Curtiss P-40, 1/72, Scratchbuild

My current project. The Curtiss P-40 fighter. I will try to use the same technology as on my previous BOK-5 model and build the model completely from aluminum foil.

Some details

And current progress:

Polikarpov I-5, 1/72, ICM

The history of development of this very nice looking fighter was unusual. The creators of the plane – Polikarpov and Grigorovich were in “Special OGPU Design Bureau”. It means there were in prison because of Stalin’s repressions. The task was simple: “Do the work, and then, if it will be successful, you will be free”. I-5 was successful. The base conception was taken from Polikarpov’s fighter project that was made in 1927. The work was complete in two month. Prototype of the new fighter made its first flight in 1930. There were built 803 planes. They were in service in RKKA’s air force till 1937, but in the beginning of the Great Patriotic war some I-5’s were returned from flight schools to active service.

The ICM kit is the best choice in 1/72. It has very nice detailing, but you should be very careful and accurate, because the use of the putty is almost impossible – it will ruin riveting and fabric imitation.

Driver’s Figure, 1/72, Scratchbuild

Lately I’ve made several new figures in my favorite 1/72 scale. This is a figurine of a driver from a tech team of Russian carrier “Admiral Kuznetzov”. He is sitting in TK-3 deck tractor. The kit is produced by Olimp Models and the figurine was made for them.

My article in Modell Panorama Magazine

 

Great news – my article on building Cheranovsky BiCH-20 and BiCH-21 (SG-1) was published in Modell Panorama 2011/03 magazine.

We are on cover :)

First pages of the article

Junkers D.I, 1/72, Roden

Junkers D.I was the first all-metal fighter. I like the ugly shapes of this bird and decided to add the model to my collection.
The model was built from Roden kit. Its quality is nice and shapes are in general correct. It is a nice build, only decals were awful, so I used some from other kits. As it was “one week build” I decided to make only necessary improvements.
First – I changed the installation angle of the consoles. To make this I cut the consoles with model saw and clued them with right angle. Then I covered the joint lines with foil strips.
Second – I make new interior in cockpit and landing gear.
Third – new “back” of the fuselage. Roden’s detail is incorrect. New one was made of foil.
I painted the model with Humbrol Enamels. The camouflage was painted with airbrush by hand, without any masks. Interesting thing: most of D.I models in different scales have the same shapes of the camo color fields – as on well known D.I prototype photo. I don’t think this is correct, because all captured serial Junkers D.I’s had fields of different shapes.
This model soon will become a part of a little diorama.

Bisnovat “5-2”, 1/72, Prop&Jet

 

Bisnovat «5-2» was one of the first soviet rocket planes designed for researches of transonic flight. It was build and tested in 1948-1949. Two planes were build. They were carried by Pe-8 heavy bomber converted into flying lab. The «5-1» plane was lost during tests – they were very dangerous – the airfield where tests were taken was rather small. The «5-2» plane was luckier and reached 0,775M speed.

The model was built from Prop&Jet vacu kit. The quality of vacu kits of that manufacturer is really exceptional. Accuracy is high comparing to the drawings published in russian «АС» magazine. So, it was a kind of easy and enjoyable build.

For a long time Prop&Jet model was the only offering on market. Nowadays we also have Amodel’s short-run kit.

Sukhoi Su-1 1/72 Amodel In-box Review

 

Su-1 was the first in line of Pavel Sukhoi’s fighters. It was built at the Kharkov aircraft factory (Ukraine). Su-1 made its first flight on 15 June 1940. During the tests Su-1 reached 641 km/h speed at 10000m attitude - it was a prototype of new high attitude fighter.

Let’s have a look in the box of the new kit from Amodel. There are 3 sprues of grey plastic and one with clear injected canopy. The quality of molds is quite good for short-run technology, with little flash. But you will have to replace many of little parts like wheels or cockpit detailing.

The box.

Instructions and decal for one option.

Sprues.

Close-up. Note a really good fabric imitation.

Engraved panel lines are, in my opinion, a little bit too thick.

Another close-up. Wheels definitely have to be replaced with aftermarket.

Canopy. It is not bad, but I will make a vacu one.