Tintin - Polikarpov I-1

[strobez]

Now that I've just about finished off my Curtiss R3C-0 from Porco Rosso (more pics on that soon!) I decided to tackle another airplane while I'm waiting for glue to dry on various other projects (my favourite excuse!)

This time I decided to go right back to Tintin's first adventure... in the Land of the Soviets where he commandeers a soviet "aeroplane".  This being Tintin's first adventure - and the only one not to get a more modern remake - the vehicles depicted are rather... basic.  Still intrepid Tintinophiles have deduced that the plane is likely a modified version of a Polikarpov I-1, so that's good enough for me.  It will require a new flatter nose, and a modified tail and slight alterations to the undercarriage/wheel struts, but all in all well within the realm of the possible.

This was one of the kits that was held up for a long time "in transit" by Modelhobbies.uk - so I was quite happy when I first laid eyes on this box.



Not a lot on the bench here.  It's a pretty basic plane and a pretty basic kit.



The first thing I noticed were a couple of ejection pin marks that needed to take their leave.  Was relatively quick, easy and painless to achieve.



Of course those clean shiny sidewalls now need a bit of something... and that something comes in the way of some styrene strips!



Had to check to make sure it all fit together afterwards.  ICM has an interesting wing strut attachment scheme, so I did have to make a few minor cuts to my side-wall additions to get it to fit.  But better find out now than later.



A bit of aluminium paint to tie it all together...



Next up was the cockpit floor and seat.  I made a few adjustments to the seat (and gave poor Tintin at least a pillow to sit on).  I also tried to give the wood a more grainy feel to it this time.  I usually just spray on the brown and call it "wood-like", but this time I thought I'd give it a bit more attention.  I think it was worth the extra effort - so much so that I did the same thing for the instrument panel.

[KiwiZac]

This being Tintin's first adventure - and the only one not to get a more modern remake

I always thought it odd that they never did a colour version of Soviets! Along with a (sanctioned) completed Alph-Art, this is something I've longed to see. I'd like to get a modern Congo for my Dad's collection...

I'm excited to follow along Greg!

[strobez]

Thanks Zac! Right after the war, when Herge was still blacklisted as being a Nazi collaborator he spent a good deal of time and effort to go back and modernize all the earliest Tintin adventures to bring them up to his current standard (and update them with current technology along the way).  He always thought that Soviets was just a lost cause... a dalliance of his youth that was not salvageable, so he just left it as is.

However, last year the "powers that be" at Moulinsart decided (probably for financial reasons) that at least colourizing the adventure would bring it in from the cold and make it much less of an outlier amongst the Tintin adventures - I'm inclined to agree.  So, mainly because I always thought it was odd to create a "black and white" scale model, I've decided to go with the colourized version for my project.  I know that might be scandalous for some fans, but it works for me, so that's enough.  The final model will be painted a green khaki as in the 2017 edition.

Alph-Art is another topic.  I've always thought it was a bit desperate to drag the last few scribbles off Herge's desk and publish them as some sort of cobbled together tale.  Having said that, I have a neat idea that I want to try to do to include it in my Tintin project... more on that later.

As for Congo... I know a lot of people point it out for it's overly racist overtones, but for me it is what it is.  When I was a kid, the story made me fascinated with "deepest darkest Africa" in the same way The Blue Lotus made me want to understand the "mysteries of the orient".  I know both of those are somewhat outdated and impolite concepts by today's standards, but as a kid long before the world was brought to my fingertips by a keyboard, they fascinated me and made me want to learn more.  I never thought they were "the whole story" or should be taken literally... and for that matter I don't think the racist caricatures made much of an impact on me... those black people didn't look any more like the black people I knew than Tintin looked like me (I mean, he's basically a circle, a hair coif and two dots for eyes...).

All that to say it's a shame that it keeps going in and out of print (or inclusion in sets).  It's a period piece and should be taken as such, IMHO.

[PR19_Kit]

Your cutting mat always looks so TIDY! 

I have a job even finding mine under layers of styrene sheet, model boxes, instruction sheets (yes, really...) tins of paint, various scalpels, files, sanding blocks and all sort of other 'stuff'.

[Stratos]

Looking forward to see the final result! I had to reread the book just to check the plane lol

[strobez]

Your cutting mat always looks so TIDY! 

