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Airfix IL-2 "Sturmovik" - the hard way


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This is great modelling.... I'm looking forward to seeing your colour scheme choice.

You are obviously quite mad but I am in awe and inspired.... I do wonder if there isn't a better 1/72 start point than the Airfix kit?

Having seen every kit now available in 1/72nd scale for the Il-2, I can say without fear of contradiction that any other kit is a better start point than the Airfix kit! Frankly, I thought the Airfix kit was irretrievably bad, but Adrian has proven me wrong. And all it's taken is practically rebuilding the entire kit!

Regards,

Jason

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Hello All,

Spent today looking at rain and fixing/masking canopy sections. This evening I decided to have a go at the propeller. The Airfix blades are too thin, too long and too rough. Here's where I got to with some wood whittling, so if it still looks OK tomorrow I'll be getting the resin casting set out!

b50ce38e.jpg

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Hello All,

Well I added a base plate to the kit spinner, fattened it up a bit and then turned it on my household drill to get a more conical shape, then I stuck the new blades in. Here we go, with a representation of a Hucks starter dog on the front.

02b1d58e.jpg

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Hello All,

Well I added a base plate to the kit spinner, fattened it up a bit and then turned it on my household drill to get a more conical shape, then I stuck the new blades in. Here we go, with a representation of a Hucks starter dog on the front.

02b1d58e.jpg

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

The spinner and props look good, Adrian! I see you're starting to paint.

Regards,

Jason

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Excellent work on the prop, a part that I need to sort for mine so I'm nicking more of your ideas!!

This is awesome and I keep having to remind myself its all in the daft scale!

Si,

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Excellent work on the prop, a part that I need to sort for mine so I'm nicking more of your ideas!!

This is awesome and I keep having to remind myself its all in the daft scale!

Si,

Yeah, I couldn't find a 1/144th one....

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Is the AM prop no good then?

BTW I love your workshop!

Adrian, the blades aren't too bad, but the spinner is much too round. If you have one, best to replace with the Vector resin set, which includes both the spinner and the blades.

Regards,

Jason

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Adrian, the blades aren't too bad, but the spinner is much too round. If you have one, best to replace with the Vector resin set, which includes both the spinner and the blades.

Regards,

Jason

Aftermarket?? (he says, a bit too loudly, backing away into a corner...)

I've got rid of a lot of the "onion dome" effect from the original spinner but, you're right, not enough. I'll see if I can get it pointier with another spin in the drill. I hope the blades don't fly off!

Regards,

Adrian

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Any thoughts on a scheme yet?

Martin

I'm going for a green/black scheme. I'm still tossing up between one from Massimo Tessitori's page on sovietwarplanes.com, showing a "white 7" (there are two) and a "yellow 31" from an Osprey profile. But:

* The two "7"s are both documented from photos of crashed planes so I don't really want to model one that I only know from a wreck, so I could change the number (there must have been 1-6, right?).

* I don't have a photo of the "31" and I'm told that yellow lettering wasn't used, so I might do a "white 31" or "silver 31" instead.

I think I am developing AMS on this one - maybe I should paint it brown and green, use the kit transfers and call it done!

Regards,

Adrian

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Aftermarket?? (he says, a bit too loudly, backing away into a corner...)

I've got rid of a lot of the "onion dome" effect from the original spinner but, you're right, not enough. I'll see if I can get it pointier with another spin in the drill. I hope the blades don't fly off!

Regards,

Adrian

Actually, Adrian, I was speaking specifically of the Accurate Miniatures spinner. Yours looks good, but I suppose making it a little more conical couldn't hurt. With your skill in scratchbuilding, I can see why you wouldn't need aftermarket!

Regards,

Jason

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I'm going for a green/black scheme. I'm still tossing up between one from Massimo Tessitori's page on sovietwarplanes.com, showing a "white 7" (there are two) and a "yellow 31" from an Osprey profile. But:

* The two "7"s are both documented from photos of crashed planes so I don't really want to model one that I only know from a wreck, so I could change the number (there must have been 1-6, right?).

* I don't have a photo of the "31" and I'm told that yellow lettering wasn't used, so I might do a "white 31" or "silver 31" instead.

I think I am developing AMS on this one - maybe I should paint it brown and green, use the kit transfers and call it done!

Regards,

Adrian

Adrian, I forbid you to paint it brown and green! If I see another brown and green VVS model I may have to go back on my medication (a good single-malt whiskey would do)! Changing the number probably wouldn't be a bad idea, though.

Regards,

Jason

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Well, I've committed to "White 7" with the white fin tip from Massimo's page. In black and green - no need for self medication! (But you can if you want, as a precaution)

I also span the prop up on the drill again and sanded it a bit more conical. Three things there:

* the blades didn't come off!

* the spinner's still a bit fat - will stay that way now because I'm not going to take the blades off and taper from the base plate

* a 1/72 Shturmovik prop is not enough to get a Black and Decker airborne

Regards,

Adrian

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Hello All,

A cheeky little post for the non-airbrush fraternity. I wanted a fabric effect on the elevators but didn't fancy sticking plastic strips on. So I did this. I built myself a frame containing regularly spaced plastic strip, then stippled through it onto the elevators. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's 2K worth:

18dde6a1.jpg

64d86de0.jpg

I'm on the last lap now so no more progress pics until I'm done!

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Nice effect Adrian, and good choice for the camouflage (at least no brown and green)! My bottle will stay safely locked away. Nice effect for the fabric-covering on the elevators. Not to make things more difficult for you, but the ailerons on the metal-winged two-seaters were fabric-covered also (most of the metal-winged single-seaters, perhaps all, had metal-covered ailerons). I look forward greatly to the finished product!

Regards,

Jason

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