Hobby Boss 1/32 IL-2 Sturmovik: Complete

[EmperorKai]

Hello all-

New to the forum and this is my first posting- Hope you enjoy!

 

I've been working on this project for about 3 weeks now, and I'll be posting few images to show how it has progressed so far.

 

 

I intend to build 3 versions of Hobby Boss's IL-2 Sturmoviks (IL-2, IL-2m and IL-2m3), and with that in mind, would like to show each in a different paint scheme and depicted to show different aspects and features of each version.  In this case, I wanted to show the Sturmovik in a winter scheme.  Since this version in a winter scheme can be somewhat apathetic to the casual eye, I decided to open it up a bit and put a bit more detail in than usual.

 

I'm looking to depict Major N.A. Zub's IL-2 as seen here:

  

 

 

Getting the hang of posting with images, so I'll follow up in a bit with more project photos.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Kai

Edited June 10, 2014 by EmperorKai

[LSP_Kevin]

Welcome aboard Kai!

 

 

Looks like an interesting project. Looking forward to seeing more.

 

Kev

[Guest Peterpools]

Looking forward to following along

Keep 'em coming

Peter

[mz826]

Welcome to LSP! Looking forward to your build thread!

[EmperorKai]

Thanks for the warm welcome!  I've visited LSP as a guest for several years now for reference and inspiration and hope that I can return the favor in some way.

 

A little background on this project- I intended this to be a slam build to be completed in 3 weeks or less, but it looks like it will be a bit longer than that.  Part of the issue is the photo-etch details, or rather my growing addiction to it.

• Eduard IL-2 single seater interior details
• Eduard IL-2 armament and bomb details
• Eduard IL-2m armament and bomb details
• Eduard IL-2 landing flaps
• Eduard IL-2m3 exterior details
• Eduard IL-2 mask
• Quickboost IL-2 exhaust

A few notes regarding the PE- I have no qualms cherry picking the details to stay on track and not get bogged down.  Sometimes it's just not enough bang for the buck in terms of effort.  Other times, it's not necessarily the best solution for a particular detail.  

 

I'll talk about it more in a subsequent post, but I had to use a second set for the armaments as the IL-2 armament and bomb set is not technically "complete".

 

For references, I'm using

·         Kagero Top Drawings 13: Ilyushin IL-2 AM-38

·         Profile Books Aircraft Profile 88: Ilyushin IL-2

·         Squadron Signal IL-2 Sturmovik in Action

·         Famous Russian Aircraft Ilyushin IL-2/IL-10, (Gordon, Komissarov, Komissarov)

 

I've also spent a considerable amount of time surfing the net for references and can't say enough about the wealth of information on SovietWarplanes.com, especially the VVS research pages (http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/index.html).

 

Simply awesome information and art work!

 

Okay, so next post, I'll dive into in-progress photos, starting with the cockpit

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Kai

[EmperorKai]

Some cockpit pics.  I actually completed this about 2 weeks ago.

 

Instead of grinding down the clear instrument panel, I decided to just cut a replacement from sheet plastic and save the IP for the spare parts box.  From there, it was pretty straightforward to apply the Eduard instrument panel.  The missing dial on the lower right was punched separately.

 

The interior of the fuselage is actually pretty sparse out of the box.  Raw photo-etch on the starboard side.  Some of the details looked too "photo-etchy, so I replaced them with the original kit parts, which looked closer.

 

The cockpit floor almost complete.

 

The rear bulk head just behind the pilot seat is a good example of bang for the buck.  Here it is compared to the original kit part.  Note that the upper and lower sections of the bulkhead are separate, and won't ultimately come together until after painting.

 

Here, holes have been drilled in the kit seat.  To achieve a more scaled appearance, the part was thinned where the holes were opened up.

 

The seat with the Eduard seatbelts, and prior to some clean up and finishing.

 

The seat in an IL-10

 

The fuselage sides ready for the pin wash.  The base color is MM Dark Ghost Gray, a dark gray wash, and an airbrushed clean up coat of thin MM Light Ghost Gray.  The engine area was painted with a similar process, but with a base of MM Italian Olive Green, the same wash, and a overcoat of MM Faded Olive Drab.  Generally, I don't get too hung up on the color proper, but instead focus on the net effect.  I'm pretty confident of the cockpit colors, however the engine area color is somewhat speculative.   

 

Next up- The engine and fuselage

 

Kai

Edited April 3, 2014 by EmperorKai

[ironman1945]

Looks great!  Funny, when these came out a lot of people (including myself) rushed out to buy one, but I haven't seen many built.

 

Dave/Ironman1945

[LSP_Paul]

Welcome to the forums!  Very nice start on your 'vic" looking forward to seeing more soon! 

 Paul 

[EmperorKai]

Thanks Paul!

 

Dave- I had to dig quite a bit on the net to find a few.  Seems like most of the builds that are posted out there are the tiny (!) 1/48 Accurate Miniatures kit. 

 

Here's some pics of the engine work and helpful reference photos from the net

 

This is noted as a AM-38F, which was used in the later 2 seat Sturmoviks.  I'm not certain how this is different in the details from the AM-38 used in the single seat IL-2, but I think it is fairly representative.  The colors here are also fairly typical from what I have seen- overall dull aluminum-ish silver.  Variations I have seen include black valve covers and dark green heads

 

Here's another great pic of the front end of the engine on a recovered wreck.  It's hard to pick out, but there are hints of the interior color of the engine cowling that lead me to my choice of green/faded olive drab choice.

