TsKB-3, a biplane
fighter powered by Wright
R-1820 Cyclone engine, was developed in 1933 by Nikolai Polikarpov as a
successor to his earlier design I-5. It was put in production in 1934 under the
name I-15 and became famous in combat in Spain
where it proved to be one of the best biplane fighters of its time.
If I was going to
build a 1/72 I-15 today, I would probably start with a new ICM model. However, a
few years ago long before it was released one had to choose from three
limited-run offerings from Aviation Usk, Pavla and Special Hobby (this one was
also sold under Azur label). After reading the (somewhat misleading) reviews and
arriving at conclusion that none of these models is perfect, I decided to go
with Special Hobby.
This is a typical
"multimedia" kit of average quality – short-run plastic parts with
thin panel lines and nice fabric representation, but with a grainy surface that
needs sanding and polishing; small photoetch fret and some resin parts. Decal is
very good and even includes the markings for the TsKB-3 prototype which I was
going to build, although the fact that TsKB-3 differs from the production I-15
significantly (for example, it has a smaller fin) and can not be built straight
out of the box is not reflected in the instruction.
I used the excellent
book "I-15 Fighter" by Mikhail Maslov as a main reference. Comparing
the kit parts to the plans from this book quickly revealed a few problems. Upper
wing is the worst – it is completely flat, without any ditheral, and its
“gull” center area is too wide, making it look almost like an I-153 wing. I
decided to compromise by cutting the wing in two halves, removing a couple
millimeters in order to narrow the "gull" and then gluing the wing
together with the correct ditheral. This, of course, also reduced the wing span,
but this is less noticeable than the wide center section.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The fuselage is far
from perfect too – it's front is too deep, and needs to be corrected. The
cowling ring, which was too small in diameter was replaced with a new one,
formed from the sheet styrene over the old one.
The engine is
provided in resin. This sounds promising, but, unfortunately, it is very crude,
and for some unknown reason is cast integrally with the inner cowling. I decided
to replace the engine with the aftermarket part – a nice resin M-25/R-1820
produced by Prop&Jet. The cowling was scratchbuilt by heat forming it over
the wooden shape and then cutting the holes using a needle and a spinning
template, pinned to the center of the cowling.
The fin was shaped
to resemble TsKB-3, crude stabilizer struts, propeller hub, air intake, gun
sight were all replaced with the scratchbuilt parts.
The model was
painted with Gunze Sangyo acrylic paint, followed by Tamiya clear coat, a wash
and finally a semi-gloss coat.
In the end I was
pretty disappointed by this model – I did not expect it would require so much
work. Today, when a much better I-15 from ICM can be bought for half a price of
this kit, the inaccurate and difficult to built Special Hobby kit is hardly of
any interest. Still, it can be built into a decent, if not perfectly accurate
I-15.
Eugeny Knupfer
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images below to see larger images
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