ICM 1/72 I-16 type 29 Conversion

[John Thompson]

Now I'm working on converting an ICM 1/72 I-16 to a type 29. There are some good drawings in this book:
http://www.wunderwaffe.narod.ru/Magazine/AirWar/42/index.htm

...on this page:
http://www.wunderwaffe.narod.ru/Magazine/AirWar/42/Draw/index.htm

Here's a translated version of a page from another volume of the same book (published in 3 volumes) which describes differences among the I-16 types, including the type 29:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wunderwaffe.narod.ru%2FMagazine%2FAirWar%2F43%2F08.htm&act=url

This very large drawing, edited by "mal16" on Scalemodels.ru to show new details of the type 29, was also very helpful:


Because the addition of the 12.7mm Berezin gun to the underside of the fuselage made it necessary to increase the spacing between the wheel wells by about 80mm, I had to cut the wells out of the wing centre section, then widen their spacing:



Here it is with the modified wheel well section inserted, and the scratch-built gun fairing added, still needing a lot of cleaning up:



The type 29 had the oil cooler relocated to make room for the Berezin 12.7mm as well; here's the modified cowling face, so far:



I really wish Maslov's 2007 book on the I-16, published in Russian by Eksmo, was available in English!

Comments welcome!

John

[learstang]

Nice job so far on your tip 29, John!  I need to get back to my tip 28 (also ICM).

Regards,

Jason

[John Thompson]

Nice job so far on your tip 29, John!  I need to get back to my tip 28 (also ICM).

Regards,

Jason

Thanks, Jason! Right now I've got an obsession for the I-16 - there's this one plus a type 10 that I converted from the ICM kit that needs a bit more sanding here and there before it's ready to paint. Next on the list might be an early type 5 using the Kajuk resin kit that I just received. That one caused me a bit of studying - because he seems to have used the same wings that he cast for his type 4, the type 5 kit has the early wings with 11 ribs each, not the later, strengthened wing with 22 upper-surface ribs (1938 version, according to the drawings I linked in my original post in this thread). It's hard to find photos of any type 5's which definitely have the early wing. Going by the instructions with the Begemot I-16 decal sheet, it seems that a type 5 from the Khalkin Gol campaign might be a possibility, but the one I'm liking right now is this one; the early wing rib configuration is clearly visible in the photo:
http://www.bellabs.ru/Fotab/Sov-Fin/AS-13_002.html

The Begemot sheet includes decals for it, although the inscriptions are in white, and the inscription shown in the photo doesn't look very white to me, certainly not as bright as the 11 on the tail. I'll also need the Quickboost resin I-16 skis and some further studying to figure out how the elastic cords on the skis are rigged up!

Of course, I might be forced to go back to Mr Kozyrev and order a type 4, too...

John

[mbittner]

Resin cast it, John, for the rest of us. 

[learstang]

John, I seem to remember someone doing this very same aeroplane in 1/32nd scale.  Unfortunately I can't remember where now so I suppose it doesn't really help you.  If I remember, I'll post the link or perhaps you've already seen what I'm talking about.  It would be nice if Mr. Kozyrev did the tip 4 in resin!  I'd get one.  And Matt, nice to see you're still lurking around!

Regards,

Jason

[John Thompson]

Resin cast it, John, for the rest of us. 

Hi Matt! I actually did think of that (very briefly!), but I don't have the courage or patience to face the learning curve required to produce anything useful. The wing would be especially challenging - it would have to be a full replacement for the corresponding ICM part. There's certainly an opportunity there for anyone with the skills to create a series of modification sets for the ICM I-16 kits, though. I recall that Airwaves did an extremely nice 1/48 type 29 (as well as types 5 and 10) conversion for the Hobbycraft "Ishak", but I don't think they ever got around to doing any in the correct scale!

John

[John Thompson]

It would be nice if Mr. Kozyrev did the tip 4 in resin!

He does; let me see if I can find some proof...

Here it is - this is the generic instruction sheet which he uses for both his type 4 and his type 5 kits:



Also an image of his kit box - note the (upside down) resin kit list, which includes both types separately:



Now - how many can I put you down for?

John

[learstang]

Depends on how much bob are we talking about.  He doesn't by any chance do the TB-1 in resin, does he?

Regards,

Jason

[John Thompson]

Depends on how much bob are we talking about.  He doesn't by any chance do the TB-1 in resin, does he?

Regards,

Jason

The type 5 was $31, plus mailing costs. I don't know if I posted this somewhere before, but here's his vacuform catalog; it includes the TB-1, but so far, no resin version:



John

[learstang]

That's not too bad; I'll have to keep that I-16 kit in mind.  Regarding the TB-1, I remember seeing that vacuform catalogue, that's why I was hoping he'd also done it in resin, like he has with the I-16.

Regards,

Jason

[marluc]

John,nice project and a good conversion work so far.It would be great to see that Type 10 too.Greetings.

Martin

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi John,
is this resin I-16 type 5 better than the plastic model of Amodel?
Regards
Massimo

[John Thompson]

John,nice project and a good conversion work so far.It would be great to see that Type 10 too.Greetings.

Martin

Thanks, Martin! I keep discovering things I didn't know about the type 29 - it's becoming a very interesting project. I'll post some more images and some images of the type 10 when I get time.

Hi John,
is this resin I-16 type 5 better than the plastic model of Amodel?
Regards
Massimo

Hi Massimo! Personally, I think it's better than the Amodel kit; again, when I get time (I'm hoping to do one more canoe trip this week, although there's rain in the weather forecast) I'll take some photos of the parts and post them. Don't buy one yet! As I mentioned before, the one I got has the early type 4 style wings with half the number of upper-surface wing ribs compared to later type 5's. This was a bit of a surprise - I know Kozyrev makes a later wing with 22 ribs, because I've seen an image of it. Also, the vacuformed canopy is made from very thin material, much thinner than most other canopies of this type, so I'm not sure what it will be like to work with. That won't matter if I build it as the aircraft I mentioned in my earlier post, because that aircraft had the later-style windscreen, which I can get from an ICM I-16.

John

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi John,
I think that good vacuform canopies for I-16s, particularly for earlier versions, should be much needed. Do you know if anyone produces them?
Wings with 11 ribs for type 4... who knows if it's an error of packaging?
Regards
Massimo

[marluc]

Hi John:

It's hard to find photos of any type 5's which definitely have the early wing.

Not of a very good quality pictures,but this Type 5 looks to have the "early" wing:





Hope it helps,greetings.

Martin