Revell Polikarpov I-16
I started, and finished, this model back in May 2020. Brush painted with enamels(!), no airbrush, and was my annual “brushes only” kit for that year.
This is the ancient Revell kit, my example dating from 1964 as a UK release so the plastic is quite crisp as it was a new tooling in 1964. According to the instructions it is an I-16 Type 24.
The Subject
From the instructions (I loved these when I was a kid, I always learned so much history!):
“While the major air forces of the world were still producing biplane fighters, Russia startled them by producing the spritely little I-16. One of the world’s first monoplane fighters, it also was one of the first fighters to feature retractable landing gear.”
The Model
The interior was painted Humbrol 90 enamel. While waiting for that to dry I started on the pilot. I decided to display this kit in flight since it had a flight stand in the box. Interestingly, it was a different color than the kit parts, obviously just a run of stands and the boxer dropped one in as they pulled the kit together. The engine got a coat of Floquil Old Silver as its base.
Construction was simple, and once the interior paint had dried I cleaned up the major parts (all are in the above picture) and after some dry fitting to ensure they fit properly I cemented them together. Day 1 finished.
Close up of the engine after a black wash and some touchups. I also painted the crankcase gray as photos online showed these colors. Not that it matters, it won’t be seen when finished.
I painted up Ivan, the kit pilot. Ivan did not fit! He must go to weight loss program. So I scrounged the pool of spare pilots and found Petr. He was a smaller pilot and fit fine, picture of Petr above.
Filler. I seem to remember using Vallejo acrylic filler. Wipes away with a damp cotton bud so no sanding was required.
First coat of light blue. I used Krylon Bonnet Blue from my local DIY store.
Underside blue is done. Three coats of Krylon Bonnet Blue brushed on.
Petr sits ready to fly. First coat of green is on the upper surfaces. Paint is Humbrol 116 Dark Green.
Second coat of Dark Green. That’s all she will need. Also got the yellow fin tip started.
After waiting a week for all the enamels to cure, I brushed on a coat of Future Floor Polish as my gloss varnish in prep for decals. A second coat is all she will need.
Total fail with the kit decals. Turns out I have a sheet of Empire City Decals which has 3 I-16s on it. White 2 has the same yellow tip marking, so I’ll go with that one.
White 2, 70th IAP, July-August 1939, Mongolia. Finished in just 3 weeks.
Summary
This was a fun build, and really brought back some mojo. I had forgotten how well enamels brush on, and this being only a 2 color scheme was very easy. In flight, it now joins an older build from the 80s that frankly does not look as nice.
