|
Polikarpov I-15
“Red Army” Biplane
Fighter
Special Hobby, 1/72 scale
S u m m a r y
|
|
Catalogue Number: |
Special Hobby SH72085
I-15 |
|
Scale: |
1/72 |
| Contents and
Media: |
23
Short run, medium grey plastic parts on one sprue, 19 parts
in pale yellow resin, 10 PE parts on one fret, 6 clear parts
on one sheet [three are spares] and a 6 page instruction
booklet with parts plan, history, build diagrams and
paint/decal drawings. |
| Price: |
USD$15.96 from Squadron.com |
| Review Type: |
FirstLook |
| Advantages: |
Important subject,
highly detailed, well cast resin and optional skis. |
| Disadvantages: |
Some parts are very
small, especially on the PE fret and no rigging diagram is
supplied. |
|
Recommendation: |
Recommended |
Reviewed by Glen Porter
Special
Hobby's 1/72 scale I-15 is available online from
Squadron.com
No self-respecting model aircraft collection should be without a
Polikarpov I-15. Along with the Fiat CR 42 and Gloster Gladiator, it was
the absolute pinnacle of biplane development before the transition to
monoplane fighters. Polikarpov himself was so unsure of which was better
that he designed two aircraft to the same specs, the I-15 Biplane and
the I-16 Monoplane. Although the biplanes, possessed excellent handling
and rate of climb, they just couldn't hack it against the more modern
Monoplanes then coming into production such as the Spitfire and
Messerschmitt Bf109.
Special Hobby's 1/72 scale I-15 comes with three under-carriage options,
open wheels, spats or skis. The wheels and spats come in plastic along
with the under-carriage legs but the skis are in resin. Only the major
parts such as fuselage, wings, tail surfaces, struts and the afor
mentioned wheels and legs come in plastic. All the interior bits and
engine and cowl plus skis are in resin. The interior is further enhanced
with PE seat belts, levers and instrument panel plus there is an acetate
film for the instruments.
Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:
There are decals for four aircraft - one in bare metal and aluminium
dope, two green with light blue undersides and one over-all red machine.
Decals look to be well printed with good register but no indication of
who they are printed by.
One of the advantages of this kit, the one piece wings attach directly
to the fuselage and therefore there isn't the problem usually associated
with mounting biplane upper wings on struts. However, with every
positive there is a negative. Special Hobby haven't supplied a rigging
diagram so an outside sourced reference will be required if you want to
rig it.
As with any multi media kit of this kind, it's not for the novice, but
with that little bit of extra experience and effort a really special
model should result.
Recommended to modellers with a little bit of experience under the belt.
Thanks to MPM/Special Hobby for the review sample.
Review Text Copyright © 2005 by Glen Porter
Images Copyright © 2005 by Brett Green
Page Created 14 June, 2005
Last updated 14 June, 2005
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