Russian

Sikorsky "Ilya Muromets" Type B Heavy Bomber by Maquette of Russia 1/72 scale.

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky who would become world-famous for his helicopters, is also known for his large multi-engined aircraft. At a time when many doubted that heavier-than-air aircraft could be built beyond modest dimensions, Sikorsky, at age 23, at already designed and flown his Boi Shoi Baltisky (The Great Baltic) on May 13, 1913. His Llya Mouromets Type A made it's first flight on Dec 11, 1913.

This model depicts the third version of the I.M. and was designated Type V (the third letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, identical in form to the Roman B) The Type V was smalller than its predecessors, was lighter and more compact. Part of the bomb load could be stowed inside. The Type V was the first I.M. designed specifically as a 4-engined bomber and made its first flight early in 1915. Thirty-two machines of this version were built. The I.M. would remain the largest aircraft in the world until 1917.

The kit is built Out of the Box with very few modifications. The sheer size of the kit made for interesting building problems. It took about 15 hours to build the kit and probably half that time rigging. The rigging in the just the tail section took over three hours.

Sikorsky "S-16" by Dako of Russia 1/72 scale.

Designed by Igor Sikorsky, the S-16 design was completed by October 1914. Three aircraft were completed by January 1915 but severe engine shortages delayed it's first flight until the summer of 1915.

"First designed as a training and light scout plane, the S-16 soon turned, similarly to other scout planes, into an armed fighter, becoming the first such plane of Russian design. Although the S-16 , like many other types of initially unarmed multi-purpose aircraft, could not be developed into a hight performance fighter, it played a prominent role in establishment of Russian fighter aviation. The future Russian aces scored their first victories on it." Flying Machines Press, # 1 page 23

The kit is very straight forward with the option of wheels or skies. The parts are well molded with no flash. The instruction sheet is basic and the placement of some parts is vague. My reference is the above mentioned book. No problems were encountered in the construction of the kit which was built is under 10 hours.

The Anatra firm was founded in 1913 by AA Anatra and their first production was Farman IVs followed by licensed production of Farmans, Voisins, Nieuports and Morane Saulniers. Anatra's designer was a Frenchman named Des Camps (hence the "D" in the nomenclature) and he began work on a two seat reconnaissance biplane in the summer of 1915. The original was to be powered by the 100hp Gnome-Mono but later planes were powered by the 110hp Clerget. First delivered in May 1916, 170 Anatras were built in 1916/1917. It was widely used in the war and the following civil war. After the Russian Revolution some Anatras were acquired by the Austro Hungarians which were later acquired by the Czech Air Service.

This kit is one of the last made by FROG as a direct request from the Soviet Novoexport/Ministery of Light Industry. This was in 1976 and some 500 were molded. In 1983/1984, the Anatra finally appeared under the RED STAR label in a boxed set. They were eventually produced separately in bags with full color card headers.

"The above information can be found in WIND-SOCK Volume 1, No. 4 Winter 1985 and THE BEST OF WIND-SOCK, Volume 2, pages 32 through 35.

The model depicted is preserved at Prague's Technical Museum but the color is suspect. It was built long before any reference was known to me. The kit went together well and the exception of some trimming work to get the cowl to fit, there were no problems with the kit.