1/48 vacform Il-2 Sturmovik in progress

[EPinniger]

This isn't 1/32 or larger (although 1/48 is still "large scale" to me, and probably many other UK/Europe modellers will agree!) so it really belongs in the "off topic" forum.

 

Ever since I flew it in the computer flight simulator game "Il-2 Sturmovik", I've wanted to build a model of this WW2 Soviet ground attack aircraft! I built a 1/72 one from the Airfix kit (with various additions and modifications) a couple of years ago, but since I changed my modelling focus to 1/48 and 1/32 scales, I've been looking for a larger Sturmovik. The Accurate Miniatures kit is a bit out of my price range and very hard to find, though.

 

Last year I visited an "aviation collector's fair" near Heathrow Airport in London, and saw a vacformed 1/48 scale kit of the Il-2 for £5. I didn't buy it as I thought it was far beyond my skills (the two vacforms I'd built before then, a 1/72 Constellation and PV-2 Ventura, didn't turn out very well)

Yesterday I visited the same fair, and the Il-2 kit was still there - so I took the chance and bought it.

 

The kit was produced by a company called "Wings 48". It was unboxed and the main airframe parts had been cut out, but not sanded. The instruction sheet was included (including some good detail reference drawings) but there were no decals.

 

After taking a closer look at the kit parts, my first impression was "maybe I should have bought the AM kit after all!"

 

The airframe mouldings are reasonably sharp, there's a fair amount of engraved surface detail, and the canopy

frame and transparencies are moulded seperately. However, it gets a lot worse from here

All the smaller details are vacformed. The prop and wheels aren't worth the effort, and the undercarriage legs, guns

etc. are incredibly crude (why do manufacturers even bother vacforming parts like this?) So everything other than the airframe will have to be taken from the spares box and/or scratchbuilt.

 

 

Since I took this photo I've sanded the main airframe parts, glued the wing and tail halves together, cut out the canopy and wing holes in the fuselage, and made a start on cutting out + sanding some of the smaller parts. It's going to be quite a long project, though. Thankfully I've got plenty of reference material on the Il-2 series.

 

Anyway, hopefully this kit will turn out to be a worthwhile addition to my 1/48 WW2 aircraft collection, rather than a misshapen piece of junk like my previous vacform builds, but you never know

If it does turn out OK, it might give me the courage to start work on the vacform Halifax I have in my kit stash.

[EPinniger]

Starting to look like a Sturmovik now:

 

 

The fuselage isn't yet attached to the wings as I need to add the cockpit detail first.

 

Whilst the airframe parts were fairly straightforward to cut out and sand, the wing undercarriage fairings were an absolute nightmare - thin and rather brittle. They don't fit very well (to say the least). and will need a lot of putty. The tailplane/fuselage join was also difficult. I had to cut off part of the extreme rear fuselage (behind the tailwheel housing) to get the tailplane to fit in, and will probably need to rebuild it from Milliput.

 

I can't really decide what to do with this model, either superdetail it with a complete cockpit, accurate undercarriage, weapons payload, etc. - or just try and finish it as a reasonably neat "3-footer" model (i.e one which looks like a good model of an Il-2, providing you don't look at it from anything closer than 3 feet). Given how difficult it's been to build so far, I'm inclined to go with the latter option.

I've been thinking for a while about scratchbuilding a 1/24 or 1/18 Il-2 so will probably save the superdetailing for this instead.

[Stef (#6)]

God almighty !

 

that's crude ...

 

Hum, having the AM kit in the stash, I really call it heroismmmmmm ... (or deep masochism ?! no just teasing !)

 

But, I ain't no reference, has my first and only attempt to vacform kits has only its wings and fuselages separated from the sheet ( an aeroclub Vampire, which is most detailed compared to your Il-2).

 

Then Classic airframe has been releasing one and that was it.

 

Now, what will happens if I do begin my Dynavector Javelin ? a 1/32 Javelin ? Would love it, for sure ....

 

Most impressive anyway, I won't have the patience ...

 

Cheers

Stef (#6)

[EPinniger]

If nothing else it'll teach me some vacform building skills which I'll definitely need for my 1/48 Halifax

 

I've decided to build this as a "three-footer" and keep an eye out for a cheap second-hand AM IL-2 kit (some chance, though - it usually sells for the equivalent of $40-50 here in the UK). The cockpit interior isn't too visible due to the heavy framing anyway.

[Stef (#6)]

Hello

 

if you're interested in cheap AM IL-2, my usual hobbyshop in Paris has some low cost monoplace (if left), around 30 euros.

 

If it sounds like a faire price to you I may check tomorrow and fetch one for you.

 

I can then ship it to GB ...

 

Let me know ...

 

Cheers

 

stef (#6)