Aeromaster 48-281: Fighting Polikarpov I-16s part 2

One does not always think of the I-16 as being a colorful aircraft, but that was not always the case and this sheet has a few options that allow one to add a bunch of color to these plane. For colors, all of them are in dark green over light blue-grey. Two options are Type 18s with the paired exhaust stacks. The sheet recommends the Hobbycraft kit as that was basically it in 1/48 scale when this was released. Of course we now have the much nicer Eduard kit and most of use using this sheet will choose that one.

The first four options are all Soviet airplanes. The initial offering has a lot of red on the forward cowling and rear fuselage/fin. This will need to be painted. This operated with the 72AP in Murmansk in 1941. Note that the red areas are disputed so your choice.

Next is one of an unknown unit. It has a blue fin/rudder with a red tip. Note that it has gun camera abobe the head rest and no spinner.

The third option is a Type 24 of yet another unknown unit. Note that this is shown with the fuselage and lower wing insignia outlined in white. There is also a star on the spinner.

A Type 10 of a training unit is the fourth option. It sports a wide yellow fuselage band and a yellow outline fuselage insignia with white outline insignia under the wings.

Finally, the lone 'foreigner', a plane of the Rumanian Air Force. This is a captured Type 29 used for dissimilar combat training. Eastern Front yellow bits and patches of a darker green on the upper surfaces. Something to note is that some planes have tail wheels and others have skids. The sheet has enough insignia to do most of the options and includes the white surrounds for the insignia as separate decals.

June 2018

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