I got most of the airframe together yesterday. Although this is a fine kit overall, careful dry-fitting, sanding, and puttying will be required! The canopy masks are provided with the kit.
The engine is finely molded, and is a good base for detailing. Since it will be mostly obscured by the cowl, I didn’t go to too much detailing trouble. I just ran one set of ignition wires, to give it some pizazz for the eagle-eye crowd.
See what I mean? Can’t see much in there!
There were some noticeable vents and machine gun ports that needed to be opened up, as they are molded shut.
The kit comes with molded individual exhaust pipes. They’re not terrible, but they’re not hollow, either. So I made my own. I used heat-shrink tubing, which is available at any electronics supply store. It comes in several different diameters.
I found a new use for my teenage son’s 10X stereoscopic microscope. With it, I was able to see well enough to drill out these miniscule gun barrels! He’s never gettin’ his microscope back!
That’s all for now. We’re almost ready to hit the paint booth-
Mark… it looks great so far. I am getting closer to putting mine together. Since I am not so good at drilling out the small stuff… yours is done really well… I just picked up the Quickboost exhaust yesterday. Maybe I should start mine to and we can do a mini group build… got a name for it too… “I-16’s built by guys named Mark/Marc”
Great build article on the 51 on your site… Drywall mud? Hmmmm? May have to give that a try.
Keep us posted with any problems you encounter with the kit. There may be someone out there[:-^] that can use the heads up[;)]
Ha! I love it!!! Yes, only open to guys named Mark (or Marc)! I suspect we’d have very few entries, especially considering the subject matter!
Ah, yes, the drywall mud. Well that was just a hare-brained experiment of mine, really. I was looking for a safe, non-toxic filler that didn’t have lung-boiling fumes. Although it did fill the seams, I really wouldn’t endorse this method to the general public. Drywall mud is very soft after it’s dry, and quite brittle. It cannot be wet-sanded, since drywall mud always returns to, well, mud, when wet. Overall, the experiment was a flop! Shortly after doing that article, I found a MUCH better product. It is Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood Filler. It comes in a squeeze tube. (FYI, it also comes in different shades of wood, for the carpenters out there.) It has proven to be an excellent filler. Very easy to work with. Just spatula it in, wait about a minute, then wipe away the excess with a damp paper towel. It is water soluable, so it’s very user-friendly, and no toxic fumes. And it will not damage plastic, as some of the “Squadron” type putties can. Once dry, it can be sanded (even wet sanded) and drilled, and leaves a very smooth finish. Because it dries very solid, it can be used to fill even the largest gaps. It dries quickly, but I like to wait overnight before sanding.
And no, Elmer’s did not pay me for this endorsement!
From studying the assembly sheet, I’d have to agree. However, since many I-16s had their gear doors removed for operating on rough fields or snowy conditions, I might just have a good excuse for circumventing the gear doors headache altogether!
