Rumors of my demise are greatly overstated. The blog and I are not dead, just overwhelmed by the hectic pace of the holiday season. To start the new year off in grand style I decided to build the complete selection of 1/72 Polikarpov I-15 series that I had stashed in The Vault. These would provide aircraft for the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Spanish Civil War, The Nomonhan Incident, the Winter War and the early days of Operation Barbarossa. While the kits come from two different manufacturers (and thus demand separate builds) the painting process will link up nicely and I shouldn't spend too much time watching paint dry during this exercise.
First seeing the light of day in 1995 the Encore kit was originally released by ICM, the different versions on the box-cover matter little as all the parts for all the versions come in each box (all being molded on the same sprues). By modern standards these kits are primitive, requiring a lot of clean-up of mold-lines and putty on the gaps. Counterbalancing that are the very good quality decals that are usually found in Encore kits, which is happily the case here. The Aviation USK kits, circa 1992, are frankly crude, parts molding and fit are dodgy, and the instructions are scarcely more detailed than Mesolithic petroglyphs. Pretty much all that can be said is that building them is easier (slightly) than scratch-building. On the flip-side the decals are excellent.
there was another USK kit that I was still looking for when I snapped this shot the mold work on the Encore kit was competently done, if rather rough,
much of the blame goes to the original manufacturer and the way that they treated the molds
the plastic was decent quality and took detail rather well
the lack of locating pins demanded that the parts be held tightly in place while gluing proceeded
I really miss the fit and finish of the MUCH earlier Monogram kits circa 1968
the cowling comes in five separate parts that don't fit together particularly well
and a decent radial engine that will be completely hidden after assembly
(but don't leave it out as it holds the cowling in place)
I had to recruit figures from the spares bin to provide a pilot
he didn't seem overly enthusiastic about his new job
I didn't attach the exhaust collector ring as it prevented the cowling from seating properly
and was entirely hidden once the cowl was in place
with the cowling sorted out I could proceed to attaching the lower wing
the one-piece lower wing required the removal of a lot of flash and mold-ports as well as some careful reshaping because the dihedral was unequal due to mold flaws (I double-checked hoping that the original aircraft displayed such a feature, it did not) clamps and tightly applied painter's tape held things in place as the glue set
then it was off to the magical land of body-putty,
the cowls and lower wing joints absorbed a lot of time
once that fun was sorted out I had to confront my true enemy; cabane struts
this was particularly onerous as the kit had not the slightest suggestion as to where they were supposed to attach to either the upper wing or the fuselage, a half-hour glaring at drawings and photographs left me making some wild-assed guesses and gluing them in place
to my surprise the cabane strut guess-work came out just fine and then it was a simple matter to add the top wing and landing gear (which have some delightfully overstated spats!
Next I am going to deal with the Aviation USK kits, an adventure that will certainly including a great deal of clamping, sanding, swearing and putty! Stay tuned for Further Adventures in Soviet Biplanes!
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