Amodel’s 1/72 UTI-4

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

To aid in training the large group of new aviators, dedicated fighter trainers were developed in the Soviet Union, in many cases being little more than a production fighter fitted with a second canopy. Such is the case of the UTI-4, which was an I-16 Type 5 with a second cockpit added. The UTI-4s were built on the same production line as the regular I-16s, with every fourth airframe becoming a trainer. Full controls were in both cockpits, and while some didn’t carry any armament, others did in the form of rockets.

As the I-16 production line was improved over the years, so was the UTI-4, with new engines being the most common change. Many UTI-4s were used as reconnaissance platforms during the early years of the war, mainly due to the similar performance to the I-16 fighter. After the I-16 was removed from service in 1944, the UTI-4 continued on as a trainer through the end of the war.

The Kit

The Amodel kit of the UTI-4 is typical of other Amodel releases in that it has a fair amount of flash and somewhat thick sprues, but it looks every bit like a two-seat I-16. Molded in white plastic, the kit has some nice fabric detailing on the wings and minimal surface detail on the fuselage, which is pretty accurate. Starting with the interior, the kit has a cockpit floor, two seats, two instrument panels and two control sticks. There is no sidewall detailing and the interior as a whole could use some added detail, but with the small cockpit opening not too much will be visible anyway.

The engine assembly and cowling is going to be a tricky assembly, as there are two side panels and a top panel to align with the fuselage and the front cowling. The front cowling could probably benefit from some thinning on the inside to get it looking more to scale. The engine itself is split into a front and rear half, so alignment is entirely up to the builder. With the cowl panels separate on this kit, it would be very tempting to leave one off and superdetail the engine compartment.

The wings are split into upper halves and a one-piece lower wing. The trailing edge is molded into the upper wing halves, resulting in a rather thick trailing edge. Quick work with a file will take care of that, though you will lose the fabric detail on the ailerons. The landing gear looks weak, but once it’s attached to the gear door it will become much stronger. The gear doors could also stand to be thinned down as well, again easy work with some sandpaper. If you want to arm your UTI-4, a set of six rockets are provided to mount under the wings.

The decal sheet is extensive, providing a total of five choices. Everything is printed in Russian, so I can only guess as to what each one is, but the majority of them are painted in dark green over blue gray. One is from 1942 and has a two-color star in all positions. Another has a white lightning bolt down the side, while the third Soviet camouflaged example has a slogan printed on the side. The final camouflaged UTI-4 is a Finnish one with a yellow fuselage band and wingtips. The last choice is the boxtop one, finished in gray with a blue lightning bolt down the side and a red cowl.

Conclusions

While this kit will need some work to get it looking good, it’s nothing that is insurmountable and once finished you will have a unique two-seat I-16 on your shelves. The many choices on the decal sheet gives you plenty of options to work from and this plane will easily fit into any Soviet WW2 aircraft collection.

Available from Aviation Usk for only $7.50.