Eduard 1/48 Polikarpov I-16 Type 10 ‘Week End Edition’ By James Mustarde

Background

Eduard’s ‘Weekend Edition’ kits are intended to offer the prospective builder a shorter and less expensive ‘time to display case’ by omitting the additional photo etch and decal options found in the mainline versions. The Polikarpov I-16 Type 10 ‘Weekend Edition’ is no different, with decals for a single Spanish Republican Air Force fighter.

A Little History

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the Soviet Union supported Spanish military aviation by supplying the Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española with the Polikarpov I-16. Although initially able to maintain control of the air, Condor Legion aircraft supplied by Nazi Germany helped to secure victory for the Nationalists. The Soviets supplied more than 500 aircraft to the Republicans, who affectionately called it ‘Mosca’ (Fly). Their Nationalist opponents called the compact fighter ‘Rata’ (Rat).

The Polikarpov I-16 Type 10 was a developed from the earlier Type 5 which was considered under-gunned with just a pair of 7.62mm machine guns. The Type 10 had doubled the armament with two additional machine guns installed forward of the cockpit on the upper fuselage, along with additional armor and other structural enhancements. Type 10s were first shipped to Spain in early 1938.

As well as being flown by Spanish Republican pilots, I-16s were also flown operationally by foreign pilots attached to the International Brigades. These military units were made up of volunteers from many countries that traveled to Spain to fight for the Republic. Eduard’s I-16 Type 10 WE-edition represents an aircraft of the 4th International Brigade Squadron, circa 1938, and may have been flown by one of several American pilots. The aircraft, serial number CM-274, featured Popeye in a boxing stance on the tail.

Eduard’s Polikarpov

It’s becoming quite common these days for manufacturers to produce their kits in a more modular fashion, allowing for multiple kit issues of different marks using essentially the same sprue sets. Take this Polikarpov I-16 as an example: the ‘F’ sprue has two engine cowls, two propellers and three spinners. According to the instructions, the correct cowl for a Type 10 is F14, F20 for the propeller and F17 for the spinner. There is no confusion for the modeler, but it would be nice if there was a short description of the other parts. A little individual research never goes a miss, but some help from the manufacturer would be most welcome if you’d like to learn a bit about the aircraft you’re building and the differences between marks and aircraft components.

If you’re interested: Eduard specifies part F14 for the cowl, which is correct for an early I-16 Type 10 that retained the same engine as the earlier Type 5. Later Type 10s had the improved M-25V engine which was characterized by the small intake on the lower front of the engine cowling, as in part F8.

The Kit

This is the second Eduard kit I have reviewed and I continue to be highly impressed with the quality of the moldings and the delicate surface detail.

The kit consists of five sprues - four olive green and a single transparency. One sprue holds the single piece lower wing half and the two upper surfaces. A second sprue holds the two fuselage halfs. Most of the other primary components are on a third sprue; tail feathers, props, cowls and cockpit detail components. The last green sprue contains the majority of the smaller items: exhaust pipes, undercarriage components, gun covers and so forth. The clear sprue has the cockpit windshield and the gunsight.

It’s funny what catches your eye. The first thing I noticed was the misaligned port aileron control arm. It’s not aligned with the aileron chord line like the starboard example. Admittedly this is a small nit, but it was the first thing I noticed when giving the wing sprue a quick once over. Upper and lower surface wing detail is delicate, with nicely represented partial canvas surfaces. Access panel and wheel well detail is well done, with nicely represented fasteners. Control surfaces are all molded in, so a little surgery is required if you want to show them slightly displaced. The same applies to the elevators. The rudder is molded separately and can be therefore be positioned as the builder wishes.

The I-16 was a small plane and in 1/48 the kit fuselage is little more than 5” long. Detail is nicely restrained with a well represented canvas covered fin and fine rivet detail around the stabilizer fairings. My starboard wing root had been bent a bit during shipment, which I feel was partly due to the fact that the stacked sprues fill the box with little extra room. Best not stack much on top of the kit when you add it to the stash.

Engine detail is very limited, which matters little as you’ll not see much of it behind the cowling. Eduard offers the builder two choices for the instrument panel – raised instruments faces or a decal. The former is pretty basic and adding individual instrument decals would be a challenge for most experienced modelers. I think I’ll go for the decal this time.

Painting and Decals

As mentioned earlier, decals are provided for a single Fuerzas Aéreas de la República Española (FARE) aircraft, CM-274, operated by 4 Escuadrilla, circa 1938. The red fuselage band and Republican flag striped rudder looks nice over the simple green upper/light blue lower color scheme. The rudder will require painting as no color decals are provided.

Conclusion

What a lovely little kit the I-16 is. Construction looks to be very straightforward, although some patience and care will be required when fitting the small exhaust pipes. I couldn’t see any unwanted flash on any of the sprues which will make preparation and construction that much easier. This could really be quite a quick build – maybe over a single weekend. We’ll find out.

Thanks to Eduard for the review copy.