Eduard 1/48th Polikarpov I-16 By Matt Bittner

Background

Once again this is not going to be a standard First Look. Eduard was kind enough to send us these test shots so we want to pass on what the kit will look like. However, you won't see these sprue being built up. Between sending Internet Modeler the test shots and the writing of this preview, Eduard has changed the molds finding some areas that needed correcting. If only more model manufacturers cared enough about their subjects to do the same.

The Kit

Since the sprues are changing, I won't give a detailed analysis of what is on the sprue. Instead, I'll point out the good and bad (few, thankfully) areas that are worth noticing.

First and foremost, Eduard appears to want to cater to almost all versions. The only two that will need significant changes will be the Type 5 - completely different wings - and the Type 29 - which had a lot of areas changed. However, the other types - Type 10, 17, 18, 24, 27 and 28 - are all mostly catered for within Eduard's sprue.

To better understand how the different I-16 Types looked with all their differences, refer to the article "The I-16 in Plastic". There you will see how each Type was broken down in terms of fuselage, cowl, wing, etc. Yes the article was written initially with the 1/72nd builder in mind, but the start of the article explaining the type differences is where you want to study.

First and foremost Eduard supplies two different fuselage halves. One will cater to the Types 10, 17, 18 and 27, the other will cater to the Type 24 and 28. Two different wing lowers and uppers, as well.

Eduard does cater for different Types with separate parts. This includes separate, upper cowl gun fairings, separate ShVAK wing cannon, etc. It also includes the three different spinner types, including the faired, mid-release. So far this fairing has alluded most of the model manufacturers. There are also two different propellors and two different cowls. Unfortunately only one cowl is completely correct, the one meant for the Type 10. If you remove the upper "triangle" on the other cowl, then you will have an accurate cowl for a Type 17 and 27. Unfortunately the other types don't have an accurate cowl on the sprue.

Cockpit detail is adequate out of the box - especially if you leave the cockpit door(s) closed - but could be improved upon if wanting to lower the cockpit doors, or to just add more detail. Eduard chose, unfortunately, to leave the cockpit doors closed, but cutting them out and adding new ones shouldn't be too difficult. One more problem is with the cockpit floor. Eduard has it going all the way across, creating a "true" and "complete" floor. The way it was actually was there were foot planks leading from the seat to the rudder pedals, and the area from the foot planks to the fuselage had nothing there. Plus it was "empty" between the two foot planks. (I hope this makes sense.) Eduard has acknowldeged the miss, and did it that way for ease of assembly. Plus they hope the afermarket people take this up on their own. One more item you'll need to add for the cockpit are the two small "port holes" under the windscreen that let in more light to the instrument panel. Check detail photos for the location of these.

Another item missed, which Eduard acknowledges as well, is the window in the starboard landing gear well, closer to the pilot. This was so the pilot could tell if the gear was down or not, since they were put down and up manually. Eduard tells me they couldn't do this in the mold, but will have a piece on the photoetch that will represent that window.

Conclusion

This is a very nice kit, and I'm jealous it's in 1/48th instead of 1/72nd. Granted, we still have the ICM kit in 1/72nd, but this one has everything one could want for the I-16 Types 10 through 28. Except for the forward cowl issue, Eduard has done their homework with this kit and it shows. It will be interesting to see the final, production kit and what Eduard has changed. Maybe they did catch the cowl, afterall...

If you go to the Eduard web site, you can see a built-up I-16 Type 10. It definitely looks good!

My thanks to Eduard for sending the test shot.

Model built by Josef Choren. Photo by Ladislav Estok. More photos on Eduard's site.