Polikarpov
I-153
In 1937, the Polikarpov design bureau carried out studies to improve on
the performance of its I-15 and I-15bis biplane fighters without
sacrificing maneuverability, as Soviet tactical doctrine was based on a
mix of high performance monoplane fighters (met by the Polikarpov I-16)
and agile biplanes. Early combat experience from the Spanish Civil War
had shown that the I-16 had problems dealing with the Fiat CR.32
biplanes used by the Italian forces supporting the Nationalists, which
suggested a need to continue the use of biplane fighters, and as a
result, Polikarpov's proposals were accepted, and his design bureau was
instructed to design a new biplane fighter. Polikarpov assigned the task
to the design team led by Aleksei Ya Shcherbakov,
who was assisted by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich (who would later
set up the MiG design bureau).
The new fighter
(designated I-15ter by the design bureau and I-153 by the Soviet Air
Forces (VVS)) was based closely on the design of the I-15bis, with a
stronger structure, but was fitted with a manually retractable
undercarriage to reduce drag. It reverted to the "gulled" upper wing of
the original I-15 but used the Clark YH aerofoil of the I-15bis. The
four 7.62 mm PV-1 machine guns of the I-15bis were replaced by four
ShKAS machine guns. While still rifle-caliber weapons, these fired much
faster than the PV-1s, (1,800 rounds per minute rather than 750 rounds
per minute) giving a much greater weight of fire. The new fighter was to
be powered by a Shvetsov M-62 an
improved derivative of the Shvetsov M-25 that powered the I-15 and
I-15bis with twin superchargers.
The aircraft was of
mixed metal and wood construction, with the fuselage structure being
based on chromium-molybdenum steel with duralumin skinning on the
forward fuselage, and fabric covering on the fuselage aft of the front
of the cockpit. The aircraft's wings were made of fabric covered wood,
while the tail surfaces were of fabric covered duralumin. The aircraft
was fitted with a tailwheel undercarriage, with the main wheels
retracting rearwards, rotating through 90 degrees to lie flat in the
wing roots, being actuated by cables operated by a pilot-driven hand
wheel. The solid rubber tailwheel did not retract, but moved in
conjunction with the rudder.
The I-153 first saw
combat in 1939 during the Soviet-Japanese Battle
of Khalkin Gol in Mongolia. The Japanese Army Air Forces' Type
97 Fighter (Nakajima Ki-27) Nate proved a formidable opponent
for the I-15bis and I-16, but was more evenly matched with the I-153,
which retained agility inherent to biplanes while featuring improved
performance. While the overall I-153 performance was satisfactory, some
significant problems were revealed. Most troublesome was the absence of
a firewall between the fuel tank mounted in front of the cockpit and the
pilot. Combined with strong draft coming in through the wheel wells,
fuel tank fires invariably resulted in rapid engulfment of the cockpit
and severe burns to the pilot. In addition, the M-62 engine suffered
from a service life of only 60–80 hours due to failures of the two-speed
supercharger.
The
Kit
The
ICM kit comes in a medium sized box, fit for the scale and size of the
kit. The box features a thin top which when removed reveals a hinge top
box made from thin corrugated card board. Inside the box one finds a
large resealable cellophane bag containing three sprues and inside that
a smaller bag with the clear parts. The kit is molded in a light gray
color and the parts have a smooth matte finish. The parts are virtually
flash free with only a hint being found here and there. Mold parting
lines are moderate showing reasonably good mold alignment. The aircraft
is almost entirely fabric covered and the fabric detail has been handled
quite nicely. What little is metal covered features recessed panel lines
and fastener detail. There is some raised detail where applicable. I
found no surface defects on my kit and ejector pin marks have been kept
to places not easily seen when completed.
The
cockpit is reasonably well detailed as the actual aircraft was rather
simple. The cockpit consists of a two part seat, stick and rudder
pedals. a frame work is built up with additional parts that mount to it
including the instrument panel. This assembly then mounts to the floor
surrounding the seat. The fuselage side walls have a little structural
detail molded on and a couple additional items are added to that. While
more detail could be added, not much will be seen through the small
cockpit opening. The control panel has both raised and recessed detail
and a decal is supplied for the
instrument faces.
The
lower wings are molded with one piece bottom and separate tops and
the top wing has a single piece top and separate bottoms. The
control surfaces are all molded separately. The engine assembly
looks quite nice with a separate push rod casting for the front
and intake manifold on the rear side needing only some wiring to
make it complete however very little of it will be seen unless you
leave the cowling side pieces off. The landing gear wheels are in
halves and not weighted. The gear doors have some nice structural
detail molded on the inside.
The
kit comes with an assortment of bombs and rockets to mount on the
wings although not all of the marking options could carry them.
Being a biplane the kit does need rigging and the instructions
have some vague diagrams as to where it goes but more detail would
be helpful. OK, lets take a look at the parts.
The
first sprue contains the fuselage halves, lower wing parts, wheel
halves, wing struts, cowling side and top panels, gear doors,
cockpit floor, propeller and a couple of other parts.
The next sprue
has the upper wing halves, control surfaces, engine and front and rear
cowling and a few other misc parts.
And the last
gray sprue contains everything else, weaponry, cockpit frame parts,
engine parts, landing gear parts and a host of details.
Some
of the detail is quite petite like the internal cockpit framing and care
will be required when freeing it from the sprues.
The
clear
parts consist of the windscreen, two inspection port covers that
allow the pilot to see if the gear is up in the wheel wells, two
wing tip and one rudder navigation light lenses. The windscreen is
thin, quite clear and free of distortion.
The
decals are thin, glossy and are in register. Not easy to tell
how opaque they are especially the white numbers. I have had
mixed luck with ICM decals and the last ones I used seemed
impervious to Microsol. The sheet contains markings for four
aircraft, One all aluminum color, one with green squiggles over
aluminum, one green over light blue and one green and black over
light blue.
The
instructions are printed on glossy paper in a 16
page A4 size booklet stapled at the spine. The
cover has a brief history in Russian and English,
a color chart with Model Master and generic color
names and an icon chart, pages 2 and 3 are a parts
map, pages 4 through 13 are the assembly drawings
in isometric style with a few halftone drawings,
page 14 has a halftone drawing of the completed
model and a rudimentary rigging diagram. The last
two pages have painting and marking instructions
in color.
After
Market
Goodies
Some builders have noted that the
landing gear parts are a bit fiddly to assemble and appear the be a
bit weak to support the model long term. Aerocraft Models has come to
the rescue with a set of replacement struts in a one piece lost wax
brass casting that are drop in replacements and feature superior
strength. The parts are quite nicely detailed and require little to no
clean up. They can be seen here.
Conclusions
This is only ICM's third foray into 1/32
scale, the first being an I-16 and the second a Bucker Bu 131D. ICM
has made great strides in their quality in all there kits over the
past couple of years to the point it is difficult to consider them as
a limited run kit manufacturer. One still needs to build them as you
would a limited run kit doing a lot of test fitting but if you haven't
built one of their newer kits you should give one a try, I think
you'll be pleasantly surprised. The kit is getting good reviews
elsewhere and seems to go together with few difficulties. Highly
recommended.
Links
to kit build or reviews
Another inbox review can be found here.
References
The
Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft by Bill Gunston
Back
to the 1/32 Scale Russian Aircraft Page
Updated 8/8/18
