Polikarpov I-16....

This is the 1/72 scale Hasegawa kit of I-61 Type 18 variant. This little fighter was a step ahead in fighter design in mid 30's using retractable wheels and variable pitch propeller.

Its baptism in combat was in the Spanish Civil War when Stalin send the ultimate Type 5 version. It was a nasty surprise for Germans when they realize that this diminutive bird was a superior combat machine over the He-51, the main attack combat plane send to Nationalist Spain by Germany.

This fact accelerated the delivery of Bf109 to Franco's forces, who retaken the air supremacy.

When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the then obsolescent I-16 was still the main fighter force.

The I-16 Type 18 kit, like almost all Hasegawa kits, is easy to build and is a very good representation of the real plane.

 

Spitfire Mk.XIV...

One special note to say about this plane, Mk.XIV was the first member of this extraordinary family in use the powerful Griffon engine (specially designed for Spitfire with two superchargers), representing a big step ahead in performance with respect the Mk.IX variant.

This is the Academy kit in 1/72 scale, one of the better kits of this important company. A real pleasure to build, needs no putty, perfect alignment, excellent level of detailing...if you want, may thin the filters edges (I did not). Painting by hand the propeller blades was a mistake, a light pass with airbrush would had been better (thinner than hand brushing).

Breguet Br.521 Bizerte...part I

Realizing that this project is a major task and a lot of time consuming, I'd decide to show the present state of advance...this help me to get the high motivation needed to afford the next steps and the most challenging chapter in this adventure: the aligning of upper wing.
 
This monster always fascinated me...it was a very large plane -almost 40 meters wingspan- and a extremely complex in structure. I think that Bizerte like other Breguet, Short and Handley Page big biplanes represents the maximum strength in that kind of technology. Maiden flight was in 1933, but this mean that the design was conceived at the beginning of thirties.
A challenge in construction and operation indeed.
 
 

When I saw that Hannant's was selling its remanent kits of Aerovac, mid nineties,  Bizerte among them, I'd acquire my kit and a pair of Latecoere hidroplanes. Twenty years after, came time to begin this project...a real nightmare...

The only easy task is to cut the vacuum parts...after that, every sub asembly is a mini project per se. Each sub assembly get a lot of fun and required many hours of thinking to resolve "how to do this" before to start the job of build the sub set. No pinholes to join the parts, you need a good set of drawings. The drawings, in 1/72 scale, in the instruction sheets are invaluable because the scarce useful information in the web. Just some pictures are the only real reference. Also, there is a mere handful of scale models as a guidance. I never will know if these schemes are a perfect representation of the real plane, but until now, the model looks like a Bizerte indeed. The fabric parts are well represented as well as the fuselage halves. The fin was molded with the fuselage (rudder included), like almost every kit, but when the halves are joined, one can realize that the fin, at least in my kit, is strongly inclined to the left...then you must to cut the fin off and realign it. Before glue the fuselage, is a good idea to cut out the rudder and working apart over it.

One of the challenge is to build your own decals...a lot of work but the result is very good. This particular plane "E55" was named "Reine Blanche" and Saint Google helps me to find a badge representing the escadrille 5E cocarde and I could used it as a base.
 

I used Alclad aluminium ALC101 and duraluminium ALC102 in the fuselage; fabric parts was painted with Humbrol 56 (80%) and 11(20%). The model looks fine after sealing with gloss varnish.

Join the wing with the fuselage needs a lot of filler and a good amount of patience with sanding to secure a good finish after paint.

Cut the large and soft greenhouse from the mold needs determination, good pulse and "cold blood". Put over the fuselage and solve the problem of get a decent join, consumes many hours of testing.
 

 My next challenge is to mount the pontoons...from now, follow the tedious task of thinning the many thick struts. I suspect they are short...if so, I'll have to build from scratch.

Part II already published...

Mil Mi24E...

This is the Hasegawa 1/72 kit...really impressive in the box and with a lot of optional parts.
This heli was the first big rotatory wing designed for ground attack role besides the classical troop transport. Was used massively with great success by Soviet Army in Afghanistan after the provision of Stinger missile launchers by US to rebels.
Viewing the final model in the shelf one can appreciate its amazing proportions and speculate about the terrible vision of that large machine flying over the field with its incredible agility, high speed and enormous fire power.
Its heydays was over when the industry develops new choppers exclusively dedicated to ground attack role with the ultimate in avionics, fire power and auto defense capabilities.