Shavrov Sh-2 

This small plane was the first soviet flying boat produced in quantities, at the beginning of thirties.
Powered by the extremely reliable Shvetsov M-11, the same engine of the most produced aircraft in the history: the Polikarpov Po-2. It looks fragile, but was a sturdy ship. It was used in many roles: liaisons, VIP transport, ambulance, air rescue, etc.
Wheels should be arise by a handle that was to be operated by the pilot manually, causing a characteristic sinusoidal pattern when he was rotating it.
 
It's a fatal attraction to me...bring to my mind the most obscure and remote soviet Russian era, in the romantic sense... a black leather jacket pilot with mounting trousers and Tin-tin (and Milú) as a passenger flying to a far site in Siberia.

The kit is the 1/72 A-Model, a little gem indeed, but a poor transparent plastic parts. Molded in soft plastic, is very easy work on it. I select a classical military soviet scheme -green and light blue- but with a civilian register number and with a name "Главрыба" in the nose. This was the name of a number of government organizations in the management of the fishing industry that existed in the years 1918-1923 and then from 1931 according to "ruskiy" wikipedia. 

Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony....

This Aircraft was the only fighter with in-line engine produced in quantities by Japanese industry in WWII. Moreover, the engine was a licensed Daimler Benz 601 known as Ha-40 in Japan.
This engine conditions the general design of the nose of the aircraft, then, Ki-61 front end resembled its German cousin, Bf109. For modellers, this machine is a treasure because the number of schemes used in it. I also could not resist the temptation.
The kit is the excellent Hasegawa in 1/48 and I tried to simulate the camouflage pattern known as "palm tree" or "palm leaves", consisting in long paint lines across the wing. The difficult is to simulate the correct pattern of the lines according to real job by a painter: walk just a pair of steps on the wing and move the pistol with his arms, causing a large semicircle of paint. My next project will be better.
 

Morane Saulnier Type N

This little machine was one of the most important fighters in French service during the first part of the Great War, and has the honor of being the first aircraft that can fire inside the propeller arc. This extraordinary step in fighter design change the aerial warfare for ever because it simplified the maneuvers for aiming at enemy planes. The real solution for this problem was the "interrupter gear" developed by Anthony Fokker the brilliant dutch engineer. The first pilot to develop the concept, then by a rude method of protect the propeller with a metal against the bullets, and do the trials, with great success was Roland Garros in a Morane Saulnier type L. But Garros was shooting down inside the German lines and taken POW up to the end of the war. Garros could not destroy is plane and this new device fall in German hands. Mister Fokker perfected the idea and create the "interrupter gear" that is in use until today.

Some Morane Saulnier type N incorporated this revolutionary device but was not a successful plane due to obsolete use of wing warping and a high landing speed. Then, was destined to Russian service. 

But, this specific aircraft is extremely important to me, because was my very first project...mi father brought to me a Revell plastic kit wen I was 8 years old and was in bed due to mumps.

This model is the old TESMEC kit in 1/72 (a Belorussian company, I think)  and was presented as a plane of 1st Combat Air Group of Imperial Russian Army. 

 

Yokosuka K5Y Willow...

This little known plane was the most important training plane in the Imperial Japanese Navy in the thirties. It's design shows a very typical considerations of the period such the swept upper wings as a solution to increase the stability, the use of radial engines was the rigueur at the time specially in Japan -because the in-line motors development was a serious drawback in japanese industry- but the final result was a very good intermediate trainer with limited aerobatics capabilities.
The kit -superb- is from ARII in 1/48. Extraordinary level of details and perfect match requiring no putty at all. The size of the model is perfect to add some superdetailing or extra detailing. The only criticism is about the thickness of the decals, requiring a lot of softener, care and patience to obtain a satisfactory result.