Polikarpov I-153 Classic Airframes 1/48 By Hector Mirasol

I did this model some years ago, when to find a Soviet aircraft in 1/48 was quite a difficult task. I can not say how impressed I was when I opened the box and even more when I started building it. I am not going to describe the building step by step and I just will make some general comments. Basically the kit was build strait from the boxand has no major faults The moulding is sharp and full of details, the fabric covering the structure is well represented.

The interior is superb and the photoetched set given with the model in the best Classic Airframes fashion is very good indeed. It gives you two different versions and the decal set is of the best quality. I decided to cut out one of the front side panels to show up a bit of the interior, the rear of the instrument panel, machine guns and the back of the engine. It was not too difficult. Basically I deepened the engraved lines with a scriber and then used a scalpel. As a refernce I used the Squadron-Signal book on the subject, which has some good pictures of the area. The part used are the kit ones and some minor scratched bits, like the ammunition boxes, fluid bottles and wires done from stretched sprue.

Next step was to detail the interior of the cockpit. That was a real pleasure and just following the instruction and being careful on the painting will leave you quite satisfied. To allow a better view of the inside I decided to leave the board access door opened.

The fuselage Cowling and the front of the fuselage needed some detailing, being the weekest part of the kit, but is not a big deal. The extra work is mostly drilling all different air intakes, putting a shooter at the pabk, drilling the exhaust holes and doing the exhaust pipes from metal tube. On the side of the front fuselage there are also some outlets. They are engraved on the kit but it looks better if drilled and a fine needle tube inserted. Be sure to drill the small holes for the rigging at this stage, it is easier. Once this little detailing is finished, it is time to put all together. The wings come up quite easily. Because the simple and strong design of this biplane, no major complications arise, but it is always better to dry fit the parts before gluing them. The undercarriage is very delicate and attention has to be paid to ensure that the plane seats as it should. To paint it, I choose one of the versions available from Aeromaster decals. It is all A11 green with blue undersurface, a silver rudder and a red cowling with a red flash on the side. Unfortunatelly when I did the model I did not have a view from the above. It seems that the upper surface of the upper wings was also painted in red in a triangular fashion. As you can see I did not know that. My idea was to represent the fabric in a weathered operational aircraft. After giving a couple thin coats of the base shade I did insist in some areas to achieve a much richer tonal scale using the base shade mixed with dark and light grey, yellow or other green shade, quite freely . That was done free hand with very thin paint and using Post-It notes to mask the ribs or different panels. Once that was finished, if I have overdone it in a particular area I just covered it with the base tone but agin very thinned down, getting the right effect by transparency. Next is to paint the red cowling and flash using masking tape. Finally I painted the silver rudder. (Be careful with silver paint as it doesn't agree very well with masking tape).

Then with again very thinned down dark grey I insisted on the panel lines and rib structure.

Now it really is nearly finished. This is the stage of using the varnish (which I always fear). A gloss coat to be sure that the decals go down nicely, as they did. Then a satin coat (more matt than gloss). I use a painter acrylic varnish called Marabu, you have to thin it down very carefully with white spirit and mix it very well indeed (be patient). Once dry in some areas I just gave a bit of matt varnish.

Once the model is very well dry (and using gloves) I put the rigging using thin fishing nylon. I am not an expert in biplanes but most of them prefer to put the wires while building it.