Eduard I-16 Type 10

[Second Air Force]

A while back in the Japan Group Build we were talking about the Nomonhan/Khalkhin Gol battle and I built a Ki-27 that fought there. For a while I looked around for a Polikarpov kit to make the "matched set" of the two combatants. I finally found an Eduard I-16. This is really a beautiful little kit. Here are a few photos of the beginning of the build.
The first photo shows a few little modifications that were done. The kit has outlines for the landing gear windows and the round openings in the area under the windscreen. I simply opened these up along with the handholds for the pilot. Also I removed the floorboards on either side of the footrails as this area was open on the real airplane and eliminates some interference with sidewall details as well.

Eduard I-16 Type 10

The photoetch parts are quite nice and the instrument panel turns out beautifully. There is also a decal and substitute panel in the kit. I elected to build both, and when I saw how little of the panel is visible with the fuselage assembled I elected to use the plastic part, leaving the photoetched one for some later project. Here's the result. It would take a tiny dental mirror to see everything through that tiny opening:

Eduard I-16 Type 10

Eduard I-16 Type 10

And a few of general assembly steps.

Eduard I-16 Type 10

Eduard I-16 Type 10

Eduard I-16 Type 10

[Sall]

Beautiful job Scott!!

[No.1]

Hope you enjoy in this kit as well it is real pleasure to be make

[draken35]

Nice aircraft!!!

[pkrasna]

Great build! Can't wait to see it finished. Ihave the same model at home waiting on a shelf. Khalking gol war is an interesting chapter in Russian history.

I would realy like to build this one in spagetti camouflage:

Eduard I-16 Type 10

Primož

[Second Air Force]

Quick update, working on landing gear assembly and the cowl opening shutters tonight.

Eduard I-16 Type 10

That is a great color scheme, Primoz!

[No.1]

As I see all fit perfectly

[Sall]

Nice progress!

[Ernie]

Looks really good. Years ago I built the Classic Resin Airframes kit of the UTI two seater, which was kind of different!
Ernie

[draken35]

 

[Second Air Force]

I should mention that I read several reviews about this kit. One thing that was brought up was that the photoetched shutters on the cowling don't fit the openings. Well, whoever wrote this was not patient enough. They fit each other perfectly but it takes some careful fitting to find the perfect alignment. I found this place and made a mark on the backside of each piece for final assembly alignment. It took a matter of only a few minutes and a cup of coffee to find the right spot.

Srecko mentioned the fit of parts, and it is really almost not necessary to use filler on this model. My particular example had a small bit of warpage of the aft fuselage on one half, but I think the kit was used as a display piece with the box sitting on its end for a long time (the front and top of the box art was rather faded). It was very easy to straighten this out and I ended up using some filler on the fuselage seams because of my extra work. I've not heard of any other reviewers who had this issue so I am pretty certain it was with my kit only.

[Second Air Force]

Today I was able to paint the underside color and the red fin tip on this little "flying barrel". I should like to build a whole squadron of these--it's really a fun kit to construct!

Eduard I-16 Type 10

[Sall]

Looking good!

[draken35]

 

[Second Air Force]

Clearcoat tomorrow, then some Red stars.

Eduard I-16 Type 10