I-16 Type 28, White 7 / Red 4 By Hector Mirasol

The inspiration for this project, as for many others came from the site.

I would like to insist recognizing the importance of sites like this one for the modeler and the VVS enthusiast. I am an avid collector of information, particularly about camouflage and markings and is needless to say that my favorite subject is the VVS, particularly the period between 1936 and 1945.

And indeed my weakness is the I-16.

Probably all YOU know that the Spanish nickname for the I-16 is Mosca (in the republican side), meaning fly. I think it is quite a fortunate nickname, giving you an image of a small and agile fighter, quite a nuisance for the enemy. The real reason for it is that the wooden boxes in which they were shipped to Spain had a big Mockba stencil declaring the precedence. From Mockba to Mosca the road is short.

This time tough , I am not going to build a Spanish "mosca" but a genuine "ishak".

The subject is white 7 red 4 wich was featured previously in the web by E. Pilawskii.

I will just copy the historical notes:

This aircraft was photographed also in service with the 13 IAP-KBF during the Winter of 1941-42, near Leningrad. The pilot is thought to be Aleksandr Mironenko [12+4 confirmed], an accomplished ace who flew sometimes as wingman to HSU Kovalev.

The model used for the article is the Azur 1/32 kit and the engine is the beautiful Neomega resin.

I am not going to add much in the building because everything has been said in Aleksandar Šekularac's article, so I will not bore you with more comments on the building process because he does it better than me. I would like to say that, unless you have the talent, patience and skill of Aleks, the interior is crying for a resin set. If somebody is tempted by my and other comments and decides to go for it, I would like to point that whatever the quality of the parts will be, it will not be complete if it does not include the ribs and internal structure of the plane. The entire cockpit is kind of suspended in the middle of the fuselage and to do a credible construction you need the ribs and struts. Just look at Aleks' work and you will see what I mean. The rest is just a dry fitting job and few adjustments, nothing to speak of.

About the Neomega resin I would like to make some comments. It is out of the question that it is a work of art and perhaps my difficulties with it are not to blame on Neomega but on my own limitations. The real reason I started this project was because I saw it and immediately thought on building a model with all the panel in the nose not just removed but removable, to have not just the view of the plane but also being able to discover the inner beauty (the engine) . I have been unable to do that, I insist because most probably I am not good enough, but I have the firm belief that modelers' life have to be easy and I become a bit frustrated after many hours of work. The lateral cowling panels, the top one and the front do not fit to allow a clean closed configuration if all the guts are inside. If so I would like to know what I did wrong.

The other major objection is the lack of the tube structure that holds the engine in place (la bancada in Spanish). It is clear that has to be exactly in place. Complete alignment is necessary to allow the propeller axis to go exactly trough the center of the front cowling at the exact distance of the rear cowling compartment wall (firewall). To calculate the exact distance of those beams has been a real pain in the metaphysic sphere of my brain circumvolutions (to put it plainly). What is the reason after doing such beautiful work not offering all parts?. How on earth you did it so tidily Aleks?

Just one final comment, be extremely careful calculating the height of the cylinders once glued to the engine block because they have to leave room enough between them and the cowling ring. I nearly forgot. I nearly forgot, I know that most modelers are highly intellectual beings but I am still really grateful for clear instructions, and I do not really think that will bring costs up too much.

After all this meaningless expression of my frustration on the engine positioning, the rest of the build is just a question of keeping it up. I did it using the few neurons that were left on my brain, listening to music while working to keep me calm. Gustav Mahler is fine if you are looking for melancholy, otherwise I can recommend contemporary Spanish music, particularly a guy called Juan Perro. It cheers you up.

About painting the model up , I did more or less the same thing that I described in the previous article about the Type 10 CM 262. This time I did use more the brush. Not the hellish device that spit air out but the old fashion hairy thing. I felt like it, there is not a particular reason. Well there is a reason, my Aztek airbrush has decided to star licking inner fluids at inconvenient places (just like me) and every time that I have to use it I have to take several benzodicepine based pills to be ready for the unavoidable.

Aleks' chapter four is titled Dialectic. In my younger years I did read a bit of philosophy on Historic and Material Dialectics were two of the subjects. Now, those days look far away, philosophy does not seem to be of interest for anybody, Marx is the surname of a band of brothers and utopia is the name of songs, but I keep thinking that self-criticism is necessary. I will not probably argue that finally my last Mosca does not look too bad, but it is not what I wanted to do.

That's all folks and as dolphins said in a novel I read time ago when they were preparing to leave the planet just before the earth was going to be demolished for building a new galactic roundabout: So long and thanks for all the fish.