Alain Gadbois

Cool subject! Surprised that a kit of this aircraft exists at all. Alain

Incredibly beautiful work all around, what more can say? Alain

Great work Ferry! Is it the photo, or is there some anhedral to the lower wings? Alain

Thanks! The first steps really went nicely, but there are many modifications left to do and some problems to correct with the kit...plus all the cockpit detail. As usual this will slow down progress plus all the little things that seem to pop up when you think the kit is nearly done! Thanks! Surprisingly, the fuselage is pretty well streamlined back from that big engine. The effect is mainly from that very big and flat engine cowl. I still wonder how the prop actually manages to push air back around it! Alain

Super choix Daniel! Alain

Hi! I started making the masters for the canopies tonight with bits of Renshape, a very useful material for sculpting. It is light but rigid and is easy to shape with a sander or a simple x-acto. This is the initial result after 15-20 minutes cutting and sanding: After the masters are done, I will make a silicone mold and cast a hard resin copy over which I will form the clear parts. Also, as in many kits, because of the large wing to fuselage fillet, the complete round lower section of the fuselage is missing. I have been reflecting on the way to correct this. The photos shows where I added styrene strips and epoxy putty to complete the curved section on the fuselage sides. This is the position of a structural member on the fuselage I will ad later with styrene strips. The curve drawn on the styrene sheet shows just how much is missing: After reaching this point, it seems the easiest and most practical way in model terms is to build the rest of the missing curve up from the bottom fuselage section. I will use a curved piece of styrene sheet and more epoxy putty to achieve this. Thanks all! Alain

That's why I found this interesting to model. And I think the UTI looks cute too! Thank you guys! Both canopies will be vac formed over masters. I may try first to just crash form over the masters as often this gives satisfactory results. Alain

Hi all, Thanks for the comments and likes! Let's first work on the major item of the conversion: from one cockpit to two! I glued in the door on the left side and removed all the cockpit details inside. Then I started cutting back on the head rest as the rear opening is further back than the single seater. I used the plan to open up the new openings. Some of the removed material was used to fill in the front of the single seat opening. Using the original plastic gave me consistant color, thickness and hardness. It is easier then to define the shape of the opening. So here it is now! Note that both openings are different in shape, and there was a lot of work to get then looking right. Also I scraped the inside a lot to thin the plastic to my satisfaction around both openings. Bye for now! Alain

Hi all! I have had a fascination with the trainer variant of the I-16 for some time. The idea of putting two seats in such a small aircraft is a feat in itself, and the result is actually quite interesting! I used the Azur kit of the type 10 as a base. There are quite a few changes apart from adding a second cockpit to make an accurate UTI-4. Most obvious: removal of all weapons, long span ailerons and removal of flaps. Here is the documentation I will be using: Also the fantastic walkaround of the example in Finland by Nikolay Kovyazin (scalemodels.ru) will be essential. At the present, I am considering building this colorful one: Here are some of the kit parts to see what we are starting with: The nicely detailed front cowl but with closed only shutters (I don't mind this at all really). The gun tubes to be removed. The front fuselage with some details of the gun fairings to be removed: The lower central wing section where the flap panel lines need to be filled. Finally, a pic of the tail planes showing the very nice and restrained fabric representation. Thanks for watching, I hope you like the project! Alain

Nice to see a Su-25 in the GB! Alain

That fairing is beautiful work! Alain

Hi Brian! Great detail painting! Looks fine out of the box because of this. Too bad for the fit problems... Alain

That's 10 times too much! 30g is 0.066lb.

Impressive scratch built interior! This is going to be a fantastic model! Alain

Those scoops are so well thought out (and crafted!) that I would not be surprised if they appeared for real on the Do335 if the war had lasted longer. Alain