 

Here's my rendition.  I focused mainly on what little would be visible on the completed model, so several parts have in fact been left off.  Out of the box it's a very nice effort by Hobby Boss. Colors used were MM Chrome Silver, enamel dull coat, wash and then a light overspray of MM Light Ghost Gray.  The Quickboost exhausts are MM Burnt Umber and a wash.  A note here is that the Quickboost exhausts make for quick work on the stack, but they are each missing the weld seam.  

 

The air intake- the leading edge of each of the parts were thinned considerably via simple scraping and filing.  They were then pre-painted with the engine cowling colors noted above before assembly.  The expectation here is that not much of this color will be left visible after painting the camouflage later.

 

Another great picture from the net of a recovered IL-2 wreck.  This side of the air intake duct is visible here as well as one of the lateral cowling vents.

 

Here is the OOB version of the lateral engine cowl vent.  A decent start, but too thick

 

The same vent after thinning

 

The engine cowl was also thinned at the opening for the exhaust stacks, and intake ducts on the leading edge.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Kai

[Mal_Belford]

This looks real good, i like it...

 

Im going to follow this one for shure since i got that IL2 M Ground Attack Hobby Boss myself, so to pick up some along the way and what lies ahead of me....

 

So keep em coming..

 

/Mal

[CATCplSlade]

I have an IL-2M in my stack of to-do's as well, so I'll also be watching.

[DougN]

Nice start so far!  Don't see many of these being built, will follow with interest!

Doug

[Hans]

Looking good, Kai and welcome to LSP. I built this model three years ago with a tread here on LSP: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=33081&page=1

[EmperorKai]

Mal, CATCplSlade- Thanks guys, a lot of notes and improvements to the kit that I mention here will also apply to the 2m and 2m3 versions of the Sturmovik.  You've probably already seen this, but I'll mention anyway- Jason Moore did a fantastic review of the IL-2 on Skis and the follow-up IL-2 (this kit) that points out many of the obvious and not so obvious.  I also came across some additional info that I'll be sure to note where appropriate.

 

As mentioned in Moore's review, the tail wheel fairing needs to be cut back on the single seat versions.     

 

Also noted in Moore's review, the lower armored bulkhead just behind the fuel tank needs to be cut down. 

 

The armored bulkhead with the upper tang removed and the part thinned in general though this part could be just as easily cut from sheet plastic.  As I understand it, this bulkhead was in reality 12mm thick so the part needs to be around .015" thick

Here is a schematic with armor plate thickness on a 2 seat IL-2

 

Strangely enough, the kit is missing the panel line around the wing root-  It's almost as if it was an oversight.  This panel line is especially important on the trailing edge as this will serve as the demarcation between the forward metal portion of the fuselage and the wooden rear portion of the fuselage (which needs to be smooth).  One important note is that the panel line is missing at both the leading and trailing edge of the wing root fairing. 

 

The upper panel line here for comparison

 

And another shot from the underside with one side completed, again for comparison.

 

The fuel tank is in itself pretty straight forward.  Only the top will be visible through the rear windows.  The instructions call for this part to be painted black, however I've seen photos where this is a tannish or a light green primer color.  None of the photos I've come across are particularly clear though.  As with many things Sturmovik, there is a great deal of variation depending on where and when the aircraft was constructed. 

 

Kai

Edited April 4, 2014 by EmperorKai

[EmperorKai]

A quick follow-up on the fuselage construction.

 

The cockpit now in place with the fuel tank, bulkheads, firewall and engine.  Almost nothing behind the fuel tank will be visible, and aside from the exhaust stacks and air intake, only a small portion of the front face of the engine will be visible.  Here, the air intake has not been fitted yet.

 

Another view from the front quarter

 

The air intake now in place.  The kit doesn't provide locating pins or tabs for the air intake duct, so it should be loosely fitted to start and only fixed in place once the engine cowl is attached to insure that they are aligned properly.

 

When the air intake is inserted into place, its lower front edge hangs up slightly on the valve covers.  So once it is gently pushed into place, while loose, it will stay attached.  

 

The engine cowl is composed of 3 parts molded in clear plastic.  There's been a number of different approaches on how to build and attach the engine cowl.  In my case, I elected to build it as a separate sub-assembly rather than bringing the left, right and top pieces all together later in the fuselage construction.  Doing it this way provided the opportunity to align and clean up the cowl beforehand and provide meaningful dry-fitting.  It also made it much easier to finally line up and fix the air intake duct into place.  The kit is missing a series of vertical splitters at the mouth of the duct which will be added later

 

It's also possible here to see how the 3 intake vents along the leading edge of the fuselage have been thinned.   This will be come especially evident once the face plate and propeller cone is in place. 

 

Because the engine cowl is clear, the plastic is harder and can be more difficult to work with.  Once it was built up as a separate sub-assembly, a base coat of MM Italian Olive was applied to its interior.  Additional painting and finishing was done, but from the exterior, only the base coat is visible here.  Overall though, having some opacity made it much easier to clean up the seam lines and work with the cowl. 

 

Before gluing the cowl into place, the openings for the exhaust stacks were pre-masked with Tamiya tape.  Just prior to the exterior painting, the tape will be peeled outwards to mask the exhaust stacks.  The contact area between the tape and inside of the cowl was kept to a minimum so that after painting, the tape should come out fairly easily.  OK- that's the plan anyway

 

The construction so far has been pretty basic.  However that will change starting with the wing center section...

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Kai

Edited April 4, 2014 by EmperorKai