partisan polikarpov

[thedarkmaster]

The soviet Union had some dark days during the Great Patriotic War but non greater than the 22 months following the loss of Stalingrad, With the loss of the city on the Don the way was open for Army Group A to push the Soviets out of the Caucasus and toward the Iraq/Iranian border.
Soviet military power in the region was brocken and all that was left where a few scattered red army units left behind in the Panzer onslaught and of course the Partisans. Desperate to keep some sort of military and political presence in the occupide territory STAVKA strove to supply these units, they ordered them to operate around the city of Rostov, and tried to send what few transports they could spare. Alass the IL-2 and Pe-8 were no match for the German`s and their Rumanian amd Hungerian puppets and losses mounted.
STAVKA sent VVS units behind the line to help the transports through but they were quickly spotted and disposed of. The Peoples Commisar`s need an answer and they aproached all OKB`s for the solution, nothing was forthcoming until a young engineer proposed that what they need where airlanding facilitys the Nazi`s could not knock out, He took his idea to Nikita Khrushchev who liked it`s simplicity and ordered it into production.
The actual aircraft used was a matter of the ones available at the factory for refitting first, andin this case it was a regiment of Polikarpov I-185 which where at the railhead when the time came, and so thet recieved floats, for after all the soviets reasoned you cannot destroy a water landing field!!
The modified polikarpov was never an excellent aircraft in fact it struggled to be average but it was there and they helped, a small amount of airsupport is better than none when the ss are closing in on you.
They operated for the next 22 months from salt marshes, lakes and small sea inlets supported by a few ground crew and the odd transport seaplane with supplies and ammo, right up to the final liberation of Rostov by the 28th army and then their job done they dissapeared like a good Partisan should back into the forests and lakes of Mother Russia.

[McGreig]

Nice idea. The I-185 makes an attractive floatplane and I like the way that you've used a standard Russian colour scheme rather than a grey or blue seaplane scheme.

[thedarkmaster]

thanks, i was hoping that it would look like something straight off the railhead and into a job it wasn`t desighed for.

[John Howling Mouse]

Hey, cool!  But where were you during the "I Love Spats" group-build, friend?

Now, how 'bout some details about the kit and from where you borrowed the floats, etc.?   

[jeff3385]

Yeah... you could bury a set of wheels into the bottom of the floats to give it an amphibian capability. Those floats would make honkin' big spats. 

[Brian da Basher]

Mmmmm big honkin' spats! My favorite!

I really like the camo paintjob.

Brian da Basher

[thedarkmaster]

can`t tell you much about the kit i picked it up for 56p plus £1.50 postage off E-Bay a while ago and the floats came from a MPM Spitfire, love the Idea of the spats it just might make the Partisan story a little better if it can be wheeled out and away into the forests