I have a job even finding mine under layers of styrene sheet, model boxes, instruction sheets (yes, really...) tins of paint, various scalpels, files, sanding blocks and all sort of other 'stuff'.

Heh, I was just thinking about replacing my smaller "demonstration" mat too.  I accidentally spilled some stuff (thinner of some description) and it took out a bunch of the lines.  I don't have a large workspace though - basically just the end of a small dry bar that's been repurposed.  So I have to efficient with space and tidy up regularly.

[strobez]

Looking forward to see the final result! I had to reread the book just to check the plane lol

Heh, cool!  I'm also thinking about scratching together that little 'rail car' that Tintin cobbles together in the story.  I wonder what guage of train track that should be... hmm...

Anyway, I made some progress on the Polikarpov:

First off I got the cockpit all done.  The nice thing about this kind of model is that I don't really have to follow any instructions or reference pics.



The wings were a bit touchy to get glued together... took some clamping.  But we're good to go.

[strobez]

A bit of an update.

Tintin's aeroplane has a flat nose, so I tossed out (well into the spares box) the nose that came with the kit and scratched up my own using some styrene and mesh. It still needs a bit of sanding, but looks pretty good to me.



I also had to change the shape of the tail, so I laminated on a bit of an extension and once it's dry I'll need to sand it to my will.



The landing gear was a real conundrum. In the book it's got that corrugated metal flashing on it, but I couldn't figure out how to replicate it from scratch.  After hunting around in the tickle trunk I happened upon a rejected landing strut from my Macchi M.52 resin recast.  I didn't like the quality at the time and tossed it pretty quickly because my subject had smooth struts anyway.  However, it really was a case of the only port in this particular storm, so upon re-evaluation I decided I could live with it.



I glued the monstrosity together with a bit of wire for the axel.  Oh well, it's a made up plane anyway... and I doubt the the Soviets (especially as depicted in this Tintin adventure) were top of the line on maintenance issues anyway.

[strobez]

Isn't it amazing how the first coat of paint magically makes all the imperfections appear before your eyes?



I added a bit more putty and did a bit more sanding and all better... but now I'm not quite sure on that tone of green.  The camera doesn't really capture it well, but it seems a bit light. In the book it's a darker, muddier grey... hmm...

[strobez]

So I've repainted this sucker a couple of times trying to replicate the colours seen here - http://insigniamag.com/addendum_009a_bleed.pdf - but to no avail.

It doesn't have to be an exact match, but just closer than the witches brew of paint I've mixed up (in more ways than one).

Anyone got a suggestion on what Tamiya acylic combo might work?

[Weaver]

Don't know the Tamiya range well, but that grey/green looks like Humbrol Cockpit Green (Hu.78), and according to my conversion chart, that equates to Tamiya XF71.

Bear in mind that matching painted or printed colours to ones on a screen is always going to be problematic since the former are front-lit and latter is back-lit and therefore brighter and more luminous.

[zenrat]

Based on the app on my phone and on line references Tamiya XF20 looks very close.  It's called Medium Grey Flat but its quite a green grey.
It might need a touch more green added.

Or, XF22 RLM Grey Flat (given as Tamiya's acrylic match to RLM02) with a touch of pale grey.

[strobez]

Hmmm... that green still isn't what I want... let's try one more time....



Okay, that's better.  I can live with that shade of green.  Now for thr propeller.  In the book, Tintin carves a new prop out of a plank of wood using nothing but his pocketknife... so how can I not attempt that?



Basic shape looks good.  Needs a bit more sanding though...



And now for the final touch, the homemade decals.  These always seem to be hit or miss for me.  Luckily I've learned to print a few extras for "do-overs" because I needed them.  They're more or less visible depending on the angle of the light, but it's the best I can do.



A bit of a dtain on the prop makes the wood grain pop.  It was a bit heavier than I'd hoped for, but after a bit more sanding I figured I should quit while I was still a bit ahead.



The decals gave me a bit of a scare because after the water dried it left the paint a bit discoloured. I'm not sure if the white film was because the water is too "hard" or actually affected the paint itself, but it seems to have cleared up after another coat of Future.



All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

[zenrat]

Looks good.

[NARSES2]

Looks good.

Does indeed