ON THE SHELF
AIRCRAFT KITS82 View more reviews online: http://www.airfi xmodelworld.com http://www.airfi xmodelworld.com 83THE SOVIETS' ‘ISHAK’ RE-BOXED
Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 Rata
By: Revell
Item no: 03914
Price: £36.99
Web: http://www.revell.de/enICM’s splendid I-16 Type 24 has
made its way into a Revell box, with
new decals. This stubby fighter,
known as Ishak (little donkey)
among its Soviet users, has been
treated well here (as discussed in
our May issue new story on ICM’s
Type 28). The tooling has managed
to capture the aircraft’s subtle
nuances, as well as its basic nature,
very well. The M-63 engine detail iswonderful, as it offers a complete
set of exhaust pipes, bearers, push
rods and delicate cylinder case
rendering, which can be displayed
due to separate panels. The type’s
idiosyncratic undercarriage is
produced faithfully, and even the
nose guns are well detailed. Revell’s
decals are good, despite the matt
carrier film, and the two schemes
are for a black/green over pale blue
aircraft, and an aluminium over
pale blue naval machine:- White 13, 7th IAP, Leningrad
front, 1941 - Red 41, 4th FAR, Baltic Fleet
Aviation, winter 1941-42
Zeppelin LZ47
By: Mark I Models
Item no: MKM720-02 Price: £16.50
Web: http://www.4pluspublications.comMark I’s Zeppelins are superb
creations, and this LZ47/P-class
airship is no exception, despite
it having a low parts count (but
this makes for simpler assembly),
and even in this small scale it
measures 9in (225mm) when
complete. This type had two
gondolas under the main envelope,
and each of these is a four-part
unit (complete with tiny propeller),
and decals for the windows. Thetwo side-mounted ‘power pods’
comprise just two pieces, but
there’s a busy five-item lattice
framework to secure them to the
airship. There’s also a neat three-
piece stand with nameplate to
mount the finished model. Two
Imperial German Flying Corps
schemes are offered; one with
overall fabric-coloured envelope
and the other in the kit’s box art
‘spotted cow’ camouflage:- LZ77, Airship Troop, Namur,
Belgium, autumn 1915 - LZ77, Airship Troop, Namur,
Belgium, Battle of Verdun,
February 1916
L- 3 9 Z A
By: Special Hobby
Item no: SH48167 Price: €35
Web: http://www.cmkkits.com
Aero’s L-39 has been a solid
competitor to BAE’s Hawk, and
modellers have much choice in
colour schemes. Special Hobby’s 1/48
re-release matches well-moulded
styrene with a comprehensive array
of photo-etched brass details, and
well-cast resin. The former includes
optional instrument panels, seat
straps/firing handles and more,
while the latter medium is employed
for the under-fuselage gun fairing,
wheels, UB-16 rocket pods, exhaust,
antennas, seat head boxes and
other small features. The styrene
is slightly rough in places, so Micro-
Mesh treatment is advisable, but
the engraving is decent. There’s a
generous array of colour schemes
and the decals are excellent, the
highlight being the Thai Air Force jet
with special elephant/dragon tail art:- 2436, 2 Sqn Czechoslovakian AF,
post-1989 revolution - 2436, 222 Training Sqn, Czech AF,
2008-13 - 5107/NL-37, École supérieure de l’air,
Algerian AF, 1991-95/1996 - 5119/208, Aero factory, 1990 (flown
by Israeli test pilots) - 41133, 101 Sqn, Thai AF, 2014
DUAL-ROLE EXOTICA
Mi-35 Hind ‘Czech Air Force’
By: Hasegawa
Item no: 02247 Price: £54.99
Web: http://www.amerang.co.ukHere’s another old favourite, with
Hasegawa adding five resin parts
(including flare dispensers) and a
small PE metal fret to its 1980s
Mi-24D Hind-D kit, to replicate a
Czech Air Force Mi-35. While it has
accuracy issues (short fuselage/
tail boom, overly long and thin
rotor blades, and incorrect
narrow-chord tailfin), it still looks
like a Hind. Despite its age, thepanel lines are fine engraved
renditions, and the moulds have
been updated, although it still
lacks a cabin interior. Two Czech
Air Force schemes are offered, one
being the boxtop airframe lacking
the nose gun (Hasegawa has
omitted the painted xenomorph
egg ‘mouth’ on the intake baffles),
while the other is a standard
machine in three-tone camouflage:- EV953/3370/PP-K ‘Kost’a’, 221st
Helicopter Sqn, Czech AF Display
Team, 2016 - 7360, 221st Helicopter Sqn,
Namest, Czech Republic
BOHEMIAN DISPLAY HIND
PATTERNED BOVINE GASBAG
Zeppelin LZ47 two side-mounted ‘power pods’PATTERNED BOVINE GASBAG
Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 Rata wonderful, as it offers a complete