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Polikarpov UTI-4


Alain Gadbois

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Hi all!

 

The lower section of the fuselage is now finished but before this I will show other work done on the kit's lower wing section.

 

Some panels lines are removed by filling with ca: ahead of the wheel wells the access panels for the ammo boxes and behind the flap details too.

Also the engraved details inside the wells were sanded out, an area opened up (on the right of the second photo), and exhausts ports thinned to give a better scale appearance.

 

i6rnVqN.jpg

 

p7GT9uf.jpg

 

I added the visible details in those openings. These are bracing struts, spar sections and a bar on which one leg of the gear slides when retracting.

 

n9bprsx.jpg

 

This is what is visible through the opening. 

 

RIfrIKu.jpg

 

Now back to the lower fuselage section. I glued two styrene strips exactly in line with the fuselage sides and another across just behind the wheel wells with the curve to support the floor section. A thin piece of styrene sheet was formed by pressing and pulling across a hard corner in a way just like curling ribbon with scissors. It was then just dropped in place and glued.

The space between the front of the floor and the wheel wells is for the one of the wing spars.

 

This could be done for the single seater too of course.

 

CpY17f0.jpg

 

Vvamqdj.jpg

 

This is what is seen through the cockpit openings.

 

FRMPuv6.jpg

 

Bye for now,

Again, thanks for watching!

 

Alain

 

 

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Hi all!

Thanks for the nice comments Mike, William and Big Tim!

 

13 hours ago, airscale said:

fabulous - I love these kind of builds

 

I didn't even know this airframe existed so it's also fun to learn about as well as watching your skill in rendering it

 

Peter

Glad you like it! In finland they have preserved a huge variety of aircraft from many nations and all eras.

 

10 hours ago, Hans said:

Looks great, Alain. Looking at the size of the original airplane, I wonder how they managed to sqeeze one man in it, let alone two...

Yep! just a bit longer than the GeeBee...

 

frvLe8a.jpg

 

1 hour ago, SCRATCH BUILDER said:

Hi Alain,

Don,t mean to get off topic, but how do you like Renshape?

 

P.S  Nice work.....:popcorn:

I haven't used it for large parts, but it is great for sculpting as it is very rigid and stable yet easy to cut with an x-acto. You can coat it with ca glue and sand to a very smooth finish. But there are other similar products available. Also various densities.

 

Today I examined my new ICM kit for parts I might use in this project. The wheels are nicer than the kit which are not so bad actually. The gears legs will surely be scratchbuilt as the kit parts suffered too much coming from a short run kit.

 

h9exZt1.jpg

 

I was curious to see the ICM seat as the kit part seemed ok, only a bit crude. I was stunned by the size difference! Comparing to seats of other kits, the Azur seat might be considered a tad small, but the ICM one is just huge! I would guess approximately 25% too big. 

 

qD56Czb.jpg

 

Just sharing as it surprised me, but this is not a fatal flaw!!!! I am looking forward to the future ICM releases of the I-16 and will surely be tempted by the I-153 if I come across it.

 

I also started figuring out today the various sizes of Evergreen strips I will need to dress-up the cockpit interior, and at the same time try to locate where all the different items go. So, much planning to do, and more photos later on when there is more concrete progress to show!

 

Bye for now,

 

Alain

 

 

Edited by Alain Gadbois
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Hi all,

 

Here's more progress on the UTI-4.

 

I opened up the 4 hand holds just ahead of the cockpit openings.

 

U1sZ4mU.jpg

 

Here are the first parts that will go in the cockpit. Some structures and both instrument panels. The forward one (on the right) is split in 2 and will be glued on the plastic part above where dials have been quickly sketched. Also the 2 floor panels which are limited to where the pilot's feet are. They have the correct width but will be trimmed in length when I will be more certain of the exact dimensions.

 

fR0GtXD.jpg

 

The first section in place. The position has to be right for the front instrument panel to have the correct split proportions.

 

tJ7121F.jpg

 

After a few days here is what I have managed to do. Most of the structural details are in place. Just a few more to add to the left side.

 

foUna7X.jpg

 

That's it for today, and now it is time to place the large landing gear hand crank and all the other bits.

 

Bye for now!

Alain

 

 

Edited by Alain Gadbois
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all!

It's been a while but I used my photo set-up to help light the kids room when it was painted and this took more time than originally planned!

 

So I worked on the cockpit some more and added detail to the bottom section. The flat rectangular part is the floor of the rear cockpit. The front cockpit part will rest on the front and rear spar when they are added later. The holes in the center of the wheel wells are for the eventual gear retraction cable. The square opening is a small window to visually check the postion of the landing gear. Another will be added symmetrically to the left bay. 

Finally, there is an opening for the landing light in the rear of the right bay.

 

vyR9Wve.jpg

 

7PVkccI.jpg

 

I added more structural detail in the rear fuselage where it might be visible. I also started to add the many small reinforcement plates which are all over the cockpit and will support equipment and other items. I removed a small section of styrene strip on each side between the cockpit openings to leave space for the rear instrument panel. 

 

Atx2qQn.jpg

 

Here are both instrument panels and their supporting structure. The final panels are to be glued to these flat sections.

 

xjnnNqT.jpg

 

Here they are in place seen from below.

 

ZgG6fGc.jpg

 

I use a punch and die to make the openings in the panel for the instruments. The tape serves as a guide to get the correct height for the holes. The flat strip of styrene is used to nudge the panel so it is properly aligned before punching out each hole.

 

gxqvtl0.jpg

 

I made a photocopy of the ICM kit instruments to use for the UTI-4. Clear styrene will be sandwiched after the panel is painted.

 

7FIqz7S.jpg

 

I will try to finish the front and back panels this week end.

 

Bye for now!

 

Alain

 

 

 

 

 

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