Josip

On the close inspection there is a big gap between the fuselage and the windshield that really spoils the whole picture. Was the fit so bad?

One of the cutest trainer aircraft from that period.

Because it is a Beaufighter that was released in 1990s and the only other modern kit of a Beaufighter is the Airfix one from a 2020. We would and should expect a huge leap in quality from AIRFIX by now, but somehow we didn't get it. Their main advantage over Hasegawa is that their kit is widely available.

The fact that Hasegawa hasn't issued as many British aircraft as Airfix had has nothing to do with the high quality plastic, sharp moulding and superior panel lines.

Now that's what I've been telling people all the time. Hasegawa models from the 1990s are sharper and better looking than the new Airfix ones. Great job!

Hello old friend! My first kit! Ofc. I was waaay to young for you;-}

Actually that wasn't a bad thing. Very early single seaters, that were only introduced in the service in spring 1941, had metal fuselages. The trouble is in details. They had armoured glass behind the pilot and slightly different cockpit hoods that Zvezda provides. Zvezda should do the metal fuselage and we could fill panel lines or not, according to our preferences. Just like the wings on Eduard Mustang.

Some day I'm gonna get me one of those! Lovely!

Please add another pic from the underside.

IL-2s with metal fuselage were very rare. The first 300 or so single seaters and some post war/veteran late two seater were built/had the fuselage replaced with metal ones. The latter mainly in Yugoslavia.

O. K. All but the later. That required a skilfull modeler and a single seater.

ACM did the whole line. Their common weakness was totally wrong spinner and propeller.

Top notch for your part. You made it come to life. I guess that I'm the only one that isn't happy with Airfix kits. To my eyes it looks like another clumsy effort that just isn't in the 21st century yet. Panelization is too deep and overall it looks soft.

Tamiya will win because of more robust look and true to original surface details. It has hinges on the access panels etc. When I did my ACM two seater, I had to replicate all those details that Tamiya already had OOB. Not to mention the ease of assembly.

Now that is a first class model!

Mind you, there's nothing wrong with Tamiya kit. It has the best surface details of them all. This Zvezda kit has petite panel lines. It's too neat for a Soviet warplanes. On the wings they were almost invisible.

Thank you. Actually I think that IL-2 isn't really an ugly looking airplane. This one actually looks nicely proportioned and thought out, at least to my eyes. Josip

Luckily I have two. This one and the late two seater from ACM with resin propeller and spinner. It was also posted here and is much more interesting. Josip

Zvezda pilot is OOB on the right. The other two are Tamiya RAF pilots. Bigger and bulkier.

It's a pity that you didn't post more pics from different angles.

The pilot is the right one....

Hello again! This is my latest creation. The ZVEZDA kit may be the best IL-2 single seater kit in 1:48 so far, but it's a delicate and hastily concieved kit that really should have been thought out more thoroughly. The kit features a lovely full engine that one needs to glue inside the fuselage in order to glue the exhaust stacks from the outside. By removing a panel or two one can barely catch a glimpse of it. The flaps have a nasty seam line across them because the fuselage and bottom wings connect there and the cannon barrels are too thin etc... Anyway it's finally done. I did some minor modification with simulating fasteners on the wings and engine cowling, as well as glueing some tape over the flaps. The cockpit was really adequate OOB, especially when one puts the very nice pilot figure in it. It was painted with Revell, Akan and Vallejo acrylics. Early IL-2s were boring. So I chose to depict an anonymous aircraft with the worn winter camouflage. Those always look cool. Enjoy it! Ofc. it all depends of the light. Here it looks just bleak and unasuming. Josip

Surely you can post better pictures?

Very convincing!

I tink that those kits are awesome quality, cheap and available and should have been built more. For some reason there aren't many of them posted here. I only wish that you had replaced the barrels and sights on machine guns with aftermarket. Josip