Clunkmeister

Some have asked me how the fit appears to be on this kit, so I thought I’d take a quick opportunity to show you. This is simple friction fit with tape to keep the sides together. many question? If the rest of the kit is as good as this appears to be, IBG will sell me at least a half dozen more. Y’all notice how we see group builds of massed I-16s at shows? This could be the next step up from that pleasant little build.

Crikey! Awesome work!

Jeff, Sluggo said it best. M<atter of fact, I may have done just that. Decanted some automotive primer in a cup and sprayed it on through my airbrush

Jeff, I treated my Lanc 3d parts as I treat any resin. I cleaned them, prepped the surfaces with sandpaper and Mr. Surfacer, then used normal painting techniques. I haven't had an issue at all.

I won't post a pic because it'll sabotage a WIP thread, but remember the USA explored a very similar concept with the cute little Sperry Messenger, a similar sized airplane with a three cylinder radial.. The US Army had an idea they could use a lightweight disposable aircraft as a substitute for a mounted courier or "messenger". The designer, if I recall the article I read, to demonstarte his new aircraft, actually landed it on the steps of the US Capitol building, and then, after showing it off, took off again.. It was a tad bit more successful, and also sold on the civilian market as a pocket sized personal aircraft. I think the designer disappeared over the Channel in one while on an air race?? Lukgraph makes a model of the Messenger, BTW.

Exactly Hubert. I left the valve covers alone. Thwy'll be invisible with the cowl on. The sprue attachment points on the gearbox are insanely huge. They look like they belong there. I actually looked on the instructions to see if they were supposed to be there. K

It’s getting some paint this weekend. Pics up then

Yep, that’s the idea,Rob.

I’d say it’s a pretty decent representation of a Mercury 9 cylinder radial. As long as the plug wires don’t go flipping off into never never land, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Some detail painting mañana.

First things first. I sure hope you like fiddly, because it starts from the first moment of the build. The instructions are like most others, you start with the engine. The engine halves have ejection towers similar to Kitty Hawk, and just like KH, as super easy to clip off No biggie, right? Right. But then it gets interesting. The kit gives you PE plug wires. They’re flat PE, and I do sort of think they should be round, but no worries, this is OOB, so on they go. Each one needs to be bent in two spots, and when done, they fit perfectly. But Oh Heavin’ Stephen Who’s Done for the Evenin’, these are some seriously fiddly. Somehow, the the Grace of God and my fat gut, I only almost lost two. My ample belly served as a convenient backdrop.

So for me, there hasn’t been a more anticipated 1/32 kit since the HK Lancaster came on the scene through assistance by a few esteemed members of LSM. In my eyes, the P.11 series of fighters by PZL epitomize the fighting spirit of the Polish people during the opening salvos of WW2. The P.11 should have gotten mauled by the new generation of German fighters, but these plucky little fighters gave back better than they received, knocking down over 110 Germans, for a loss of about 100 P.11s. Not bad for an outdated, outclassed, out gunned fighter from an earlier generation. This build will be a quick build review of the P.11 as presented in the standard kit by IBG. All it’s good points, and any pitfalls I encounter, up to and including total build FUBARs will be presented. If I build a winner, so be it. If I build myself into a corner so it is a candidate for the bin, so be it, it’ll progress as speedily and naturally as possible. Understand that during these trying world health times, the pace may speed up, slow down, or end altogether if the unthinkable happens and I reach my ‘best before’ date. So, on with the build.

The d calls look decent, and they’re done by Techmod, whist hard to understand since like IBG, are a Polish Company. Techmod is known for decent decals on par with Cartograph, so expect decent performance here. First impression looks good, and individual instrument decals are provided.

So I hope you like PE, because there’s lots of it, and it looks very nice

Harv, I think what Hubert was saying was that he found abcesses in the plastic where the gates attached to the part after he cut the gates. he needed to fill those.

