Polikarpov R-5 Soviet Night Bomber

I'm building this Soviet Polikarpov R-5 in 1/72 scale for a WWII GB in another site.  I have no idea who made this one.  It had no box, no molded in name, and not much on the instruction sheet.  But I've developed a liking for the Ugly Ducklings of the early Russian Air Force.


This plane was a reconnaisance and bomber during the 30's.  In WWII, R-5s served with the Soviet Air Force during the 1939  Battle of Khalkhin Gol fought against the Japanese.  They remained in service against Germany where they were mainly used as night bombers and nuisance aircraft, serving until 1944.  Realistically, "Uncle Joe" Stalin probably would have thrown anything airworthy at the Germans.

It's not the greatest of kits as one can see by the sprue shots.

These are the simple instructions.


This shows the flash on parts.  The lower left is before - the right is after.


Since there's no boxart, here's what the completed aircraft should look like.


Mike

Should look good Mike        Have fun with all that flash clean up

That may be a record for the "greatest flash" on this site!  I can see why it flew mostly at night as it must of been slow with little armament, armor or load carrying capacity. Certainly a rare kit and I'll watch to see what camo you choose.

I don't know the top speed, but I think it had enough power with it's BMW 12cyl engine.

Lot's of Flash for sure. Looks like a good subject.

Some progress made recently.  The observer/gunner station is located.  I'm leaving out the seat pieces since they won't be seen when a figure is placed in it.


The outside of the fuselage doesn't have much detail molded in.  Partly because it is largely a wood and fabric construction and partly because it's cheap.  So I'm going out on a limb here trying to accentuate the metal engine cowl panels that it did have.  I used a piece of scrap plastic sheet, either .005" or .010" thick, cut to the shape of the panel.  Spread some MEK and firmly pressed it flat.  I also put 2 sets of 3 dents in the plastic that I'll paint black afterward to simulate air openings.  There will also be a similar panel over the top of the fuselage ahead of the pilot.






Put the tail section together.  it was nice that they made the flaps and rudder in separate pieces, so it can be positioned other than dead straight and flat.




These are the Russian figures that I chose for the plane.


The instrument panel is drying and next will come putting the fuselage halves together.

Thanks for looking and commenting,
Mike

No doubt, you will make a very presentable model out of this ugly duckling.

Got the fuselage together with tail and lower wing attached.  Still need a little sanding at the wing joints.  Added the thin sheet piece in front of the cockpit.  Molded in the front of the cowl piece and will scribe a new panel line further back later on.


Radiator and wing skids on.




These are the exhausts from the kit.  They were almost lost amidst all the flash on the sprues.  I might try making a longer pipe from 1/32 rod if I can get some, or use wire.


Until later,
Mike

I do not think I have ever seen a kit with that much flash before. You are doing an awesome job with it.

As I said earlier, seems like more flash than kit.!!!

Doing sterling work with it Mike.

Got color on the plane.  MM Medium Green enamel on the upper and Ghost Grey on the underside.  Funny thing when AB'ing the grey, it looked like it was changing shade when giving additional passes.  When it was dry, the surface felt like rough cloth-like finish.  A light sanding with 1200 grit got the color more uniform and smoothed the surface - don't know what happened there.  Also got the lower decals on.  They're a rub-on type, one of which was damaged.  Simple red shouldn't be hard to touch up.








Mike

You are really making a Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear with this one. Nice work.

Very nice Mike and a quick one too.. My kinda build

At the suggestion here I read of the "night witches" of the Soviet air force during WWII. Tho the planes didn't have any major impact, the harassment must have been significant to the Germans. Good job on (it was written) the most produced biplane of its era, originally begun in 1928 and intended for civilian crop dusting and other menial jobs.

Paint is looking good Mike. Nice and simple.

Shame about the decals but I'm sure you'll make a great recovery on them.

Still working on this bird.

First time I've encountered a multi-piece prop in this scale - even though it's the wrong style.



Scratchbuilt a generator for the wing from an injection pin and .010" card.  Also drilled the three holes that are present in the nose of the real thing.  I suppose the two small ones are for the MG's.


Attached the struts to the top wing and scratchbuilt what seem to be the low points of the fuel tank which is the middle section of the upper wing.




Got the painted figures in, though the rear guy won't be permanently positioned until his MG goes in.  Made two windscreens from blister pack plastic - there were no clear parts.  Also put a sight tube in for the pilot.


Put on one side of my scratchbuilt exhausts.  You can't tell they're hex rod until you look closely.


You might notice the generator prop in the last photo looks different.  It's not an illusion, I've snapped off the prop three times handling the plane.

Mike

Good work all round Mike.

The prop cowl looks like real alluminium and I love the scratch buit genny.

Андрей and Роберт look right at home in there!!!

Until you improved it, that was a really "basic" kit. Nice work, clear fotos!

Got the top wing attached which was a little PITA because of the angle of the struts.  When one side was CA'd, it just didn't give to adjust the other side for centering.  So I had to snap it loose and redo.  It looks centered OK now.  Also, the landing gear is on with the wheels being temporary.  They left a lot of excess on the ends of the axle, so I'll have to trim.







Thanks for hanging in there,
Mike

Lookin' good Mike

Neat little aircraft Mike and it's looking good too!

Андрей and Роберт will soon be flying high!!!

The R5 is finished.  Rigging got a little rough, trying to place dark charcoal colored EZLine on a dark colored surface.  Also more scratchbuilding here than I'd prefer at this scale.  But it's finished and on to other projects.





Thanks to all for looking in and commenting.
Mike