Grokhovsky G-38 Light Cruiser by Unicraft
1/72 scale
Kit No. ?
Cost: $39.99
Decals: None
Comments: Short-run resin kit with single vacuform canopy; no decals
History
The G-38 Light Cruiser was an experimental fighter designed and built by the P.I. Grokhovsky Design Bureau from 1934-1936. Conceived as a two-seat fighter-bomber, and powered by a pair of 900 hp Gnome-Rhone radial engines, it was to be armed with two ShVAK 20mm cannon and four ShKAS 7.62 mm machine guns, all installed at the wing roots or in the small fuselage pod that was faired into the leading edge of the wing. At least some of these forward firing weapons were employed in the narrow gap between the two propeller arcs, and did not have to be burdened with synchronization gear. On the three-seat version there were reportedly an additional two SHKAS guns firing to the rear and controlled by an aft gunner.
In the mid-1930s, the concept of the “fighter-destroyer” was very popular in design and planning circles. The Grokhovsky G-38 was one of many examples of this class of fighter that were designed but never flown. It was a twin-boom, multi-seat heavy fighter comparable in concept to the Dutch Fokker G.1 or the Lockheed P-58 ‘Chain Lightning’ — although the American aircraft it is most often compared to is Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning of WWII. The G-38, however, was remarkable in a number of respects, most significant of which was the execution of the twin-boom concept. The Fokker and the Lockheed designs were large, bulky aircraft, as was the original take on the G-38. When Grokhovsky hired the young Pavel Ivensen to work on the project, however, the aircraft was transformed into something rather exciting. Ivensen completely redesigned the aircraft and what emerged, was a relatively small plane, with a wingspan of 13.4 meters (compared with 16 meters for the P-38 and 17 meters for the Fokker G.1) in a compact, aerodynamic twin-boom airframe.
It was constructed almost entirely of wood, with metal parts restricted to the cockpit, engines, weapons and landing gear. The crew (reported alternately as either two or three men) were contained in a tapered teardrop-shaped pod faired into the broad wing center section, and the two Gnome-Rhone radial engines tapered to extremely slender booms. The G-38 had an incredibly low frontal area for an aircraft of its class, and a high wing loading for the time. Its maximum speed was estimated at 340 mph, quite fast for its time (1936). Most remarkable of all was the fact that the preliminary designs were approved in 1934, making the highly modern looking G-38 a contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss P-36.
After two years’ work, it was cancelled in 1936 on the eve of completion of the prototytpe. Josef Stalin had an abiding distrust in virtually everyone, and the leading lights among his aircraft designers were anything but exempt; in 1937, Grokhovsky was swept up in the purge which decimated the Soviet armed forces that year, and arrested on false charges. He would ultimately die in prison in 1946. Had it not been cancelled in the months prior to the 1937 Purge, Grokhosky’s cutting edge G-38 might have equipped the Soviet Air Force with a revolutionary fighter on the eve of World War II.
The Kit
Unicraft’s Grokhovsky G-38 is molded in tan resin and consists of 26 resin parts plus a single vacuform canopy. Looking over the contents of the box, this kit is not for beginners. Unicraft is a Ukrainian company, and not a brand known for attention to detail or ease of construction. There are two seats for the cockpit cabin (Unicraft chose to depict the G-38 as a two-seater, although by some accounts it had a crew of three) and no other internal detail. The kit features engraved panel lines but the detail is generally soft, as evidenced by the lack of crisp lines around the cockpit and wheel wells in the nacelles, for example. Touch-up with a good resin-compatible putty such as Milliput, and a fair amount of sanding, will be necessary in places.
There is a good deal of flash throughout and all parts will need significant clean-up to be made presentable. The engine nacelles feature air-cooled cowlings, and each boom will consist of four parts: nacelle, cowling, central boom, and rear boom/vertical tail. The horizontal stabilizer between the booms will need significant clean-up, and may also need replacing of a section that appears to be missing from one side of its trailing edge.
There are separate spinners, six individually mounted propeller blades that will have to be cemented to the spinners somehow, and one-piece main landing gear, one for each nacelle. The G-38 had a traditional tail wheel or skid but it is not provided and will have to be fashioned from scratch. The vacuform canopy offers nothing in the way of framing, and will require careful trimming indeed for a good fit.
The instructions are not worthy of the name, providing a three-view schematic of the completed aircraft, no paint guide, but do include a single beautifully rendered color plate of the G-38 in its red-and-white livery. No guidance whatsoever is provided on construction. Fortunately the box art provides ample guidance on painting, but the general impression is that this kit is for intermediate to advanced modelers who have a few resin kits under their belts, and are experienced enough to be comfortable with a small amount of scratch-building.
There are no decals, but it will not be difficult to scrounge red star markings and white numbers from your spares box or aftermarket sources — as the G-38 at most got to the full-scale mock-up or prototype stage, there is a dearth of information on what it’s markings should look like.
Conclusion
Despite its short-run nature, this kit is of serious interest for its relatively unique design and “what if” factor in terms of what it would have done for the fortunes of the Soviet Air Force in the opening stages of the war with Germany. Had it debuted in 1937 or 1938, it would have been one of the fastest if not the fastest combat aircraft in the world, and fairly heavily armed. This kit will require a significant amount of extra work, but the finished product could be a gem. Highly recommended.
References
- Grokhovsky G-38 Light Cruiser instructions
- “10 Incredible Soviet Fighter Aircraft That Never Entered Service” ~ www.hushkit.net – September 1, 2016
- Unflown Wings: Soviet/Russian Unrealised Aircraft Projects 1925-2010, by Yefim Gordon and Sergey Komissarov; Copyright 2013, Midland Publishing