Hubert, very interesting. I haven’t had a chance check closely yet the various parts, but I will tonight when I work on the front cage. I haven’t been this excited about a new kit since the HK Lancaster arrived

Mine is closed completely, but will allow a select few to come over when they're there. No special trips, but as long as I come when they're there, a secret handshake will get you in.. Or these days, a secret foot or elbow bump, I suppose

Yeah I just slid over when I had a moment and met Adam at the door who gave me the news.

Nice. Where do you source that stuff? I'm going to start a build log up top this evening to keep this area clear for review completion and comments, but I'll move this conversation up there later. A heavier coat of paint is something I'm going to shy away from here, especially on the wings, as the corrugations are so incredibly petite.

If anyone local to me, (Yes Tony, that means you) is in need of supplies during these next few weeks, call, text, or contact me here. I may be able to sneak you in on the sly, when they're there doing inventory, etc. Sometimes it pays to be a Member of the local Chamber of Commerce.

Copy that, Bob. I too, am open for business, but for how long, Only the Shadow knows. If the virus takes the ugly ones first, I'm quickly checking out. Too late to lose a hundred pounds or get a face lift.... I should bend over and kiss me arse goodbye, but I can't reach the darned thing...

Rob, I'm one of those guys who uses RLM66 for just about everything, so when I get down to two bottles, I start breaking out in a cold sweat

My first impression? IMPRESSIVE I think this kit is going to build up into an amazing model of a seriously overlooked early WW2 aircraft. This kit is also available in a Premium Edition with brass barrels and a resin pilot figure, which will enhance and already impressive model. There are plans for a future boxing in Romanian marking as well, so those of you who have built the IAR 80/81 in 1/32 will now have it's predecessor as well. Aside from the apparent sink marks in the fuselage, some of the surface detail seems a smidgeon overdone. A couple inspection panels on the stabilizers appear somewhat Matchbox-ish to me, but that's nothing that can't be carefully filled. Careful sanding of the fuselageshould reduce any pebbly appearance as well. All modeling 101.

As for initial observations, I have a couple concerns, and both revolve around the plastic itself. In some spots, the plastic seems to have a bit of a pebbly surface, which we'd normally combat with sandpaper and elbow grease. But in this case, we'd end up wiping out the prominent rivet ines on the mouldings. Plus, notice the stress lines in the plastic, one on each half. I'm going to give that a slight hit of primer tonight to see if that goes away. If they're sink marks, they'll be problematic to remove without removing those positive rivets. Looking at the one in the first picture, it sure looks like a big ol' sink mark to me. Now my next question. Are the rivets overdone? maybe. probably. I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, but I think that under a coat of paint, they'll show quite nicely. it'll also cut back on the deepish panel lines.

Now I need to look as well at another main spotting feature of this aircraft, and that's the fuselage side mounted engine oil coolers. They're big and obvious. Silver Wings has you build them up from individual PE fin pieces, and thread them onto a couple wires. While extremely fiddly to build, they result in an impressive assembly, so I'll look at those as well, tonight.

The P.11 series fighters came at a time where the world's air arms were changing their way of thinking. Research into monocoque "stressed skin" construction eliminated the need for biplane truss design for strength. The P.11 series reflected that thinking, with a traditional girder structure for the forward fuselage for the cockpit, fuselage guns and fuel tank, and engine room, and an all metal stressed skin for the rear fuselage starting behind the cockpit. The kit duplicates the forward fuselage structure nicely, without being too complicated. Square tubing, brackets, flight controls plus enough goodies to busy the thing up makes it appear that this will look great even OOB. of course the door is wide open for all who wish to tart it up with various aftermarket or scratchbuilt goodies. I’ll have some sprue shots later when I get home from the office. A quick shot of the nicely done instruction booklet shows general assembly techniques are needed, with plenty of tiny PE bits to keep the fiddliest of us quite happy. If you've built any inter war aircraft models, or even a T-6/Texan/Harvard, you'll feel right at home here. Tonight, I'm going to do some basic cockpit framework to see how well it falls together.