BICh-17 Review

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1/72 Unicraft
Cheranovsky BICh-17
by Michael Cook reproduced from "SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL"

The Kit
This unusual kit comes in Unicraft's colourful little box with an illustration of a Spanish Civil War machine on the lid. The parts are cast in blue-grey resin with engraved panel lines and details. Care must be taken when cutting off the resin pouring lugs and trimming off the flash as the resin is very brittle indeed. A small slip is included warning the modeller of this fact and recommending that the parts be cut with a hot knife. I tried this method instead of the usual razor saw and it worked very well, I only broke one of the smaller parts and that was easily fixed. The resin used is good quality with no air holes and reacts well to thin superglue. A small vac-formed canopy rounds off this neat package.

Instructions
The instructions cover five small sheets of paper and consist of a very interesting brief type history, three-view plan, construction diagram and two suggested colour schemes.

Construction
Construction begins, as usual with a resin kit, with preparing all the parts. As already mentioned I used the hot knife method as suggested by Unicraft, taking special care when cutting out the separate flaps that are rather fragile and easy to brake. This chore done it was time to start making the kit.
Starting with the very basic cockpit area which consists of only a simple floor, seat and instrument panel, the floor is much too wide and after I had spent about half an hour sanding and shaping the floor to fit the fuselage halves I realised that it would have been easier and quicker to make a new one out of plastic card. No colour details are given for this area so I used dark grey, mainly to disguise the lack of detail here. After this assembly is a very quick process and can be completed in a couple of hours.
I discarded the supplied cannon parts as the mouldings were mislaid and not at all circular in cross section; two small lengths of plastic tube make good replacements. The amount of filler you need does depend on how accurate your preparation work is but the seams are short on the small model so filling is minimal anyway.
The separate flaps call out to be set in the down position and the rudder can be posed deflected to make the model look more attractive,
Accuracy
I have been unable to cross reference Unicraft's dimensions of a length of five metres and a span of 12.24 metres. According to my suspect measuring the model scales out as being 83cm too long and 43cm short on span but as it is a speculative project, who is to say? It looks fine to me.
Colour Options
Two colour options are suggested, both speculative, one Spanish Civil War Republican and a Soviet Air Force scheme, both in Green and Light Blue. Speculating on the types use in the Spanish Civil War and the other conflicts where Soviet aircraft of this era were used suggested a wide range of alternative colour schemes. My choice was limited by what spare decals I had, so it was standard Soviet Green and Light Blue with a Red rudder and engine cowling to add a bit of interest.
Decals
None are supplied.
Conclusion & Recommendation
This is a simple kit and as such would provide the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of resin model kits. To the seriously afflicted this Russian aircraft makes a nice change from the seemingly endless series of German paper projects that get released these days.
I think the finished model is quite pretty with its beautiful parabolic wing contrasting well with its stubby fuselage, a design well ahead of its time. If only Cheranovsky's project had not been a victim of Stalin's purges it might have seen widespread use as did some of its contemporaries. Recommended to the beginner and the curious.
My thanks to Unicraft for the review sample.

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1/72 Unicraft Cheranovsky BICh-17 by Michael Cook *reproduced from "SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL"*

The Kit This unusual kit comes in Unicraft's colourful little box with an illustration of a Spanish Civil War machine on the lid. The parts are cast in blue-grey resin with engraved panel lines and details. Care must be taken when cutting off the resin pouring lugs and trimming off the flash as the resin is very brittle indeed. A small slip is included warning the modeller of this fact and recommending that the parts be cut with a hot knife. I tried this method instead of the usual razor saw and it worked very well, I only broke one of the smaller parts and that was easily fixed. The resin used is good quality with no air holes and reacts well to thin superglue. A small vac-formed canopy rounds off this neat package.

Instructions The instructions cover five small sheets of paper and consist of a very interesting brief type history, three-view plan, construction diagram and two suggested colour schemes.

Construction Construction begins, as usual with a resin kit, with preparing all the parts. As already mentioned I used the hot knife method as suggested by Unicraft, taking special care when cutting out the separate flaps that are rather fragile and easy to brake. This chore done it was time to start making the kit. Starting with the very basic cockpit area which consists of only a simple floor, seat and instrument panel, the floor is much too wide and after I had spent about half an hour sanding and shaping the floor to fit the fuselage halves I realised that it would have been easier and quicker to make a new one out of plastic card. No colour details are given for this area so I used dark grey, mainly to disguise the lack of detail here. After this assembly is a very quick process and can be completed in a couple of hours. I discarded the supplied cannon parts as the mouldings were mislaid and not at all circular in cross section; two small lengths of plastic tube make good replacements. The amount of filler you need does depend on how accurate your preparation work is but the seams are short on the small model so filling is minimal anyway. The separate flaps call out to be set in the down position and the rudder can be posed deflected to make the model look more attractive, Accuracy I have been unable to cross reference Unicraft's dimensions of a length of five metres and a span of 12.24 metres. According to my suspect measuring the model scales out as being 83cm too long and 43cm short on span but as it is a speculative project, who is to say? It looks fine to me. Colour Options Two colour options are suggested, both speculative, one Spanish Civil War Republican and a Soviet Air Force scheme, both in Green and Light Blue. Speculating on the types use in the Spanish Civil War and the other conflicts where Soviet aircraft of this era were used suggested a wide range of alternative colour schemes. My choice was limited by what spare decals I had, so it was standard Soviet Green and Light Blue with a Red rudder and engine cowling to add a bit of interest. Decals None are supplied. Conclusion & Recommendation This is a simple kit and as such would provide the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of resin model kits. To the seriously afflicted this Russian aircraft makes a nice change from the seemingly endless series of German paper projects that get released these days. I think the finished model is quite pretty with its beautiful parabolic wing contrasting well with its stubby fuselage, a design well ahead of its time. If only Cheranovsky's project had not been a victim of Stalin's purges it might have seen widespread use as did some of its contemporaries. Recommended to the beginner and the curious. My thanks to Unicraft for the review sample.