinger said on August 26, 2019
I like your nice subtle weathering on this! A lovely model.
Roland Sachsenhofer said on September 2, 2019
Thank you all guys for these motivating comments!