I-16 Type 24
ProfiPACK

Eduard, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

Eduard's 1/48 scale I-16 Type 24 is available online from Squadron.com for only USD$21.86!
 

Eduard first released its 1/48 I-16 Type 24 kit back in 2006.  The original Profipack boxing, with pre-cut masks, photo-etched details and multiple marking options, wasn’t reviewed on Hyperscale but the Type 24 Weekend Edition has been examined here twice – by Simon Wolff in 2009 and then by myself in 2013.  We both recommended the kit as an accurate and well-engineered representation of an I-16 Type 24 that would look good in the provided markings of Soviet naval ace Boris Safonov. 

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Thumbnail panels:

Now Eduard has re-released the Type 24 kit in what appears to be an identical format to the original Profipack boxing.  Safonov’s machine features once again, both as a marking option and on the excellent box art where it is shown chasing a crippled Heinkel He 111.

Inside the box are the following items:

• Five sprues of Eduard’s standard dark grey plastic parts.  These are well produced with delicate surface detail and minimal flash.  As I noted in my earlier review, Eduard has accurately captured key Type 24 features such as underwing hardpoints, a new radio hatch and second cockpit door.  The correct types of propeller, spinner, engine cowling and undercarriage are also supplied.  (If you wish the kit can also be easily modified to represent the earlier I-16 Type 18.)

• One sprue of clear plastic parts.  This is very small, containing only a windscreen and a gunsight; both parts are well moulded.

• One sheet of pre-cut tape masks for the windscreen and wheel hubs.  There isn’t much to the I-16’s canopy, but these masks will make painting it considerably easier.

• One fret of photo-etched brass parts.  This contains pre-painted parts for the instrument panel and seat harness (with the instrument panel in particular very nice) along with unpainted parts for the cockpit, entry doors and engine cowl.  Some of these parts are very small and will need to be handled carefully to avoid damage or loss.  Perhaps the trickiest photo-etched part to use, should you choose to do so, will be the frame for what appears to be a transparent inspection panel.  The panel, which is supplied in clear acetate, will need to be carefully glued to the etched frame and then installed over a scratch-cut hole in the starboard undercarriage bay.

• One 12 page booklet with Eduard’s usual comprehensive assembly instructions and full colour painting and marking guide.  Four view illustrations are provided for each marking option, with decals clearly indicated by number and paints identified by colour description and Gunze-Sangyo numbers.

• One sheet of decals with markings for four aircraft.  The decals have been printed by Eduard and look better than some of the company’s other in-house decals I’ve seen.  They are crisply printed with good colour demarcation and no bleeding or misregistration.  There is of necessity a fair bit of carrier film on the patriotic slogans and some of the fuselage numbers, so these will need to be applied over a glossy surface to avoid silvering.

Markings

The markings cover the following I-16 Type 24s:

1. Boris Safonov, 72nd Mixed Aviation Regiment, Northern Fleet, summer 1941.  Safonov’s aircraft was camouflaged in green over All Blue, and carried the aforementioned slogans on either side of the fuselage; these reportedly read “For Stalin!” and “Death to Fascists!"

2. Genadij Tsokolajev, 4 Guards Aviation Regiment, Baltic Fleet, Lake Ladoga, April 1942.  Another naval I-16, this time grey over All Blue, Tsokolajev’s machine was less dramatically finished than Safonov’s, although the prominent red, white and gold Guards badge on the fuselage adds an interesting splash of colour.

3. Lt Krichevskiy, 254 Fighter Aviation Regiment, Leningrad front, 1942.  This and the following aircraft were camouflaged in All Green over All Blue and with no markings other than individual identification numbers.

4. Lev L. Shestakov, 69 Fighter Aviation Regiment, Odessa, summer 1942.  Red vertical tail surfaces added a dash of colour to Shestakov’s machine.

The I-16 Type 24 was a reasonably successful attempt to prolong the life of an obsolescent airframe, and – importantly – was available in quantity during the Soviet Union’s darkest hours in 1941-42.  It was outclassed by Luftwaffe fighters but was also the mount of a number of Soviet aces, and Eduard has represented several of their aircraft in this kit.  This is another welcome reissue that can be highly recommended as an accurate, easy to build kit of a historically significant machine.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2015 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 11 August, 2015
Last updated 11 August, 2015

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